New bass today. (non rick content)

[atomic_punk]

Tortoise shell pickguards also look cool on black P and J basses. I did notice that there was a set of D'Addario strings installed, I wondered if you had out them on.
My black P-bass with tortoise shell pickguard:

Grr....now you have me wanting a tort PG....

[rickenbrother]

Grr....now you have me wanting a tort PG....

A tort pickguard brings out the best look to black or sunburst P-bass or J-bass, in my opinion.

[atomic_punk]

Yeah, it kinda DOES....and now I want an ashtray cover for my P-bass. Anyone have a spare?

[cassius987]

The only thing stopping me from getting a good Precision Bass (+J Pickup) is the fear of losing some of my 33.25'' muscle memory (immensely valuable when sightreading a fretless) on its 34'' scale. I used to have a variety of basses, Fender Jazz and MM Stingray among my favorites, but now I'm an exclusive Ric guy! Most would scoff at this, although Marcus Miller did say, "Pick a bass you love and stick with it!"

P Basses really are wonderful--there's no knocking them. I'm not as big of a fan of the J, however, because like Joey I dislike the neck pickup sound on them. I can't quite nail down why, but it just doesn't have much life right there.

$100 bucks for that Squier PJ? Man, that's a steal. Good work. I have heard some really nice-sounding Squiers, there's certainly no shame in them.

[cheyenne]

I have to say, the Squier line has come along way. This is really a nice playing bass. I'd have put the original "mirror" guard back on but I accidently caught it on a chair and the piece to the left of the neck heel cracked off. Bummer. Turns out the pickguard is made of an extremely brittle material.

I'm sure one of Tony's would be a "upgrade" anyway.

[rickenbrother]

P Basses really are wonderful--there's no knocking them. I'm not as big of a fan of the J, however, because like Joey I dislike the neck pickup sound on them. I can't quite nail down why, but it just doesn't have much life right there.

Not just the neck pickup, I don't like the J-bass neck either. Put a P-bass neck on a J-bass with P pickups in the neck position and I might like it!