Jono Bolton

I had a set of Fender 9050M (55-105) on my P Bass for a while and they were far too stiff for me. I swapped them for a set of 9050ML (50-100) and they certainly had more give, but the D and G strings in particular made fretting a bit of a chore. I stuck a set of Dunlop 45-105 flats on yesterday, and the difference is like night and day. The Dunlops have far more flexibility and makes playing much easier. The Dunlops also seem to have some sort of coating on the silks at either end, so hopefully there won't be any fraying.

Added a gold anodized pickguard to my Squier and put in a Kiogon wiring loom with Bourns mini pots because the stock mini pots had a smaller thread size and wouldn't have fitted. Having a decent tone pot makes a huge difference! The eagle-eyed will notice that there's a screw missing between the knobs because the hole sits over the cavity slightly, but I'll sort that eventually.

Squier Matt Freeman Precision > Peavey Century 120 > Ampeg B115E (and a Fender Champ 600 just edging into the shot (not for bass)).

Is there anywhere that sells or makes wooden Fender-style thumb rests/tug bars? I'd like an ebony one or similar dark wood rather than the cheap rubbish plastic one I've got as it's cracked at one end from over tightening, but I can't seem to find them anywhere.

It's just a very expensive Ibanez Talman

IIRC, that shape was used for 12-string Teles, but it doesn't really work for a 6-string. It barely worked for a 12-string. The only good Fender 12-string headstock was the one on the Electric XII

Maple neck, black blocks, binding. Absolutely rancid. I've no idea why it's so popular. Rosewood and pearl isn't far behind, but maple and black is particularly awful. I don't mind binding and dots though on a rosewood fingerboard.

I think the Tele headstock works best on a Telecaster. It looks ok-ish on a 51-style P Bass but I think it best suits the Telecaster body shape. That said, I absolutely detest Telecaster-shaped basses. You know the ones; a standard Tele guitar shape, blown up to bass size. I think Squier made them as part of the Vintage Modified range, and I've seen a few rubbish home-made jobs too. it really, really doesn't work for a bass. And that's not 'IMO'; it's stone-cold fact.

Nice. I always wanted one but never managed to pick one up. I always thought that the 2 Jazz pickups look much better in these than a P/J combination. Ditto the chrome switch plates; whenever I see the modern ones with a big expanse of empty pickguard, i think they look naff, and pretty cheap. they always put me in mind of the cheapo Stagg ones from about 10 years ago. The MIJ Jags are the original and best.

That 60th Anniversary Precision is my dream bass.

An update: although my Peavey 4x10 was a great cab, I didn't need something that size when I'm only playing at home. I sold it with the intention of buying a Peavey 1x15 that would have matched my head, but got a message when the buyer was just minutes from my house to say that the Peavey had been sold. I picked up an Ashdown MAG 115 for fairly cheap but aesthetically I didn't like it (my amp is essentially furniture at this point), so when this Ampeg B115 popped up on Facebook for a fairly cheap price, I jumped on it. It looks much better with the Peavey and sounds pretty good too, although the Ashdown was louder than the Ampeg with the same settings on the head.

I'd only heard the name but never heard the pickups themselves. A lot of people were buying CVs and immediately ripping out the pickups and a lot of the hardware (mostly massive virgins on guitar forums) and then it became a widespread semi-fact that they were Toneriders. I think that includes the other Chinese-made signature models, like Biffy Clyro Strat & Jazz, and Matt Freeman P Bass. I've never bothered my derrière to look and see what it is but the pickup in my Matt Freeman is tremendous.

Everyone moans about Fender doing the same old thing, but surely that's the lesser of two evils if the other option is stinky poo like this? The Powercaster is the first half-decent new design they've come up with in years, even if it would look better with a Jazzmaster-style trem rather than a hardtail.

The original Chinese CVs were supposedly made in the same factory as Tonerider pickups, and there was talk on a forum somewhere of a Fender rep confirming that they were using unbranded Toneriders in the Classic Vibes.

Swapping to the 9050MLs was a great shout. I'd been struggling to get the action right with the 9050Ms and had thought for a while that switching to the lighter strings (.050 - .100 instead of .055 - .105) would get me to where I wanted to be and I wasn't far wrong. I haven't had a chance to adjust the action but even just with swapping the strings it's much more playable. I really like the brightness out of the packet; I had my last ones for around 18 months and they never really dulled like other flats do. I honestly can't see myself switching back from the Fenders now.

Insurance (both home and gear-specific) is already in place. Unfortunately there's not anyone I can get my gear to between now and leaving on Saturday morning. I'd given thought to sticking them in the back of the wardrobe but it's not secure enough for my liking. I'm going to be up in the loft to get suitcases and bags out tomorrow evening so I'll do it first as soon as I'm back from work before the heating gets switched on to see what the temperature's like, and make a decision then. If it's too hot, or more likely cold, I'll try and find somewhere else to store them, but if it seems ok I'll fire them up.