Kazan

I believe that was the initial run. Crazy. In a way, almost accurate to the original t-birds and Embassies - will almost always see the saddles adjusted all the way forward on those which still have the original bridges - or sometimes modded to reposition the mounting studs. There are direct replacement bridges which allow greater saddle travel. I've mentioned previously that I used to own the '64 t-bird that Tiran Porter played in The Doobie Brothers and it had the period mod of a fender bridge on top of a plastic spacer in order to deal with the issue (I spoke with the tech who did it at the time).

Thanks! The prep is crucial to good results. Using poly or similar makes much more sense with flake really. Much easier to get the thickness needed and clarity. A lot of the originals from the early 60's were actually done with acrylic which holds up much better and does not yellow much either. Some were done with nitro but they look bumpy with a rough surface now as the nitro has shrunk over the years. Bass VI will look terrific! You've seen this Champagne sparkle original '63?

Interesting. Clearly a pattern Thanks. Just a project/mutt. Started as a Fender Japan reissue of an early '66 that I got used. It had Sadowsky preamp already installed as well as DiMarzio UltraJazz pickups (so, essentially Sadowsky electronic setup as DiMarzio makes many of their pickups). Took all the poly off, slightly altered the neck profile to better match an original early '66 I have and then had a friend spray the metal flake - all nitro - black base coat, flake in clear nitro, clear nitro to initial level, black tinted clear to burst and then more clear - need a lot to bury the flake fully (I've done quite a few nitro refins but don't have the equipment for flake plus it is a huge, huge mess and gets everywhere). Put on an extra set of original '66 tuning machines I had (tug bar is an original as well). The guard I got from a friend in Italy and it's thick single ply old real celluloid. Nice weight, sounds and plays great. Very happy with it though have not had the chance to actually gig it yet - took a long time for all that nitro to fully cure.

Not really a settee but close enough and an addition I've been enjoying - and color coordinated!

Great collection. On the 65/66 is the neck stamp July 65? I've seen 4 or 5 with padouk and those were all from that month specifically.

Sorry to revive an older thread. Kevin, did you need to relocate the feet on your CTM-100 or do they manage to fit on top? Like the sound of the combination? Thanks!

As with sparkle/metal flake finishes in general, hard to photograph and looks different at different angles:

Me, too. As it was an invoice, perhaps being sent in order so maybe not all sent yet (?) International shipping was an extra 25 USD.

Preorders on v.2 have gone live. Just ordered mine. Delivery not expected until summer though.

There's always more to learn None of the modern tort (including the Spitfire ones) really comes close to the look of the stuff from the 60's. The mint green ones are much easier to make convincing copies of (and the ones John makes look great - and the tort ones he does are about the best of the modern made ones out there).

Lovely bass and colour combo. Always impressed with John's work and he's way more vintage accurate than Fender is... Just for the record on tort vs green guards, it's actually the other way around. Green guards becoming standard on custom color basses (except white and blonde) in mid '62 (there were some outliers earlier - I had an original black '61 with green guard and Geddy Lee has a '60 P and '61 J, also both black - but they are exceptions). Custom colors from mid '59 through mid '62 almost always had tort guards stock. In any case, I think the combo on your bass looks terrific! A friend had a '63 very much like that - LPB/green guard - and traded it for a new Guild Pilot bass in the late '80s... D'oh!

Yes, beautiful early '66. Looked like maybe Charcoal Frost to me (or even just black with the reflections - on my screen anyway....) Andrew White is the player.

Have seen PJ many, many times (and saw Nirvana on a 3 band bill for $1...) and have never been disappointed by them. I won't hesitate to see them again.

I love the look. The 2+2 headstock clearly makes sense for balance, cost, overall size and reduced risk of breakage (and I still find the batwing design iconic even if it's a compromise of sorts). The new ones are clearly a great bargain! As are the Vintage Pro T-birds (I have a '64 T-bird as well....)

Thank you, sir! Such a pity they left it off of the reissues - I do understand why both for balance and to reduce costs - but it is such a distinctive characteristic of the originals. Also the reissues went for a wider neck when the 60's ones were very slim. This is thinner than a Jazz Bass (or more like the very first Jazz Basses which were 1 7/16" at the nut).

'64 Embassy: It was defretted and the brass nut and fabricated wide-travel bridge added in the 70's. My intention was to refret it but whoever did the work REALLY knew what they were doing. It plays and sounds so good as a fretless I had to leave it as is and actually ended up selling my F-Bass BNF-5 in the classifieds here as a result.

Rocco Prestia did the reversed P thing as well (though only one).

Can't over-stress how well it's put together and edited. Made much more powerful with the context (the Nina Simone cuts come immediately to mind - there were already a couple clips on YouTube but it means more framed the way the filmmakers did IMO). That said, I hope the film's success is a catalyst to release more of the raw performance footage.

OK, a couple favorites actually on the settee:

Hope you like it. I've watched it three times now. Won't be the last. Would love to see it on an actual big screen.

I worked in a repair shop. Hairspray trick is interesting. I'd first test on an inconspicuous place such as in a control cavity (I have to imagine that not all hairsprays are formulated the same). Alcohol generally works well on permanent inks - again, depending on chemical composition - though two things with that: first, on pure nitro I would use grain alcohol - yes, the drinkable kind (like 95%/190 proof) - as some of the denaturing agents in denatured alcohol can act as a solvent on nitro (and even grain alcohol can sometimes cause some clouding though that can generally be polished out - I try to do the whole process as quickly as possible, once the ink is gone, clean the surface of any residue). Second, if the nitro was a mix with shellac I would avoid this as alcohol is a solvent for shellac (much the same as acetone for nitro). In that case, I would probably just go with scratch remover/polish by hand on a cloth. It's trying to find a solvent for the ink which has no effect (or the least possible) on the finish. With any method, test first...

Operates the pickup pan control. The lever/slider moves one gear which moves gears controlling two separate volume pots (the other slider is a master volume). Not sure why they used such a complicated solution as stereos with balance controls already existed in that era. Admittedly, the gears are plastic rather than brass... The bass is full of crazy features including active preamp (only on the bridge pickup) and a mercury switch to mute the bass when vertical on a stand and disconnect the battery - and this still functions perfectly 57 years on. I know they were doing the preamps at least as early as '63 and know of someone with a Meazzi guitar dated '59 which has the preamp as well. Makes me wonder who was first, them, Burns or someone else. Very well made bass. Full 34" scale, Brazilian rosewood (with matching rosewood binding to cover the fret tangs), hardware equal in quality to Fender, metal inserts for most screws (something I thought of only with modern 'boutique' basses), individual polepiece adjustment very much like on the old Guild/Hagstrom pickups. Really cool bass, though heavy.

PS a better pic of that bass:

WOW! Small world. I did the mod in maybe 2004 or around there. I actually had two of the paisley basses. I bought one right when they first came out and then the second after about a year - some stores pretty much couldn't give them away (the finish is a love it or hate it thing) and I got the second one for, I think, $275 - brand new. I modded that one but then liked it so much I just sold the stock one. Have gigged it a lot.

Admittedly, the settee is missing... L-R 2002ish Fender Japan Pink Paisley modded with T-bird pickups, 1966 Fender Jazz, 1965 Meazzi Hollywood Jupiter, 1964 Maton Ibis, 1964 Epiphone Embassy Deluxe, 1964 Gibson Thunderbird (Ashdown Little Stubby prototype - bought here on BC, Dynacord Bass-King, Trace Elliot ELF 2x8 cabs - have the head, too), Padalka Ennea Corvus, Padalka Ennea HGGS 5 string multi-scale. Have gigged them all - with the exception on the Maton (yet) as it was a pandemic acquisition.