ikay

The bridge looks right for a Patriot as does the truss cover and triangular string tree. Good buy!

Fairly common practice I think, my ACG has a thin black veneer between the body and top wood.

This thread suggests it's 4mm -

The wiring diagram below should help.

I can't find any off the shelf but you could easily get one made. Tim at Scratch-It - http://www.originalscratchplates.com/ made a custom pickguard for me, very reasonably priced and I was very pleased with the result. I provided Tim with the pickguard material that I wanted to use along with a pattern and a few days later voila! You can buy single-ply vintage white pickguard material from ebay here - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Vanson-315mm-x-240mm-Scratchplate-Pickguard-Material-for-Electric-Guitars/111817601979?var=410802222888&epid=1466518721&hash=item1a08d933bb:g:JPoAAOSw5VFWO7Gi. Just use your existing black pickguard as a pattern.

A Rob Allen Mouse is a fabulous little bass (30" scale) if an acoustic/upright like tone is what you're after. I love mine, it's a cheeky little thing, the sort of bass that makes you smile when you pick it up! There are two for sale on BC at the moment which is a very rare occurrence:

The Fender neck finish is most likely to be poly rather than nitro. Looks like a very light tinted poly over sealed wood, but getting an exact match may be tricky.

Um, no single answer to what you're asking I don't think. Part of it is to do with how you're bass is set up and part is down to the construction of the strings. Also how you play. For example, having a higher break angle over the bridge (or nut - via a string tree or more windings on tuning post to push string down) will make strings feel a little stiffer (ie. less compliant). If you play with a light touch you may get away with a very low action and using medium (or even light) tension strings. Some general construction factors affecting string tension/stiffness include: - Strings with a hex core will generally feel stiffer than a round core (they may be the same tension but will feel stiffer) - Pressure wound strings will generally be higher tension than regular round wounds of the same gauge - Flat wound strings will generally be higher tension than regular round wounds of the same gauge These are just basic guidelines, the best thing is to try out a few different strings and see what works for you. From what Ped says, the Elixirs sound to be slightly higher tension than some other strings so they may be worth a try. As for where Ernie Ball 45-105s sit in the 'tension spectrum', I'd say pretty much in the middle.

Ernie Ball don't provide string tension measurements but this D'Addario string tension guide may be of some help - http://www.daddario.com/upload/tension_chart_13934.pdf See P10 for Nickel Roundwound Bass strings. The tensions for the equivalent gauges to yours would be: 45 - 42.8lbs, 65 - 51.3lbs, 85 - 48.4lbs, 105 - 40.3 lbs = total 182.8lbs. Ernie Ball string construction (core/windings etc) may be slightly different to D'Addario so won't have exactly the same tension as this but should be pretty close. 45-105 is what Fender use as a factory fitted string gauge so it's a sort of de facto 'standard' as far as string gauge/tension goes. As a rough guide, 40-100s would be considered 'light', 50-110s would be considered 'heavy'. Of course the exact gauges/tensions and combinations used do vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

You have been spoiled! Most preamps have no low battery warning. Some just go dead and can leave you high and dry mid-song. With others the sound quality deteriorates shortly before it dies. Either way always have a spare battery to hand! I put a bit of masking tape on the battery cover and mark the date when the battery was last changed. That at least gives me some idea of when the next change is going to be due. If you have (or can add) an active/passive switching option so much the better.

This sounds about right to me, amps can pick up all sorts of interference from nearby mobile phones

I use MuseScore which is free and does everything I need it to. MuseScore has a feature called 'voices' which I think allows for simple vocal scores - https://musescore.org/en/handbook/voices

Re 70s J bridge pickup position - my '72 measures 377mm from 12th fret to centreline of the pickup poles.

The 'regular' series wiring for a Jazz (with the two pickups configured as a very wide aperture series humbucker and single volume control) gives a thick and chunky sound which is very usable but a bit one dimensional. It's quite a bit louder and somewhat darker in tone with less sparkly highs than a standard Jazz sound. The phase cancellation in series mode is actually much less apparent than with both pickups on full using standard Jazz wiring (which is effectively a wide aperture parallel humbucker). I have a medium scale Jazz with a series switch. It's a useful alternative tone to have on tap but in practice I don't use it that often. A Jazz just sounds better when it sounds like a Jazz to my ears!

Useful tip, but won't a hairdryer stir up a lot of dust and swap one problem for another?

This (old) TB thread mentions that British Audio Services (Nashville) sell a CD which includes the AH600SMX schematic for $15. May be worth contacting them if you can't find it elsewhere. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/need-schematic-for-trace-elliot-ah600-smx.389111/ Or try a UK Trace repair centre such as https://www.proaudioservice.co.uk/bass-amplifier-repair/

If the bass is a P with an added J then generally the P is in the exact same place. If the bass is a J with a P neck pickup then it's generally a little bit north of where it should be. The other common positional variation with P/Js is having the J pickup in the 60s or 70s position. I agree with Misdee about Yamaha BBs being among the best sounding P/Js. Particularly models with a hot blade J bridge pickup like the BB1024 etc. A regular J pickup just sounds weak when matched with a P and isn't man enough for the job IME.