SpondonBassed

You are dead right. This is the nub of it. You can NOT buy soul unless you are the devil incarnate. Heeheehee

A good point. My own feeling is that I would like to use the instrument enough to build up my own patina. Like with the worn look jeans, it only looks good if the wear is genuine. Stone wash is only an approximation of the wear that an old pair of jeans gets through being broken in by one individual. The wear patterns are unique for that individual. Most people don't see that sort of detail. That or they choose not to. Then again, it may be that they just don't care... and really... why would they?

Talk about taking the wee wee. This instrument appears to have been defaced! Let's not try and convince ourselves that it has got that way through years of honest to goodness use as a gigging instrument.

In my opinion there is no need to ask the question, what you have is genuine battle damage complete with functional field repairs. If you can't live with the looks it is just the sort of thing that hapless hipsters fork out a lot of beer tokens for. Unless you let a restorer talk you down to a price that allows them to make a profit later on post-restoration that is. As a hack it looks quite respectable. All this assumes a playable instrument that sounds at least half-decent of course.

It would please me to think that it is so. I liken the practice of faking wear and tear to the practice of stone washing and ripping jeans that are sold as new on the retail market. The fact that folk pay for fakery of that sort makes me laugh. Having said that, I have room in my life to appreciate shabby chic. Examples like the one you've illustrated are fascinating to look at.

Brass is also a self lubricating material. That's a good quality to have because the strings are required to move slightly yet smoothly across the nut during tuning or with changes in ambient temperature and humidity.

That sounds interesting. I wish you every success.

I thought they looked like a series of parallel milled slots.

Talk about jumping in with a splash! That's a pair of eye catching rescues to start off with. Respect.

Are the slots for lightness? They'd normally be concealed, right?

Even without the top coat, that combination of grain textures is mesmerising. Excellent!

You'll have to rename yourself JJ-Bassist.

I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass by Nick Lowe. That would be the first cover that I learned. I still don't feel I do it justice forty years later...! Before that I was playing to original songs that were derivative of a lot of the eighties stuff from Smiths, Joy Div/New Order, REM and such. We were a side project of the drummer's and it was for a laugh more than for the gigs.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. (EJ version just for a laugh)

It works very well on a Yamaha RD400.

If the timber comes from a convent's amateur dramatics society clubhouse it will be verging on the ridiculous.

Swiftly followed by spin-offs - Touch my Timber and Buff my Bark.

Welcome Beau.

Welcome back Sté.

Welcome Steve.

Welcome Tony.

My housemate's eighteen month old identical twin grandsons appear to be developing with opposite handedness - one is using his left hand predominately the other, his right. It will be interesting to see how they get on when they start writing. When I started playing I found I had to think about finger placement a lot for my fretting (left) hand. At a certain point that became unnecessary as my left fingers became quite nimble. I believe most people have the capacity to improve their weaker hand given the motivation. I find using PC keyboards helps a lot. It is a long time since I was a two finger typist. Over the years I have learned to use all fingers and both thumbs so my hands have to travel less over the keyboard.

You may prefer the PJ pick up configuration of the 755 better than the HH of the 505. If you have the opportunity, try to get a play on the two types to help you decide.

Brass is about the most satisfying and rewarding of metals to work with a file. I'm enjoying the project too.

Welcome Steve.