Answering McCreed question about the protrusion of the pin heads on the edge of the fretboard... So far they haven't been bothering me at all. My left thumb never (or very rarely) goes that up high on the fretboard.
Ah, yes. Not being a bass player (owning a bass guitar and occasionally recording a bass line does not a bass player make!) I find my thumb over the top of fretboard on the low E regularly, so any bumps would be very noticeable.