bakerster135

Oooft, that is very nice, and definitely a few grand less than others would be offering it for. Looking pretty original from the exterior, i.e. all the correct fittings for an L series and correct early 65 decal and placement, and worn in in a genuine way that Clive Brown couldn't replicate... Owner was clearly a serious knob-tweaker, they've worn the plating off the control plate! 😆 The Brazilian rosewood looks a bit fresh so I'm guessing they've done a bit of fretboard sanding as part of the refret... Always a bit of a shame as it usually removes the patina but perhaps there were some bumps and humps that needed to be addressed.

Definitely agree, and floating thumb is definitely healthy technique in terms of right-hand fingering on the top three strings. A rest is very helpful if you're needing to hammer away on the E for any length of time though, although I find certain pickup tops are a bit too far away from the string, e.g. Precision

I think one of the best cheap thumbrest solutions is those adhesive rubber feet, like you get on the bottom of pedals. I got a load of black 3M rectangular ones for a few quid and use one on my stingray in the position of a jazz bass neck pickup. Does the job, stays in place and, if you want to take it off, you can remove any glue residue with a little rubbing alcohol. Doesn't look too bad either, especially on a black scratchplate. You can also get clear ones for other colours.

Classic and Cool Guitars had a black dot bound S8 Jazz Bass a while ago, so it is definitely a thing - https://classicandcoolguitars.co.uk/portfolio/s8-black-jazz/. I've not seen many of them though, so perhaps pretty rare.

Really interesting comparison actually. I know it's in the sound, but that pre-eb looks so much cooler despite the relatively subtle cosmetic differences... Everything just seems to line up a little better

Yeah, the Cog pedals are great! The Punisher one is a pretty basic Knightfall 66, from around when he first started making them. Has the diode selection and also a charge pump to run at 18v. I usually have this always on on channel A, low gain on MOSFET (left side), then use channel B for higher gain with germanium. The Signor Gattino is the TK-421-X (Rat) with LM308 op amp, generally the same as the stock one except it has an HPF on the distortion, so you can get some interesting sounds if you combine it with the LPF on the clean. I love the W&C TFR too. Tried pretty much every other tall font clone out there, including the EHX Green Russian, and nothing's beaten it in terms of the power and low end it puts out. Sounds absolutely massive stacked through the gattino!

The current setup and highly unlikely to change anytime soon, just works perfectly. Only addition will be an envelope filter at some point, which will either go above and after the Whammy, or in place of the XXL. A lot of deliberation on which one though, considering my first choice is rarely available and is hugely overpriced when it is, yet sells within minutes...

Perhaps it's just me, but it always feels like a red flag when I see a recessed body-end truss rod nut.

Aguilar OBP-1 would be the ideal one I would suggest. It's what's in their DB-924/DB-925 external preamps and those sound perfect with Jazz Basses. Very similar to the Sadowsky pre, just a touch nicer sounding and more transparent to my ears.

Correct, also the custom and deluxe telecasters which were brought in December 72/January 73 I believe, but not the standard teles

Think they generally used Northern American hard ash, also used for baseball bats...

My 75 Jazz is 12.35lbs...I've seen the odd late 70s bass get into the 13lb realm!

This guy imports a load of Fender Japan guitars, quite a few specials https://www.whitstableguitars.co.uk/. No basses listed but he could probably get hold of them.