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I have half rounds on mine and really like them. More definition than flats and none of the clank of rounds.
Pickguard photo request: I have a few thoughts on what I'd like to do with the pickguards on my Vistas, but I'd love to see your photos of your non-standard pickguard colors. Though I am willing to be swayed, my initial thoughts are this:
- Blue gets a lightly aged pearloid
- Black gets a black guard ( though I'm intrigued by the idea of a gold anodized one to set off the headstock lettering)
- White gets black or a dark tort
- Pink (still waiting to find one; sigh) probably lightly aged pearloid
I'm a fan of mint but it doesn't get much TB love. Kinda gives it a subtle vintagey look.
I should hold my mint Jag guard up to them and see how it looks. I pulled that one off in favor of an aged pearloid (looks amazing on the hot rod red). Be right back...
When I said "be right back" apparently I meant two hours. Distractions aside, I dug out some old stuff and put it in the photos to see what it might look like.
I actually really like the mint. I would have never thought to use that color. Underneath is the stock white that has aged to cream. The second photo shows some samples from pickguardian that I requested when I bought a new guard for my Jag. All are various colors of pearl (plus the mint thrown in for comparison). The third pic shows my Jag with it's pearl parchment guard (the middle of the three samples). Note the Vista is much more blue in this photo; I edited the first two to make the color closer to real life. The third I left alone because editing the blue to more of a green on my phone also changed the red too much (which is spot on).
I actually really like the mint. I would have never thought to use that color. Underneath is the stock white that has aged to cream. The second photo shows some samples from pickguardian that I requested when I bought a new guard for my Jag. All are various colors of pearl (plus the mint thrown in for comparison). The third pic shows my Jag with it's pearl parchment guard (the middle of the three samples). Note the Vista is much more blue in this photo; I edited the first two to make the color closer to real life. The third I left alone because editing the blue to more of a green on my phone also changed the red too much (which is spot on).
I'd put a tort pickguard on the black one in a heartbeat. Mint might look good on the white, although tort would too. The blue/green Vistas pretty much stand out on their own... pearloid would be my choice there. Pink I would leave stock. Just my 2 cents 
Hi guys, I have a chance to buy one of these for $275 + shipping. Is this a good price?
It's in decent shape and I've never even seen one where I live so I don't expect it to last long. I'm just about to pull the trigger but want to make sure I'm not paying too much.
It's in decent shape and I've never even seen one where I live so I don't expect it to last long. I'm just about to pull the trigger but want to make sure I'm not paying too much.
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it; I'm not a tort-on-black guy. I tried the mint on the white and it was not a good match.I'd put a tort pickguard on the black one in a heartbeat. Mint might look good on the white, although tort would too. The blue/green Vistas pretty much stand out on their own... pearloid would be my choice there. Pink I would leave stock. Just my 2 cents
I also tried it on the black and it wasn't a good combo.
It depends on the color. If it's black, you can do better. White, blue or pink: average to good depending on the shipping cost. What color?
Headstock. The vintage Fender Musicmasters don't compare to these. They had a strat pickup and inferior hardware. I have an American Fender pbass with Chromes on it (with a SD Quarter Pound pickup) and one my Vista MMs has Chromes. They sound very similar, but the Vista has a bit more midrange presence as the Quarter Pound pup is quite mid-scooped compared to a standard pbass pup.
That's just what I was hoping it would sound like. How does the fretwork compare to your other basses?
All my Vistas are pretty good. On the white and the blue I can get pretty low action without much buzz. The black is currently out of commission as it's still wearing the awesome (but super-low tension) nylon tapewound strings. They just aren't high enough tension to pull the neck out of it's back bow. I'll probably be putting something a bit heavier on there sometime soon, but first I need to strip it down to parts and clean up the rust on the hardware.
Burl, I think you/we should at this point possibly consider adding your name to the club, seeing as how you are one of our premier posters... what do you think?
If you want to, go for it. I don't really care one way or the other. I do intend to keep posting as I love these little basses. My Rainman-like quest for the pink one goes on.
Here are some quick photoshop options. The first photo of each bass is the current pickguard.
The one I feel strongest about is the black on black. That's definitely happening.
The blue is tougher. I'll preface it by saying that my poor attempts at mocking up the mint pearl and parchment pearl are not that great and the pearl colors are more vivid in real life than the photos show. Given my earlier post with my Jaguar, I'm leaning toward either the parchment pearl or white pearl. The mint is nice, but I don't think it has enough contrast for my liking.
The white is also tough. I'm leaning toward keeping the current guard (a very yellowed/aged white) or trying the anodized gold. The tort is nice, but I like the other two much better. It also might be interesting to steal the white guard from the black bass and try that one. That white guard is not aged at all and looks brand new. It might be a nice contrast to the aged/creamy colored body.
Thoughts?
The one I feel strongest about is the black on black. That's definitely happening.
The blue is tougher. I'll preface it by saying that my poor attempts at mocking up the mint pearl and parchment pearl are not that great and the pearl colors are more vivid in real life than the photos show. Given my earlier post with my Jaguar, I'm leaning toward either the parchment pearl or white pearl. The mint is nice, but I don't think it has enough contrast for my liking.
The white is also tough. I'm leaning toward keeping the current guard (a very yellowed/aged white) or trying the anodized gold. The tort is nice, but I like the other two much better. It also might be interesting to steal the white guard from the black bass and try that one. That white guard is not aged at all and looks brand new. It might be a nice contrast to the aged/creamy colored body.
Thoughts?
Oh yeah, you are definitely in LOL! Congratulations burl, you are member No. 38!
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After looking at your photos, I tend to agree with your first choices:
Black on Black is gorgeous. That's a no-brainer right there!
Surf Green/Blue looks great with the pearloid.
White looks nice with the tort, don't like the gold at all.... honestly though I like it best with the stock pickguard. It appears to have an aged yellowish tint to it when set against the bright white background of the body.
BTW, I know you don't like tort on black, but humor me would you and photoshop one up please? You're pretty good at it! It also might help me decide whether I'd like to repaint my Vista black and slap a tort guard on it
Nice basses BTW!
Black on Black is gorgeous. That's a no-brainer right there!
Surf Green/Blue looks great with the pearloid.
White looks nice with the tort, don't like the gold at all.... honestly though I like it best with the stock pickguard. It appears to have an aged yellowish tint to it when set against the bright white background of the body.
BTW, I know you don't like tort on black, but humor me would you and photoshop one up please? You're pretty good at it! It also might help me decide whether I'd like to repaint my Vista black and slap a tort guard on it
Nice basses BTW!
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