Damn. Best Bass Gear was still charging $115 for black and $35 for the Double Stop XD. Unfortunately this Guitar Audio only has the GB7 in gold 
I found them on Reverb for $70, though 
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Upgrade day! It’s upgrade day!
Spent my holiday gift certificates and bought a monitor, mouse, and keyboard for my laptop which will be recording with. They have been dropped off at the shipping store.
Stuck at work, which is okay. The Stringjoy strings for my 5 and a set for a Stream are out for delivery today, so will just wait and make one trip.
Now to figure out which stream 204 to put the strings on. My 204 with the EMG CSX humbuckers, or the 204 with the EMG P4X and JX pickups
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Ain’t nothin’ better than “Upgrade Day”!! Have fun @Wombat-metal!! 
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Not much of an upgrade, but it’s string change day for my TRBX. Got some nice new NYXL’s to put on.
Whenever I change them I like to polish the fret wires and oil the fretboard too. Looking forward to it.
Lots of people like steel wool for the fret wires but I hate steel wool, and prefer high grit abrasives. StewMac makes a little nail buffer thing that is good for it, but charges $4 each for them, which is ridiculous. So I just bought a 10-pack of 6000 grit nail buffers instead, for $8 next-day, and each are twice the size of the StewMac one as well. I love it when a plan comes together.
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I think that this kind of abrasive should work well :
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Swapped out the neck on my classic vibe to a MIM Fretless neck. Now it really looks lit a Jaco’s bass. Why stopped there? I also swapped out the bridge and made it strings though body. I didn’t notice the spacing issue til I installed the ferrules, but it’s alright, lol.
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have you tried Gorgomyte?
I bought some after seeing a recommendation and am pretty happy with the stuff. One buy is tons of uses as you only need to cut off a 2x2 inch square (5x5cm for those not using Freedom Units). I paid about $10 for it.
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i always suggest people stay away from steel wool: it can leech/embed tiny metal fibers into the wood that can do funky things to the appearance over time. for ‘normal’ abrasives similar to steel wool use scotch-brite pads, the gray one is similar to 0000 steel wool. they also make them finer and coarser. for super super fine polishing use a crumpled brown paper bag. note i say this as someone getting an MFA in working with wood, so it has been discussed MANY times in the studio.
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Definitely stay away from steel wool imho.
Those 3M pads work great but when I do polish the frets on my basses I use exactly what @terb posted . They work great with very little effort
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I use Miracle All Purpose Polishing Cloth to do the fret polishing. https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Cloth-Purpose-Metal-Cleaning/dp/B000C0B3E0/ref=asc_df_B000C0B3E0/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309748512677&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2361490350567432574&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012441&hvtargid=pla-470197604378&psc=1 It works great and smells like coconut. It will also polish all the metal parts on the bass.
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Will give it a try!
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Yep the pads like @terb posted are great for normal cleaning and the 3M pads are fantastic replacements for steel wool.
Steel wool is just nasty stuff as I have posted before.
But metal polishing is something I have done a lot of and I really like fine abrasives for this - much finer than the 3M pads. For frets, these nail buffers are fantastic - one side is 400 grit and the other side is 6000. You can also find them in other grit combos but in general I would go no lower than 400.
The 400 grit is good for initial fret cleaning and buffing and the 6000 grit is perfect for putting a mirror like polish on the frets and also for erasing scuffs on the wood itself. You can also use it to buff out scratches on guitar finishes too. Good stuff with some practice.
One bag of 10 for $8, super useful. I really recommend them. Just dont waste money on things like the StewMac version - normal high grit nail buffers are perfect at a quarter the price or less. And to top it off, they work better than the StewMac tool for this particular usage as well - the StewMac one is split into different grits on the same side and is small; the nail buffer you just lay across multiple frets at once like a fret leveller, push a little to mold it around the fret tops, and polish along the frets with each side of the buffer. Then clean up any accidental wood scuffs with the 6000 grit side. Works like a charm.
The 6000 grit is like magic for some things. It’s basically a scuff eraser.
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@howard could you post a picture of or a link to these “nail buffers”? I have no idea what they are.
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They are normal manicure fingernail files:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07YQZ5GMW
These are very high grit (just noticed 300/6k, not 400 as I posted above. 300 were fine.) These make nice convenient little finishing abrasives for specialized work.
This is the StewMac tool:
As mentioned, be careful with the grit for the frets. And don’t push too hard. Polishing is inherently always removing some of the surface. The goal isn’t to file the frets down, it’s just to lightly remove the top layer of tarnish. A couple swipes with 300-400 grit followed by the 6k is all it takes. 300 worked for me but I would recommend staying above 400. Just remember that you are removing material when you do it, in tiny amounts. Just like with steel wool.
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Two 'downgrades?" this week.
Not really downgrades, but…kinda.
Red and Gold P bass - I was not loving the Gold Ray Ross bridge and Optima Gold strings. Too much sustain/ringing, maybe my muting is just crap, but did not like the combo for me. So, Labella Gold Flats and a gold Hipshot Kickass bridge made this bass much more playable for me.
Custom Shop '61 P - goodbye 760M Vintage heavy flats. Been playing these flats on this for a year now and notice two things. 1. The neck moves around like it’s waiving to my neighbors. Compared to most other necks it is insane how much it moves, and having a vintage style heel adjustment, it’s a PITA. The extra tension is what I believe to be the cause. This bass has a quarter sawn neck, should be solid as a rock. Also, these heavier flats give lots and lots of extra vibration, even when muted! I find multiple fingers are required on both hands to really quite the sympathetic resonance across strings. So they got swapped for regular good old LaBella Flats - much better again, for me. And lastly - off with the ashtrays! I do love the look of the ashtrays but what I noticed is a resonant ‘echo’. Being metal they seemed (and through experimenting did) provide some sort of capture of the magnetic field (more prounounced with the heavy flats) and give a lot of resonant echo, almost like a reverb, to every note plucked, muddying up the sound. Gone when removed, so, they go in a bag in a bin for now.
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Thump, thump! I love that matte gold pickguard. I’m not one for bling, but that is just the cat’s pyjamas.
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My Road Worn version of this bass does the same thing, and yes, adjusting it sucks major ass. Otherwise a cool AF bass, but for gods sake, somebody shoot the person that designed that truss rod.
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I still can’t believe Fender still makes those, out of “tradition”. I mean, they make lots of better systems too, but they keep making this one.
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Cu they are the only ones that can make a replacement, so they can charge near $500 or more for a freaking neck. And they do.
They have replacement ROAD WORN necks for near $500 too.
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I have access to a friend’s “vintage” 1987 Ford Bronco to drag any neck down as many roads as people like 
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