Man, there’s so much beauty in this thread! 
Let me add some more!
Yesterday I went on a little road trip. I found a bass in the classifieds that I had been looking for for a long time and to be honest I couldn’t believe my luck. It was sold as a storage find from a household clearance because someone had died. (Shortly before I left, the woman who sold it, told me that she was sure that her father-in-law would also be happy to have the bass in my hands now. 
)
It is a Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special bass (Made in Indonesia) with a Fender Wide Range Humbucker and a Duncan Jazzbass Single Coil. Roundabout 15 years old. It has some slight scratches here and there, but I only noticed them when I cleaned the instrument, not before. Overall, the instrument looks almost like brand new.
I made a quick decision to get in touch on Saturday and went there a day later, yesterday. Looked at it, checked the mechanics, thought it was in very good condition, and just took it with me. And now I’m super in love!!
Today I looked after the good piece a bit. First the old strings were taken off, then everything carefully cleaned, polished, all screws tightened, put Telecaster Special poti knobs on, applied a sticker (Stray cat), new strings put on, string position and fret purity adjusted. PUs set (I had to screw them back about half a kilometer into the body, the setup was terrible and therefore the bass sounded brutally overdriven).
And now look what a pretty black cat this little stray has become. One with a story, that’s for sure! 
First shot at “his new home”:
Time to start the work:
Now it’s mine:
Fretboard before and after:
Tech closeups:
Well… that escalated quickly! 
I couldn’t be happier!!
If you look at the other basses 
It shows my soul cat Kasi. I drew it myself. 
Originally this was a ball-pen tattoo on my wrist.
LOL
