Grooverjr

Horses for courses, i can't stand colour matched pickups. Special mention to the wood ones. Hideous! But then it would be broing if we all thought the same, right. But I do agree that nowadays we could have anything. If I could have a Peavey T40 pickup cover for all my basses I'd be in heaven!

That is tasty. I don't think you can play that in normal footwear, though. Platforms, sparkly Adidas shell toes or at the least teddy boy suede numbers.

Someone mentioned Why Don't You? in another thread recently. In that spirit I think with a bit of time and effort you could make your own, certainly one that would stick rather than screw on.

Exactly that. And it sounds oh so sweet!

All good advice, and of course bas sshopping is very much on the cards but I can't sell the Squier. It was my first bass and it's covered in paint that means a lot to me and would make anyone else wince! I expect I will end up with a cheap and cheerful starter and see what happens from there.

Thanks everyone for some good solid advice. I love BC! Special shout to @Beedster for the detail and excellent reasons not to do something daft and @Happy Jack for the lines advice. The favourite neck is safe! I'll keep an eye on the S/H market and see what comes up and go for somethign cheap. If I like it I can then go down the 'get a neck made' route.

Thanks, that's what I suspected. It's a P neck anyway (don't get on with J necks, really) so I might hang on for a cheapie second hand fretless.

Thanks. Lined is fine (probably better) but I was thinking the same about a defret. I know I like the feel of this neck as well, and I know my way around it so transferring should be easier as well.

I fancy giving fretless a go, but I don't want to buy yet another bass. I have a Squier Jazz that I don't use and am keeping for sentimental reasons with a decent maple neck in it that I find very comfortable. The question is - get that neck defretted or buy a fretless neck and stick it on there..... Considerations: - cost (which is cheaper? I wouldn't want to spend much as it's the scratching of an itch rather than a necessity - you don't see many maple fretless necks, is there a reason? Maybe that more bitey maple sound doesn't suit fretless? The benefit of the considerable wisdom of the BC Hive mind shall be my guide (oh, fool that I am 😁)

Thanks for going there so I didn't have to 🤣

Stick a car tree in it for a day then leave it open for a day outside. If it still stinks it will always stink and it will transfer back to the guitar so it's for the bin, I'd say. You got a win on the instrument either way!

I don't expect it to be completely invisble but it's right on the join between the two halves (these necks are two halves glued together) so there is a complete change of figuring right next to it anyway and I think that will make it muuch less visible than it would be on a one piece. The most important thing for me is that it isn't felt when you're playing. It's not rough it's just 'there' and that detracts from what is otherwise a really lovely-playing neck.

Just looked that up. It looks like you just drip it in and it will set clear and with a polish it will be like new. Lovely stuff, I've got a couple of small dings in another neck (squiffy lean bass againt bookshelf and feel the slow creep of terror as you turn away and hear it start to slide sideways - I can't be the only one) so this seems like a good thing to have around anyway.

Thanks, really helpful

Thanks. I had considered that as well but not sure if it feels the same as lacquer? I have an old neck lying around I could try it on, I suppose...

I have a T40 that is overall in incredible condition but it has a small scuff kind of thing right behind the 12th fret that you can feel when playing. It's about 3 x 5mm and is very shallow so basically the lacquer has been chipped but the wood is not dented. Does anybody have a recommendation of how to repair it? I'm assuming something along the lines of slightly sand the area and apply some new lacquer but my concern would be ending up with a raised patcch or a sticky area. Maybe better to just trust to a luthier?

THe 50s silhouette of the headstock is nice but those tuners look like the end of knitting needles. Some big old emelphant ears would work a treat!

YouTube, and the internet as a whole, has content to create and it does that partly by creating problems that don't exist or amplifying ones that may happen over a prolonged period of time. All frets will wear, none will wear so quickly that you will notice it within the probable length of your ownership of the bass. If they do, then you will have had more than enough use to justify a refret anyway. That said, some rounds are smoother than others (some rounds' mothers are smoother than other rounds' mothers 🤣) so you can choose one of the less abrasive ones.

Suede waistcoat and double denim? That's rodeo wear isn't it? Is rodeo popular in Oxfordshire? Does a fretless tend to buck uncontrollably on a strap so you have to hold on for dear life? Those videos of Japan on Old Grey Whistle Test where Mick Karn is moving and playing with such grace in a well cut suit seem to suggest otherwise, but I'm not a clickbait writer

Are you using a VPN to cover your tracks? Search histories seem to be quite popular with authorities trying to make people seem suspect nowadays. I can see it now "Can you tell the court why you researched 'how to survive in prison' if you did not think moderating a forum for musicians, many of whom you knew to be opinionated and/or curmudgeonly and/or liable to get into detailed arguments ranging far from the original topic, was putting you in direct contravention of the law?"

I will try to bring this back on topic.....by talking about mountain bikes 😂. Before I destroyed my knee I did a lot of Enduro or lighter Enduro biking and the cheap vs expensive thing is even worse in that world, although it's mainly just expensive vs bankruptcy (new bikes can easily run 8 grand or more). It is also a horribly gearhead scene and as it's not really for an audience then there is all sorts of judgement going on. I rode hardtail bikes in the late 80s early 90s when suspension was just becoming a thing and when I picked it up again in the mid 2010s I started out with a cheapish bitsa of a decent full suspension bike. It looked a mess but I could ride most of the trails with my mates on more expensive bikes. Then the GAS kicked in and eventually I was on too much bike. I still had fun and it allowed me to get through features that were beyond my skill level because it was so capable but....(back to topic alert) I still had much more fun on a hardtail that cost a quarter of the price and that was nowhere near enough bike (hence in large part the knee problems) because it was just so much more me. I got on it and it felt like home. With MTB it isn't completely the same as with basses because equipment does in some ways limit you (a very cheap bike or one without sufficient suspension travel just won't make it down a proper double black run without breaking itself or you) but it is the same in that a) I made decisions based quite a lot on aesthetics (even dafter than doing that for an instrument) b) I had the most fun with the 'right' bike, not the 'best' or most expensive bike and c) you can feel the difference with a really good but of kit and it does make the most of your ability. Whether or not it is worth the money depends on your pocket depth but fundamentally it is still about what makes you feel good. For some people part of that is how it looks or how much it cost or what it projects about you, which is ok for them but I learnt not to give a monkey's about that (especially as I didn't have any respect for the opinions of the vast majority of the other 'scene' types in MTB). I love some cheapies and some more pricey basses but the bass that I always reach for is also the most expensive. But that is because it does everything I want ( as a custom bass should). I don't gig so for me the way a bass looks and feels is an integral part of the experience, alongside the sound and I don't have toerags or pissheads to worry about.

Very interesting. Not clearly defined but I assume BC would be small, low risk and it looks like most of those required elements are already in place so maybe there is hope

@rwillett good point about the workload of enforcement. If they have the money to spend (which they obviously don't) it could be much better spent on targetted investigation instead of enforcing blanket legislation.

That's probably the most concise definition of the majority of governmental policy and action I have seen. The internet is fundamentally ungovernable and now pretty much the entire economy globally is reliant on it there can't be any actual blocking but the whole nation state and democratic process house of cards will fall quickly if their ineffectiveness becomes too obvious so you get this kind of dog whistle legislation. The cynic in me also wonders whether Meta and their like have been whispering in ears as a way of driving more and more traffic onto their platforms where we can be data harvested and advertised to. As many others have said BC is a haven and there are no doubt countless other forums that provide vital informal mental health and wellbeing support to people in an increasingly isolated world. Proper integrated policing and better education, support and more access to community -online or otherwise - is the real solution to keeping people safe but that takes money and time and real dedication, and puts less coin in the coffers of the big players, so it's a non starter. I hope BC and all the other decent forums find a way to keep going somehow.