rodney72a

This is my bass - Big Al 5 PDN (Premier Dealer Network) Vintage Tobacco Burst 2015 (completion date January 2016). When it first arrived, the neck alignment was a bit off (G-string too close to the edge), so EBMM authorised a return and we had the whole instrument shipped back to the factory via Strings & Things. EBMM then built a new neck for it to the original specs. The body wood on this edition is alder. The darker looking grain on the upper part of the body is an effect of the light reflection due to the contour. These are great basses.

A couple of early Classics: In October 2009, EBMM introduced the new Classic Series at Bass Player Live. Five instruments were on display, finished in Surf Green, Shell Pink, Sonic Blue, Trans White and Fiesta Red. Here are two from that first edition: B050501 (Surf Green) and B050505 (Fiesta Red) For the regular production run, the colours were renamed Mint Green and Coral Red. [Nice weight on the Surf Green - 8.9 lbs.]

This one? https://www.vintage-guitar.de/detailsvintage_4614_FENDER-Precision-Bass.html

1988/9 Sunburst Sabre 8.1 lbs

Nice! Tell us more - which years etc?

Something like this, perhaps? 😎

That site still seems available, as far as I can tell.

Only what I've downloaded over time They're mostly a collection of spec sheets plus some price lists etc going with it.

Indeed. Fire Engine Red (stamp REDFE) was a (short-lived) production colour in the late eighties. It's listed in the 1988 catalogue and also in the spring 1989 edition but by the summer 1989 edition it's gone. Pretty rare. (And beautiful!)

I think you mean the resistors. The reissues do have capacitors - it's the resistors that are missing.

I enquired with EBMM Customer Service and there's only four of these coming to Europe - one each for Germany, Italy, France and the UK. There's some excellent info on the website from the Project Lead Engineer about the build process. Apparently he spent two years working on it, the attention to detail is amazing, and with the very limited numbers I'm not surprised it's expensive. All proceeds going to charity, so what's not to like!

As drT said, Trans Reds from the '90s are usually over alder and tend to be a bit darker in colour. You can see the difference here: The one on the left is a 1987, the one on the right a 1990. (The SR5 is from 1989.)

Lovely! The best period for EBMM. Classic colour combo, too!

Matching headstocks were standard on custom colour Jazz Basses - with the exception of the Blonde finish - from late 1962 onwards for the rest of the Sixties.

I also saw this when it was at New Kings Road around that time. IIRC they had it up for around £9K - not that bad actually considering the scarcity of the colour! Wonderful bass. Had quite a beefy neck, felt and sounded great. Sat there for at least a couple of years, I think. Definitely went to the right guy!

drT, don't the Sabre pickups have a smaller footprint than the ones for StingRay?

Original finish? Which colour? Got a link?

They do exist. I have a Classic at 8.9 lbs and a Classic 5 at 9.3 lbs. Both my Old Smoothies (essentially Classics with the slab body, albeit alder not ash) are under 9.5 lbs - 8.8 lbs and 9.4 lbs.

A recent experience with the Ebay Global Shipping programme regarding CITES: A few months ago, I bought a bass on Ebay from a seller in the States. It was advertised under the Ebay Global Shipping Programme, meaning you pay all shipping and import costs upfront. Because the bass had a rosewood fingerboard, I got in touch with the UK CITES Management Authority in Bristol prior to shipping. They explained that the seller has to apply for an export permit first, then mail me a copy so I can apply for the import permit over here. I passed the info on to the seller and advised he should get in touch with the people of the Ebay Global Shipping Programme for guidance, thinking they would deal with this kind of stuff all the time. The seller said he did and apparently they told him they would take care of everything. He shipped the bass via USPS, it was quite slow, took almost three weeks to arrive. There was no CITES documentation/paperwork at all with the package. Make of that what you will. I haven't looked into it further but should I still apply for the relevant import certificate in retrospect?