stobro

The side dots on the edge of the fingerboard look like an aftermarket mod. They don't look like the dots on my fretless Cruise, but then again, mine's a lined fretless from '97, not an unlined fretless from '96.

The closest I have to a birth year guitar is a Kay acoustic that may be from '59 or at least pretty close to it. It's a case queen, despite living most of its life in a crappy cardboard case with rusty hardware and busted seams everywhere. I also have an H. N. White "King" stand-up bass that was born around the same time as my dad- 1934. Definitely NOT a case queen. It has nearly 90 years of scars and questionable repairs but it's still holding up.

Here are some more views of a Vintage S

If the guitar was already a candidate for a new fingerboard you could investigate having an extra-thick fingerboard installed to effectively beef up the neck profile. Or possibly add a shim that matched the neck wood under the new standard thickness fingerboard. You'd have to adjust the bridge and pickups to compensate for the extra thickness. If the current fingerboard is fine, you'd have to really be committed to that particular guitar to make such a drastic and expensive modification.

How about a fingerless glove with a padded palm? Why modify the guitar? Modify the player instead! https://www.amazon.com/Hugger-Affordable-Padded-Fingerless-Motorcycle/dp/B07CRCLHGN

My Monaco bass weighs only 6.5 lbs. They are hollow, you know.

Last month was St. Patrick's Day green, this month it's Easter egg colors. What have you got that's lavender, pink, robin's egg blue, pale yellow, surf green, creme, etc? I'll start with the closest I have to a trip down the "seasonal" aisle at the local store. The blue is a little too intense and the creme is a little too subtle, but you get the idea.

Referring back to the OP's questions about production bolt-ons and $, the most I've ever spent on a stringed instrument was for a production bolt-on. In my case it was a (used) Lakland USA Hollowbody bass. It's really too nice for the places we get booked into, so it rarely gets played outside of the house.

I'll add Kim Wilson to the list of harp players that I like to listen to. And I'll add John Popper of Blues Traveler to the list of harp players I can't stand to listen to.

For down tuning, I suggest a 4X18 with some EVs, like their MTL4. 263 pounds of sound!

You mean you didn't order the metallic pea?

Saint Patrick's Day theme, since it's that time of the year. I'll start with the only green guitar I've ever owned (and still do).

I'll start the ball rolling with the only reverse headstock Hamer I own. It's a Chap (as far as I know) bass with a reverse headstock bolt-on neck with a solid quilt maple body. I don't know if it's a one-off, but it IS unusual.

My excuse is laziness. Buying is easier than selling. That, and no two guitars are ever EXACTLY the same.