Jean-Luc Pickguard

I have a strap for each bass which only come off if the bass goes into a case—ie stays attached when in a gigbag or hanging on the wall. I use the rubber grolsch thingys but on some basses I have also replaced the strap buttons with oversized 'mushroom' strap buttons which help add a little more security. I used schallers briefly in the 80s but after my Fender precision hit the deck and suffered damage I've not tried them since.

Here's the current incarnation of my bass board And my guitar board I bought a Fender mustang GTX100 guitar amp last week, which has a ton of fantastic sounding pedal models onboard—including a space echo which I have fallen in love with, so the guitar board is pretty much redundant now—apart from the SY-1 of course! I initially thought the GTX was just going to displace the MS-50G, but the overdrive, fuz and distortion models are actually usable and sound & behave like the real pedals to my unsophisticated ears. The spark mini on the bass board has also fallen out of favour as I replaced it with the mojomojo to add a bit of oomph when needed. I'll probably try to find a way to fit the SY1 on bass board. Maybe by removing the spark and repositioning the thumpinator. The Boss SY-1 is so easy to use and is the first usable guitar synth I have tried. I still have a casio MG-510 midi guitar somewhere, which was unusable due to latency and it was a faff to set up. I've owned a few other synth pedals over the years including an akai deep impact which I didn't keep for long, and an EHX organ thingy which didn't trigger well for me. The SY-1's triggering, lack of latency, ease of use and of course the sounds mean that it is probably a keeper.

If the truss rod adjustment is of the type with a cross at the end rather than a hexagonal hole for an allen key, once you have the appropriate cutout in the body (and pickguard) it can still be tricky to get a screwdriver in there for adjustment without causing damage, but there is a handy tool available from Stewmac that makes adjustment a doddle: https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-truss-rods/truss-rod-crank-for-tele I use one for my JMJ mustang. Mine came via a UK seller on ebay who had a few of these for sale.

The font used for the "Made in U.S.A." looks off to me.

I have sets on both of my Vintage pro thunderbirds which are at least a couple of years old. The ones I have aren't showing any rust, so I imagine I was lucky and got sets from a batch made after the issue was rectified.

I'd rather have one of Alan Lancaster's mustangs.

Ask for a photo of the tort before they cut, or even better photos of a selection of pieces so you can choose the exact piece used.

If it is a fuzz pedal you can tell when it is on as the bass will sound like a flatulent elephant—but in a good way. I hope this helps.

I recently got a custom pickguard from Brian Pillans (Earlpillanz) in Glasgow and will be getting another one soon for a squier bullet mustang once I have decided what I want. His customer service is excellent—and he really seems to go the extra mile. He has several colours of tort and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be able to accommodate a request to send a pic of an actual piece of material in stock before you place an order.

Until the time it doesn't work.

I 'won' the auction for a Fender mustang GTX100 guitar amp over the weekend and it was sent via Evri first thing Monday morning on a 48hr service. I think Evri might have misunderstood Einstein's theory of relativity and assumed that time passes more slowly for them the slower they move, as it has just been delivered this afternoon. The seller had kept the box but had disposed of the polystyrene blocks. No idea why he couldn't have kept them in the empty box. He promised it would be well padded with bubble wrap. For some reason he thought a single layer of bubblewrap a few miscellaneous torn bits of cardboard would protect a 100W amp with a 12" speaker. There was not enough material to prevent the amp moving in the box. Luckily the amp was not dropped or thrown and it has survived the journey, so I'm happy it is now here and seems to be in perfect condition. It is a massive upgrade from my vox ADI15VT—It sounds wonderful and I can control it from my iPad. I'm most surprised at how good the built-in pedal fx sound. My Zoom MS-50G and most of the other pedals on my guitar board are now redundant. I can't believe people think a single layer of bubble wrap is sufficient to offer proper protection if it had been dropped. Not as bad though as the set-neck Les Paul style guitar I once received (also via ebay sale) which turned up wrapped in nothing but a load of cling film and a 12" square of bubble wrap. I was lucky with that one as well.

Its Gilmour's guitar tone that ruins it. Apart from that it sounds alright for a live version.

The streak - Ray Stevens

Good morning Judge - 10cc

Turd on the run - the rolling stones

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth - Spike Jones

F.I.D.O - the Dirtbombs

Rinky Dinky Doo - Roy Brown

Call ashdown on 01621 857853 - they sorted me out several years ago when I blew a tweeter in a MAG cabinet.

Subterranean homesick blues - Bob Dylan

Our House - madness

The dinky little Roland microcube bass rx is surprisingly loud for its size and can be powered from six of poundland's finest AA batteries for several hours. It works really well with a Kala ubass and with the amp modelling the tonal options are very flexible, plus there's a built in preset compressor as well as digital fx: chorus/flanger/autowah/delay/reverb. I've used mine for unplugged rehearsals and jam sessions. As long as the ukes aren't amplified and no one's playing a drumkit (a cajon would be OK) it should be all you need—even for outdoor sessions.

You'd have to be quite flush to afford that one

Some of us like to tinker. Its less risky to customise a sub-£100 instrument than something considerably more expensive.