Jackroadkill

Some hazard tape or a rope light (suitable fastened down) can be good.

Great stuff - I was waiting for his name to crop up!

I live just down the road from Tony; he rebuilt my Les Paul a few times in my more exuberant younger days. He's still building, but I'm not sure under what name, as he's had a few names that he's traded under. Somewhere I have a Revellation neck and body without hardwear - I think it might be at my Mum's.

Keef Richards when he was in the Dirty Mac.

If you know, you know, eh?!

Absolutely brilliant - take no prisoners!

My feelings exactly. I don't understand why this seems to be a problem for some people!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!! Man, that's dedication!

She might not be as "good" as Marcus Miller/Jaco/Raphael/Donatello/Splinter/your favourite bass player from 40 years ago but she's much more in the current zeitgeist; I don't know her or her music but it's nice to see a bass player who's seen as both being part of a change in the established order of things and interesting enough to appeal to a demographic of future bass players who may otherwise not be exposed to the instrument.

Absocockinglutely.

When I was a youngster I had a Hohner B Bass V, which was essentially a Jack but with a head, five strings and a JJ active configuration. It was a milestone for me because that was the bass that made me realise that bass playing wasn't an easy job and that if I wanted to get better at it I'd have to work hard and actually learn my craft; so... I sold it and moved to rhythm guitar instead. Fast forward to 2022 and I sacked the guitar off, bought a Player P and am loving it. For me, those two are my milestones - neither posh, vintage, sought after or particularly special, but they're the ones that stick in my mind when I think about the countless instruments I've owned.

Okay, so this is the earliest juncture at which I felt I could provide meaningful picture without causing anyone to lose their dinner; It's all still very delicate as well as only having a small amount of feeling in it. I tried fretting a couple of notes just now and it didn't go well - it hurt like hell and I couldn't really feel what I was doing. Now, neither of these came as a surprise, as the skin is still really thin after the whole lot was sloughed off in a oner during a dressing-change a couple of weeks back. It's improving daily, though, which is good. A week ago the finger was about 3mm thicker front to back than it is in the above pictures, and it seems to be getting less swollen every day, although any decent activity with it causes the rate to slow. It's never going to look pretty but it does appear that given plenty of time and some faux-physio it'll come right. I have a gig in December (only with a local Scout group!) so I'd like to be able to play a little at that. Cheers, JRK

I draw the line at cutting nuts and dressing frets, but other than that I've never had any tech work done at all. This stems from having an enquiring mind as a youngster and being broke as an adult. I really enjoy the hands-on approach to my instruments and have always been happy with my own work on them.

Same here - I'd love a Mustang with a full-length scale.

I think the easiest way to look at it is like this: Ped's house, Ped's rules.

Hey, if anyone claims you're not up to snuff, you just send them to me and I'll put the buggers straight!

A set of rounds and, if you want to push the boat out a bit, an upgrade of the pots and cap can be good, too.

I use an old 1970's Trio amp and some 1990's JPW Gold speakers if I'm at my desk and a JBL Charge 5 bluetooth speaker if I'm not. Both sound good and let me jam along with songs that I'm learning.

You need to form a band and have that as the name. It would be a waste to let it go begging!

This.

@E sharp, that's really hard news. Best regards to yourself and your bandmates, especially the poor man with the horrid diagnosis.

Your secret is safe with us, Rob!

Luckily he couldn't play the guitar either!

I joined my first band before I'd owned or played an instrument (and no, I don't mean I was the singer!) - my honest advice would be to get together with some friends and just have a jam, and at that point you'll know what you're looking at a bit more clearly. One thing's for certain - playing with other people will bring you on in leaps and bounds.