Hellzero

Heat and humidity affect neck (and body too) stability as it's wood, so adjusting the truss rod is totally normal. And the more seasoned, the less wood will be affected, but this process can take decades if not centuries... Here is a weird true story. To check his guitar building stability and glue strength, Robert Taylor said he always put a guitar in its case in the trunk of his car in plain sun in the desert for a few hours. If it doesn't move, this means that he has attained his goal : a bloody stable and almost indestructible instrument also proving he's using high quality seasoned woods and top notch glue and gluing process.

I did the holes shielding method once on a Jazz Bass, took ages, but it's working as good as a wire soldered. Furthermore, the grounding plate of the pickups will be "earthed" too, so it's more than enough. You should invest in a cheap multimeter, after all, all you need is being able to check continuity, pickups impedance, pots, a few tensions here and there and maybe check a capacitor or diode. It's only a few quids well spent.

Ask @Andyjr1515. 😉

Here are the "Luminlays" (Le Fay are making them themselves) on my Remington Steele fingerboard.

May I join the club as I only play with my fingers. I don't like the sound of a pick even if I can come very close to my fingerstyle sound. And remember that it's easier to forget to take a pick (plectrum for the others) for a gig or rehearsal than a finger, without speaking of losing one. 😉

You mean S-shaped ?

Very nice, Ben ! Excellent work. No more TLRT's, so 💙.

Here's the official quote by the Blue Book : And according to the serial number it's a 1978 model :

Yep, it's a Guild. 🤣

And he can't count, one is supposed to be a sixer...

I have nothing for you @Teebs, but you can have all my sympathy, as long as you pay all the postage fees.

No marks with mine, but it's only one month and five days old... Will now be more careful and check regularly. 😉

Stupidity, I guess... Or maybe because I have no (long) hair anymore... 😂 The one shown is Tony Franklin own model, but I had the same, now very long gone.

Another Tony used to own a fretless Jaydee for years that made me want to play one after watching his Fretless bass with Tony Franklin VHS tape... I generally don't like black basses, but a black fretless bass with an ebony fingerboard is always a beauty !

This doesn't look like carbon at all, but the more classic plywood or MDF... Carbon dust ist not really white. I know it's written AeroTech on it, which is even more weird.

Don't forget to link each copper shielding to ground otherwise it will be useless. And it's really very often forgotten. So solder a wire between the two cavities and a wire from the main one to the grounded pot. Use star grounding for optimal results.

This must be one of your early attempt then...

Are you a designer ?

Weirdly, the all time award winning ugliest bass ever has not been shown. Now it even comes in a colour fitting the shape... When designers have sh*t in their brain, this is what happens. How wrong can a design be ? Check the photo above...

@BillyBass You forgot one very important point : 4) Go to a real luthier who is also a bass player (there are some) and get your bass totally set up to your taste while staying there when he is doing the work. And don't forget that the strings have also a great impact on the sound. Come with your amp too. You have excellent pickups on your bass, so the "issue" certainly is the perfect setup. Sometimes it takes me 2 to 3 hours to have a perfect setup on a bass and I've set up thousands...

A fretted Fender Tony Franklin signature model will also be perfect just like any very good sounding P-Bass with an added Jazz Bass pickup in the bridge position, which is a typical 80's mod. Avoid the expensive Yamaha BB2024X that sound really dull, especially compared to an old Yamaha TRB-4P...

An old Yamaha TRB-4P will tick all the boxes.