Need help modifying a vintage mofidied jazz bass to be more vintage

[Kipaste]

Hey!

I gave up playing bass for a few years. It didn't last. My pride and joy was a MIA 78 fender jazz which I sold and now regret. I decided I'm not going to spend thousands on a bass anymore, so I bought a vintage modified squier jazz bass. Very nice bass for the money, I must say. Also the first maple fretboard bass I've ever owned. I think I'm going to allow myself to spend a few more hundreds on this thing, so I have some questions.

I'd like to apply some lacquer on the neck to get that nice tinted colour. Is the lacquer called nitrocellulose or something similar? Where can it be bought from and is it easy to apply? Also, do I apply the lacquer on the fretboard also?

Also the hardware needs to go, I guess fender tuners and badass bridge will do the trick?

As I used to own more expensive instruments, I've never really changed pickups. I really wan't to keep it passive, but what kind of pickups should I look at? Soundwise, the only thing I'm looking for is FAT. Does anyone have any recommendations?