Jean-Luc Pickguard

Totally bonkers

good idea. If I can find something cheaper than the Fender ones I might do that

I used a superfine sanding pad to remove the remaining parts of of the logo. This came off easily and the face of the headstock still has a complete layer of the original thin finish, so it won't need any additional finishing before applying a waterslide decal. I have ordered a new decal from voodoo decals in Portugal. He doesn't have any harley benton ones so I had to order a Fender Precsion bass (1957 style) one instead!

I asked a friend for ideas for how to reshape the headstock of my PB50. He suggested using an angle grinder with a velcro sanding pad and various grades of abrasive. I would never have thought of this and had no idea of how well it would work, but as he had the necessary tools and offered to do the job, I took the neck over to his place yesterday and he had a go. I think it came out really well. I just need to do a bit of hand sanding and it will be ready for refinishing.

I think you're right. I just did a search on Ali Express and found some jaguar guitars with the same weird shaped control plates.

Anyone recognise this bass? I'm pretty sure its not a Fender but looks like something cheap with a dodgy decal. I don't recognise the weird control plates. The tuners appear to be the same as those used on some Harley Bentons. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185379483099

Gear Acquisition Syndrome

At least

I have one of those (actually an '81 with an S9 serial). The only problem is that cherry burst was used on Ash bodies, and the ash bodies Fender was making at that time would have been lighter had they been made of cast iron.

I never used to enjoy soldering as I could never get the solder to flow well. I eventually came to the conclusion that the soldering iron I bought from Maplin wasn't suitable for working with the only solder Maplin sold - ie lead-free. Once I managed to source some decent lead/tin solder my soldering skills improved as if by magic and it was fun again.

Making a loom for a bass a couple of days ago reminded me of something I should confess: The first few times I used cloth covered wire I was cursing how fiddly it was to trim the insulation from the ends as wire strippers didn't work well on it. It was only relatively recently that I realised you just push the insulation up to expose the core.

It a new knob day for the Harley Benton PB50 I bought from shoulderpet a few days ago. I made a new loom with CTS/switchcraft components yesterday, and as I prefer to use solid shaft CTS pots, the original knobs had to go as they wouldn't fit the pots. I ordered some extra knurly ones from axecaster.co.uk and chose nickel plating rather than chrome for a more vintage appearance. They arrived in the post this morning, and I think they look the business.

Have you tried clicking the 'X' on the right-hand side of the bar?

I’d not seen this documentary before. I’m sure a few people here will enjoy it.

I usually like quirky basses, especially short scales; but I don't like anything about this fugly monstrosity

That's definitely an aftermarket defret. I wonder whether the weirdly large pickguard it is hiding any additional routing? It looks like it has a couple of extra strap buttons on the back of the body also.

I would even know where to start if I had to defret a bathtub

good job! I have also had success using white milliput to build up the nut slots on a guitar and then file down after leaving it to set overnight.

The secret to playing a walking jazz bassline is to play a note on every beat. Any note. But never play the same note twice in succession. You don’t need a chord chart or even need to know what key everyone’s playing in. Try it and make a youtube video of the results.

Wow! It looks great with the matching cab. It hurts my back just to look at it though. How does it sound?

The six pole single coil thing has been common knowledge since the bronco's ancestor, the musicmaster bass was first available in 1971, so I doubt many people would be surprised.

Which ethnic group would that be?

Why not agree to their offer to send a courier and direct them to the address of the local constabulary?