discreet

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1439736339' post='2845317'] Black guards were phased in by 1975. It's hard to see in the picture, but the thumbrest screws may be above the E string, either way in 69 they should be below the G string. That ain't the original guard. [/quote] You have better eyesight than me, I can't see any thumbrest screws! But you're right, if the thumbrest is on the bass side it's 73 and after, which I believe is the year the thumbrest (or tugbar), was moved from the treble side.

As far as I can make out, 60s custom colours had white (or parchment or mint) and tort guards. Apart from the single-ply black guard that was used from 51-56, there were no black guards until the slab bass of 66, then it reappeared sporadically from around 74 and was standard by 76. So the black guard is a 70s thing. But knowing Fender I'm sure it's quite possible they had one on a 69... it would have been one of the very first, though. I am of course ready to be corrected on this.

[quote name='40hz' timestamp='1439727770' post='2845230'] Looks a very Dark Green on my mob! [/quote] D'oh! The OP will have to go and look at it in meatspace. And I bet his credit card takes a battering, too.

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1439727348' post='2845229'] I find that it is better to concentrate on playing than to obsess about instruments ...I enjoy making music and am therefore "happy". [/quote] I totally agree - and have recently begun to do so (again) after a relatively long period of trying out many different basses. It's been a fun and interesting experience though, and at no point did I ever think I'd find a bass that would magically make me a better player, or would increase the size of my gonads. The conclusion I've come to is, that by and large most bass guitars sound pretty much the same when they're in the mix, and if you can pick out what the bass is doing it's probably too loud or you're playing it wrong. *Runs away*

I know that LPB can age to a very dark green, so 'dark green' could conceivably age to almost black or a very dark blue/grey. There's no trace of green on my monitor, but that means nothing. What it actually is, or was, is irrelevant really. Just consider it black.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1439715521' post='2845114'] Dump em! [/quote] In any other circumstance I would, but they are otherwise very great friends and I've known them all for at least forty years. I have various other projects on the go anyway, but I've decided to deal with it by looking for a proper band who take things a bit more seriously, are prepared to commit, put the effort in and take it as far as it will go - but I'll continue to rehearse with me old mates say, once a fortnight - and regard it as a social event like they do, where we hook up and play a few numbers just for the hell of it. They're obviously not bothered about gigging anyway, so I'll never be double-booked. Getting them to do anything is like herding cats, so I won't bother in future... but I really think it would be churlish of me to fall out with them over this. Just having a typical forum vent really, so apologies for that.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1439675865' post='2844965'] Totally agree about drink and 'smokes'. I certainly like a drink, but not when we're playing. [/quote] Don't get me wrong, I think chemical assistance has its place in the perception of music and in its generation, by which I mean ideas. Just not when rehearsing or gigging or otherwise attempting to be professional.

I usually play bass about three or four hours a day. But I don't necessarily play our set. I suspect the band only play through the set when we're at rehearsal, which is at most once a week. This explains why someone always forgets something in every number. I find this very frustrating of course. My solution used to be to have a couple of beers before rehearsals so I would play down to their level, or at least not care when they fecked it up. They countered this by turning up drunk as well, so it became a race to the bottom. But now I've given up the booze I can't do that any more. So I've started looking for other work. I used to mock 'wanted' ads which said 'no people with booze or drug problems', but now absolutely agree with them. So many people I've played with in the past see rehearsal not only as a social event (which is wrong anyway imho), but as an opportunity to get pissed-up or stoned speechless. Then they can't play and/or can't remember what they're doing, or worse, they have to be in the same state they were when they learnt the material. Up with this I cannot put! /RANT Edit: Audition tomorrow evening, wish me luck...

I don't understand the question.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1439553330' post='2843822'] ...my main job is I print the set-lists. [/quote] [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1439556048' post='2843858'] I've taken on the set list role as well. [/quote] I do the set lists, too! No-one asked me to do it... in fact if I didn't, there just wouldn't be any bloody set lists.

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1439558408' post='28] I got the pic off of Face book and just made the whole thing up for the sheer hell of it [/quote] Nicely done!

JJ Burnel famously got his trademark sound (at least early on) from a cab with blown drivers in it, which was either a Marshall 4X12 or some flavour of 8X10 depending on which of the stories you believe...

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1439542986' post='2843659'] Can you post some pictures? [/quote] If the bass is as damaged as the OP says it is, then I'd send it back. It's one thing to have a bit of wear and tear in the areas where you'd expect wear and tear, that doesn't necessarily mean the bass has had a hard time of it. But if it's been dropped from waist height onto a hard surface commensurate with straplock or strap button failure, then that's a different matter. The OP did not get this bass at a bargain price. If you do the conversion from euro to pounds sterling it's not a big reduction for a bass that could be seriously damaged. If a bass has been dropped in this way it's not something that can be cleaned up or glossed over, it could be structurally compromised. Even if it's a great player we must assume from what we've read from people who own these basses that they are consistent, and a different bass from the same manufacturer that is in good condition will be as good as the OP's.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1439476999' post='2843210'] And I don't look a day over 80...[/quote] You dont! It must be those hormone pills...

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1439490274' post='2843372'] A great playing and sounding bass in tatty nick is worth far more in my view than a pristine instrument that doesn`t play, sound or balance well. [/quote] So true - it might be 'the one' and you'll forever regret sending it back!

If it's 'used', you should expect a [i]bit [/i]of wear. Not sure what I'd do to be honest, without seeing the bass. Maybe keep it - after all, you usually have to pay over the odds for that kind of mojo... If it plays really well and sounds as good as you say it does and the 'wear' isn't threatening the playability or the structure of the bass then I'd probably hang onto it and ask for a partial refund. Just my 2p of course - I don't really like shiny new basses.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1439470778' post='2843117'] He started on trumpet when he was given one on his 14th birthday. [/quote] I too started out on trumpet on my 14th birthday! After which, McCartney's career went in a rather different direction from my own. *Sigh* At least I didn't write 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1439475922' post='2843197'] I don't think I could bring Myself to deal with an Organisation that uses so many Capital Letters at the start of Nouns ...and Adjectives. In Fact Any Random Words. [/quote] But It Gives Emphasis To Important, Er... Things.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1439472573' post='2843137'] You could easily have forty years of pro bass playing ahead of you. [/quote] [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1439472739' post='2843138'] I picked up a bass for the first time in my life on my 49th birthday. [/quote] See? Jack is living proof!!

Nicely done! But 47 isn't old. You could easily have forty years of pro bass playing ahead of you. Congratulations!

Bedside Manners Are Extra! Haven't heard that order of words for a long time! I seem to remember a Roger Dean cover with a multi-armed being and marble eggs, but my memory of that time is a bit hazy to say the least...

Nicely done. You really can't beat the Ash/Maple combination. You don't need more than one humbucker and two controls! But surely you can't be 40 [i]again[/i], mate... just sayin'.