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Yes, welcome ET - that's a fantastic looking Precision. I'm looking forward to hearing how it plays/sounds when you get it. The early eighties were an interesting time for offshoot instruments like the Specials and Elites. Fender were forced to introduce preamps and other additions when other makers suddenly burst into the eighties with more 'up-front' powerful basses.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/what-is-this-gigantic-fender-p-bass-bridge.1441155/

Welcome ET, big fender fanboy here and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen one of those before, I’m following with interest

Thanks for the link Geek99. I just saw a link to one on Reverb that sold for 150 just a few months ago, which seems a good price for something so rare. Could double for playing horseshoes with too.

Hard Work - John Handy

Kahler-made add-on to increase sustain and possibly reduce neck-dive. Never fitted by fender from what I read https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1584071 that’s why you’re not seeing it in marketing from the time. Quite rare apparently

Thanks very much coco! I did a search for that and immediately turned up a chat from talkbass.com. I am reading it now....

been using a Klystron since mid 1998 and 7 or so years back got a CTM-300 which is my favourite amp of all time

there was one here in Chch years back at Mac's Sound Cashel Street

These are colloquially known as "claw" bridges, try using that as a search term. I don't know a great deal about them but from what I understand they're quite rare and sought after. I don't think they were produced for very long.

Never heard of the builder before but I can see me doing some research, that's a great looking bass! Lime green metallic looks a lot better than it sounds. How did you get on with the pickup?

my latest status update...

Local Boy Chops Wood - Donovan

I’ve been doing some deeper digging into the origins of this unusual half-moon brass bridge and whether it was actually factory-installed. One detail that really stood out: the two outer screw holes on the bridge are not drilled into the body—both on the bass I just bought and on the example currently listed in Japan. Only the four inner screws (under the strings) are used. I emailed the Japanese dealer about their bass, and this was their reply: “The bridge you are asking about is the original High-Mass Brass Bridge adopted by Fender for this Precision Bass Special, which was a change from their traditional bridge design. This brass bridge is a high-mass, top-load type. It was a modern feature Fender included to improve sustain and tone, following a popular trend at the time. Unlike the traditional Fender plate bridge, this one has a thicker, heavier design. The increased mass helps transfer string vibration better to the body, which is believed to result in longer sustain. Some players did find the design a bit less comfortable. Thank you, Teeda” I’ll also be emailing Fender on Monday to see if they have any additional info on this bridge. The good news is that, based on the mounting pattern, it appears this bass could accept a standard Hi-Mass brass bridge without having to plug or drill any new holes, since only the four inner screws are used. If so, it would be an easy swap, and I could include the original bridge with the bass if I ever decide to sell it—assuming I even want to change it out at all.

The cabs have a marmite tone that you will either love or hate. At the South West Bash they were voted top in a cab shootout one year and bottom the following year,