Rayman

Yes solid wood. The two black ones I have weigh a ton. I’m no expert, and can only refer to the ones I have as examples, but they’re solid. The design and construction of them did vary over the years. Some of them had bullet truss rods at the headstock, some were accessed at the body end. Also the position of the logo and the string tree did vary somewhat.

So Sunn and Encore were made in the same factory, same parts, same colours, just P bass copies. This was mid 80s. They were just badged differently. There’s nothing inherently amazing or collectible about either brand, they’re just good solid wooden parts with great sounding pickups, and if they’re well set up, they’re brilliant P basses, easily up there with some of the Mexican made stuff from the 00s in my opinion. Just don’t be paying more than 150/200 quid for one in good condition.

Also worth knowing. The Encore basses of the same period are the exactly the same basses. Same factory, same parts. Good solid basses, and underrated too. Again, swap out the pots for decent quality ones, give the frets a bit of a once over, and again, great P bass.

Absolutely

SD Curlee …. Nice. I’m always on the lookout for one. Yeah, there are a couple of Sunns on the bay, a nice black one, and a red one with some damage to the skunk stripe. My red one has a slightly raised skunk stripe. I suspect that the rosewood stripe is pretty thin, and prone to popping up a bit. Something to keep in mind. Needless to say I’m watching both of these though. I Already have four of the things, and honestly love them all, but I don’t know if I really need 5 or even 6 of them. Once again, mine are all original examples, except for the electrics, which I’ve changed to CTS etc. Some early Sunns require some routing to fit full size pots, which is a consideration too. Whatever you do, if you buy one, do not pull out the original cream coloured pickups. They’re pretty basic, but they sound fantastic paired up with some decent pots.

Yep, you could well be right, but at least now I’m happy, even if only with the string spacing. It sounds absolutely exactly the same, but I’m happy non the less. The Hipshot bridge is superior in terms of quality and the adjustment options are infinitely better. I think the bass is worth the upgrade.

There we go… Hipshot bridge fitted, and I’m a lot happier with the string spacing. The strings now go directly over the pole pieces, and the string width over the neck is also right for me. Job done

I just figure that if the pickups are designed to have the string go directly over the pole pieces then that’s how I want it. Like you say, there probably won’t be much aural difference, but, I just find it odd, that Fender cut the saddles with the narrowest spacing, when the design of the instrument requires a slightly wider spacing. I just think that’s an oversight, even if it’s only an aesthetic one. I’m anal enough to care.

Korn….. absolutely fantastic in Halifax last night. Me and Mrs Rayman were suitably impressed….. Although the lady over my right shoulder seemed to be less enthusiastic 😆

Alright, so the new tone pot arrived from Allparts, excellent service. All fitted and everything is now bang on, the sounds from this thing are fantastic. So just the bridge to sort out, hopefully the Gotoh bridge will be here early doors next week. Nothing wrong with the Fender bridge per se, it’s just the nut slots have been pre cut (factory spec) to their narrowest string spacing, which is irritating, because actually they should be cut right down the centre in this case to guide the strings correctly over the pole pieces…… Not enough wiggle room for me to cut new slots unfortunately.

The neck seems all good to me to be honest, I did have a look at that, but, the string spacing across all four strings is slightly narrow.

Righto….. more fun with Fender…. So, I’m not a fan of the Fender hi mass bridge. The pre cut notch on the saddles does not Aline the string over the pickup correctly….. And, the E string is noticeably a couple of millimetres further in from the edge of the fretboard than the G, which I don’t like either It’s more obvious in reality than in the pictures. So in addition to a new to pot, a Gotoh Kickass bridge is on its way, with adjustable lateral brass saddles. Yes. I’m a bit anal, but this one’s a keeper and I want it how I want it, not, how Fender wants it. I think the Gotoh is a much better option.

Yep, I echo all of that, and yes, I’m happy to have the maple board, however if I were you, I’d slap a coat of Monty’s aging wax on the pao ferro to darken it.

So….. developments….. 😒 Great bass, very happy, except…. I’ve discovered that the mid cut/boost pot is faulty….. so a new one is on the way from Allparts. Not the end of the world, I’m quite happy replacing parts, but, I suspect that the young man I got this bass from knew full well that there was an issue, and just crossed his flamin fingers that I wouldn’t spot it. Annoying, because I’m a very honest person when it comes to selling my stuff, so it’s a bit of a kick in the stones when someone tries to pull a fast one. Just remember….. never trust anyone when it comes to buying and selling. Always be on full alert and check everything. Anyway….. a great bass, and I’ll have it firing on all cylinders shortly.

Holy crap what a sound !! This thing is amazing….. very impressed.

So I bought one….. Initial reports are good…. it feels good, but…. two loose pots caused me to open it up and have a look…. Christ! What a dogs dinner under there…. Scary stuff, but thankfully it was just a couple of loose nuts that needed tightening, all good now. I like the top hat knobs the previous owner put on it, so I’ll leave those on for now. All re-strung and ready to go, I’ll see how it performs in rehearsal.

So after months of no activity, I’ve finally finished this bass off, pretty much. Just a bridge cover left to fit. It’s been a bit of a journey to get this thing up and running, and it’s far from perfect, but then I doubt it was perfect when it was new. I Ended up relocating the bridge to get the strings to go over the pole pieces correctly, and to get some level of intonation, which to be frank, is only really there or thereabouts even now. I Also had to make a decision on the non functional pickups, and in the end, I forked out to have them completely rebuilt by House of Tone pickups in Chester. Fabulous job, but way more in cost than the bass is worth. The tuners are junk, but they’ll have to do for now. I’m not spending any more money on this thing. All in all, I’ve saved a junked 1960s/70s Kay/Teisco bass, and have ended up with a fun bass, very different from my others and very cool indeed. Proper old school tone with the nylon tapes, but still plenty of sparkly top if needed. Great little vintage short-scale bass.

Ditto 👆🏻 He’s making great solo music, and I’m also a supporter on bandcamp. If you haven’t already, check him out. It’s been 20 years since I last saw him play live though, I really need to pull my finger out there.

Cheers mate, thanks very much for all that. I’ve heard good things, and I think one would make a good addition to the Thunderbirds I use live, and one song in particular would be helped by an active tone. Nice one, appreciate that.

Yeah I saw that, nice, but not my colour unfortunately, I’ve got my eye on a silver burst one.