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If you're gunna do it, at least change the strap!

In general I don't really like the look of black-on-black.

But at least it isn't pink on black.

Most importantly, I know you don't actually care what some internet tuba doofus thinks.

If you wanna take it a step further, I’ve got a fresh neck, a body, and some pickups you could have. Even trade, your parts for mine.

But for real though, the black looks nice on it. They both work well.

windshieldbug wrote: Sat Jun 27, 2026 1:26 pm If you're gunna do it, at least change the strap!

Yeah...I seriously need could use a better strap...and my old Hamilton guitar stand has gone missing (but - were it to find it - the rubber is probably all rotted.

I saw the Hercules stand that I want on eBay for only $40 (shipping incl.) I should have grabbed it.
(They are ALWAYS $50, shipping incl.)

...The band leader brings this stand (for me to use) to every gig. I REALLY like it.
(I can get this wholesale - jobber for $40...I just need to have some sort of stuff that I need to order to go WITH it, so that shipping is - de facto - free.)

I like both pickguards. I have quite a few that I've rotated out on my basses. The nice thing about them is it is very much like a hat. Try it on. Wear it for a while....and you can go back to the other when/if decide. No modifications.

I played a black-on-black bass for many years, in many genres. So it was good for everything from combos to big bands at black tie functions, as well as bar bands playing all sorts of music, and even the harder stuff on occasion. It blends into the background so you can do your job. Yes, my vote is black.

iiipopes wrote: Sat Jun 27, 2026 5:01 pm I played a black-on-black bass for many years, in many genres. So it was good for everything from combos to big bands at black tie functions, as well as bar bands playing all sorts of music, and even the harder stuff on occasion. It blends into the background so you can do your job. Yes, my vote is black.

Besides the batmobile look, I was thinking the same thing.

One billion dollars......

well...
My son owed me for a new water pump and serpentine belt on his Camry.
I also towed his car on my 16 ft trailer to the shop, to avoid a jillion-dollars towing fee (as well as avoiding risking burning up the engine).
He offered to pay me off with this.
Being a reasonable father, I handed him my working condition 1990s Peavey TNT BW so he'd have something.
I'm keeping my 12-in Polytone Minibrute from 1982. I'll probably use it a lot. (I bought it - way back then - to use in a European tour with a jazz band.)
That said, this BA115 sounds a whole lot better than either of those, as any of you might imagine. In particular, (regardless of the tone range that I dial in) I'm hearing a lot more of my right hand fingers in the sound with this Ampeg, rather than just the beginning of a pitch.
In summary: my son (who isn't playing very much bass at all) is happy to be out of debt, I'm happy for him to be out of debt, and I'm really happy with this amplifier.
I've got a Fourth of July gig with my combo (Americana oldies, jazz, country, a mix of all sorts of styles) opening up for the local symphony orchestra (probably a pretty good "throng" of folks - with one of those fancy stages set up near the airport...so probably a flyover as well), so this came into my hands just in time (though I suppose I could have borrowed it, it's nice to own it).
Some of you will understand this:
With a much better sound, my mind isn't being distracted by a not-ideal sound, and I'm actually playing more imaginative (though don't get me wrong: not overdone) bass lines to the standards that we play.
It was a good trade, even though I could have bought one of these used for less than the cost of the car repair... I still would have had to find one, and who knows if it would have been in new condition - as is this one.
OK...Now that my '73 Jazz bass has the new "batmobile" look (black-on-black), the only thing I have left to do is to put a couple of new foam/spring thingies underneath the pickups (as the half-century old ones have given up, and the pickups no longer stay up where they belong. That's cheap/easy.

I just ordered myself a new pickguard to go on my Music Man Sterling (USA). It started out with a white pickguard.......that I must have thrown out. I can't find it anywhere. Then I purchased a tortoise guard for it. It had that until I bought a Sterling by Musicman SB4 (foreign clone) in candy apple red. And it looked great with the tortoise guard.

What did I buy? I bought a white/black/white (original style) guard for cheap off Reverb.

Tortoise shell is the best choice for sunburst.

bloke wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2026 10:07 am Tortoise shell is the best choice for sunburst.

I don't disagree. This is what I am returning it back to. This picture is from the Chicago Music Exchange, where I purchased it.

The new pickguard arrived. It was custom cut to order. It fit perfectly. Now it looks like it did from the factory (USA).
My 2 (modified, electrics and aesthetics) Sterling by Music Man SB4 (Indonesian)

I have to get used to this bass culture of bass players owning all these bass guitars.

I own "a", bass.

bloke wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2026 10:07 am Tortoise shell is the best choice for sunburst.

You would fit right in over at the TalkBass forum.

bloke wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2026 9:44 am I have to get used to this bass culture of bass players owning all these bass guitars.

I own "a", bass.

Yeah, Two pix attached. In pic #1, the bass at the far left is my Rickenbacker 4002 (yes, "2," not "1" or "3") that was my only bass for years and years. Then John Hall, retired owner of RIC, spouted off, "4002? We didn't make many of those. They're as rare as hen's teeth." Well, that immediately added a zero to the value, making it a theft hazard. So I designed and had built the blue fanned-fret P-style bass. That's the one I played on the PBS TV Welk special "Precious Memories." Link to its description: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-diff ... ss.755914/ . The 5-string is the bass I played for years, described above. It has been modified extensively with new neck, pickups, etc. Most of the rest, since you used to be able to get these basses cheap, are various experiments with pickups, wiring, strings, on-board accessories, etc., to see how they play. Most are 32-inch scale, which I find easier on my hands than full "Fender standard" 34-inch scale. The grey 30-inch bass is my travel bass that fits in a guitar gig bag and went on numerous trips with my band to Mexico, because I could put it in an overhead and not have to check-tag it.

In my defense, every one of these basses have earned their keep with gigs over the years. I won't take up Mark's bandwidth any further except to say that now that my party band has retired, I have actually played more gigs and actually on a more regular basis with my Kala Ukulele bass with Uke66, a husband-and-wife duo that I accompany. I have one more bass in the works: a P-style bass with a slightly smaller body for weight, 32-inch scale, and the upgrades I have decided I like from all the other projects and experiments. Pix attached:

I get it.
(Other than 1950s and 1960s original Fender basses in really good condition with really good necks) when an "expensive" bass guitar is defined as $5,000 or maybe $7,000 (a cheap tuba) good playable bass guitars (occasionally - when someone really lucks out - only $300) can tend to pile up.

I don't see myself with any more bass guitars unless just one more (but probably not), and I may scale down the tubas yet again (as I've been known to do in the past).

When I have similar stuff (or if the people hiring me to play suddenly change from these people to those people, and certain instruments aren't being used very much anymore) that's when I start looking around and seeing things as expensive wall and floor decorations.

I like looking at a bunch of different instruments (and certainly playing on them for a few minutes, if their owners allow it) but I've never been any sort of collector...(OK...I collected coins when I was a kid - until the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market and their silver value was more than their collector value... and I sold all of them off just before Christmas, 1980...nearly $50/oz.).

If I actually get a third bass guitar (after getting a second one - if I ever do get a second one), the third one would probably be a fretless, just in case I don't have the courage to quit a band, and would just prefer to be fired from it.

bloke wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2026 9:54 am If I actually get a third bass guitar (after getting a second one - if I ever do get a second one), the third one would probably be a fretless, just in case I don't have the courage to quit a band, and would just prefer to be fired from it.

Seriously, concerning the pickguard, as you mentioned above about a sunburst P-bass with a tort pickguard: have you considered a tort pickguard on your J-bass? I think that would look best of all.