Recent content by OLD-PLAYER

In the early 80's I met Ray while playing with Tommy Tedesco (who I already knew) wandering around NAMM with a 3rd guy with brushes and a stool/box. They were playing Jazz, and Tommy was being his usual funny self telling semi-off-color jokes, and having fun with the fans that walked by.

My Stratocaster has a darker Pau Ferro board, and it's great! Much tighter and smoother than Rosewood. But, I suppose I would prefer (in a perfect world) a nice dark piece of Ebony, which is hard to find these days.

My preferred fingerboard woods are, in order of playability. (1) Finished Maple, (2) Ebony, (3) Indian Rosewood, (4) Pau Farro, (5) Richlite, (6) Rosewood. I prefer tight grain, smooth feel, even and fast. Sadly, I've NEVER been a big fan of Rosewood (no matter what the current trend is). Ever...

He does great work, he's dependable and fast! Well worth the investment. I added one of his black pickguards along with a few "minor" upgrades (Grover Mini Tuners, Kickass Bridge and tree, Dimarzio Quarter Pounder, a USA made custom wiring harness and Schaller Straplocks). I then re-cut the...

Yep, and "250" RMS is just fine for me. I LOVE mine, I've never wanted for more "juice", not even close. But, I'm a semi-retired Pop, Jazz, Country, Light Rock cover guy these days. I can't speak to how it would hold up in a big time arena mix, or in a Heavy Metal Band. For my purposes it's...

Absolutely! The last nice looking Precision Junior I saw listed was in 2018, and they were pushing for $2k! I don't know what they eventually settled for, but it was certainly more than $800! From what I recall, they were only manufactured for 2 years, in the very early 2000's.

I agree. As a 50 year guitar player, I've always kept a short scale bass for occasional studio situations. At 28" scale this squire feels comfortable, almost the same as playing one of my Strats. It even fits in a Strat/Telly moulded case. As for upgrades to a $175 bass, I've replaced everything...

Actually they are pretty easy to find up there. Just be wary of the ones who use their own printer to make them. They look great, until you try to apply them.

Ah yes... OLDFRET.com was the standard bearer! (as I pour one out, in their memory) These days everybody with a printer is selling "decals" on EBay. Unfortunately 90% of them are low quality and literally impossible to work with! I've had better luck buying decals from people on ETSY.

In 1978 I ran onstage and plugged the cable into the top of my new (Alembic Style) Ibanez (to which I'd already added a Switchraft Switch & Jack) then tripped and in the process ripped a 3" hole in the top of the guitar (in front of about 1000 people). Fighting back the tears, I got back up and...

I agree. By the way, I don't make any upgrades for the TOAN/TONE. That's like chasing Unicorns. Just remember, your RIG is as dependable as it's weakest link! I make upgrades for dependability. I've had equipment fail at the WRONG time (too many times) and I know what works best for me (and the...

All caps fail eventually. They don't last forever.

I use matched BOURNS pots (I live in Riverside, 2 mi from their Corporate Headquarters), good quality cloth wrapped wire (instead of cheap import wire) a quality orange cap, and switchcraft switches and jacks (which I solder myself because I've been a guitar tech for 50 years). Properly...

OK. As to the electronics/wiring/pots. On paper they may "say" they have the same specs, but in real-life selecting high-quality pots, cloth wrapped wiring, and Switchcraft switches will usually give you the cleanest, most reliable signal/connection. (with less signal loss) Those factory...

I've been playing since 1968, and I've never seen a bass string "break" before. I've seen where the outer wrapping may have started to come loose, but that's usually more of a cosmetic issue than anything else.