Nibody

I'd plus 1 the Ibanez idea. They have nice beginner friendly necks, insane specs for the price point, and a very versatile active EQ - Plus stylisticly you could turn up to a Jazz gig or the local Metal Festival with one and not look out of place.

8 hours ago, peteb said:

Do you mean the ones with the cream covers?? If I remember correctly, we were all putting EMGs in our Fenders at the time. I recall that the Bass Centre in Wapping used to keep a P bass in the shop that had been stripped / refinished to natural, with an EMG pickup and a badass bridge to show people how you could mod your bass.

I got the Schaller as Badass bridges were not readily available in the north of England at the time. Of course, a few years later you could order one from your local music shop and I got a black one to put on the other P bass I had by then (originally as a spare). That’s the same bridge I have just put on this bass, after it appearing on a number of different basses over the years.

Thats the puppys - with the hex adjustable pole pieces...probably more late 70's early 80's (I know Phil Lynott used a set on his number one P bass). Oddly enough I just ordered a Schaller 3D-5 for my FrankenSpector (turns out its one of the few bridges that will fit the rout for the bridge without trying to use a router on a curved body!!

I notice Squier has released a 70's style P with a Mocha body recently - tempting but it also comes with black block inlays, and I think they look great on a Jazz, just not on a P bass.

4 hours ago, EMG456 said:

A few of my favourites already quoted but I always liked this one. At the time there were loads of rumours that it was McCartney under a pseudonym!

Keeping the dream alive - Freiheit 1988 - YouTube

The year that was released I attended the Works Christmas dinner dance at the Albany Hotel in Brum (Foseco was a big company then, and they kept a suite of rooms at the Albany for foreigh visitors - we got to rent a room for peanuts for the night). Free booze, food.. pity unbenownst to me I had the Flu which I was masking with several Brandies. Remember listening to it in the hotel room as I was trying to wash away how crap I was feeling with the mini bar.

Next morning I woke with a fever so bad I thought it was saturday (it was in fact sunday) so I delieriously checked out and stumbled in a feverish haze to New Street Station hoping to catch an early train home... except it was Sunday, and trains didnt start home till midday. Nothing was open, sat freezing in a suit (no coat, nothing open). Got home eventually to find I had no money for a Taxi, and my dad had been caslled into work for an emergency so i had to walk 30 mins home in rather chilly weather. Hello  delierious, hello Pneumonia. .... Still love that damn song though.

This,

This

And this.

6 hours ago, peteb said:

I'm not quite sure how to comment on your reaction to brown 70s Fenders!  

As far as the bridge goes, that's the reason I immediately knew that it was my old bass! It's a Scahller (the one with the roller saddles so you can adjust string spacing) that I put on the bass in the early 80s. It's not the standard bridge replacement for a Fender, so that together with the year and unusual finish make it quite unique. The old BBOT ended up on another P bass I had when I converted it back to the original spec before selling it. The BBOT from that bass was eventually sold to a guy I know who was putting together a bitsa for someone using old Fender pats. 

The bass is going down to Jon Shuker tomorrow to be cleaned, set-up and to swap out the bridge for an old badass I have in my spares box. I'm also going to swap the pickup for a Bart that I had on another P bass (I'm going to switch between that and the original pickup to see which I prefer). All in the spirit of what we used to do in the 80s, getting 70s Fenders and modding them! 

I shall post another picture when I get it back from Jon. 

Yeh realised it was a Schaller - great bridges just look "wrong" on a p-bass to me. Good choice with the Badass though. I have 70's P bass envy - I had to sell my 76 the late 90's for a lot less than even the solid brass pickguard was probably worth - needs (and rent) must at the time. Doubt I'd afford to replace it any time soon though (it had been refinished in a sort of "Cadbury Wrapper" blueish/Purple burst by the previous owner, looked gorgeous with the brass guard) - prices are crazy. Give me a 70's maple neck P bass with a black guard over anything. If you are going full on 80's modded 70's you'll need a set of original DiMarzio's.

On 28/11/2020 at 19:51, peteb said:

Just picked up a 78 P bass and not just any old Precision, it’s my first decent bass, the one that I cut my teeth on and then sold about 33 years ago.

I sold it back in the 80s when I started using active basses. I had two precisions and sold the good one as it was worth a few quid more! Always wished that I had sold the other one instead. It just came up for sale by a guy who's got a studio in Leeds. The only problem is that I paid five times what I sold it for all those years ago!

I remember somebody here posting about buying back their old P bass. Like him, I’ve had a couple of precisions, but they never seemed to compare to ‘my’ old P bass. To me, Fender Precisions define what an electric bass is, despite me happily using many other basses over the years. I remember that when I originally bought this bass, I knew that I was now going to be a proper bass player! You have to remember that when I started playing, virtually all of our heroes played a precision! A few played Ricks and the odd one played a jazz bass, but me finally having my own P bass was a big thing!

Quite emotional to get it back...

 

ohhhh.... 70's Mocha P basses get me moist. There was an amazing bass player on YouTube (who doesnt post anymore) "BassManOnTheHill" I think, who played one pretty exclusively. Not keen on the bridge choice but oooh myyyyy....

16 hours ago, Jakester said:

Oof, that is lovely! 

Cheers. It does look rather tasty. Sounds good too. I can't get over how nice the neck is to play - not at all how I remember my old backup bass of the same age/model/colour. I did lightly sand the neck and "round over/roll" the edges slightly, don't kno if that was what made the difference. Been playing 5 strings solidly for a couple of years but this has really put me back in love with P Basses. Last thing I need to do is replace the nut but Im not in a rush to do that.

And after Gotoh GB2 tuners, Gotoh string trree, a gotoh 201B Bridge, Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders, complete CTS/Switchcraft/Sprague rewire and a gold anodised pickguard to top it off.. here she is..

6 hours ago, BlueMoon said:

CAR will be tougher to match, in my opinion. I believe the original method of creating this colour was a transparent red clear coat over a silver (or gold?) base coat. Not so easy to replicate with one paint/nail varnish.

If the base coat is not damaged then I'd try a (tomato red) tinted transparent coat. The depth of (red) colour can built up with several layers of tinted clear coat. I recall the base coat was Inca silver. Halfrauds may have these as car paints, certainly available online.

Yep CAR is clear red on a metalic (gold or silver) basecoat. My fix isnt perfect (the original midnight wine colour is a slight metallic whereas the nailpolish isnt) but for that small ding or gouge its close enough unless you get up really close with a magnifying glass.

This might be of use to anyone who has a Fender or Squier bass in the "Midnight Wine" colour. Having bought a 96 MIK Squier in pretty bad shape, I was trying to find a paint match to touch up some of the many chips that are missing from the finish.

After exhausting the wifes (and Daughters) nail polish collections and trying to match by eye a suitable colour, I have found something pretty damn close (certainly good enough for chips and dints anyway.

Maybeline Super Stay 7 Days Gel Nail Polish - N0.287 - "Midnight Red".

Once it has built up a few coats it darkens with each coat and is a fairly good match for fenders (Squiers anyway) "Midnight Wine". Ccertainly enough to patch/touch up any flaked off finnish and dings.

1 hour ago, NikNik said:

Speaking of farting, that's what I associate this combo with. I remember using one at a rehearsal basement and it was this model, the earlier one, before they went all 'Trace Elliot' in appearance. The band-pass filters did next to nothing but it was loud and farted hard if you dug in when playing.

 

THAT is the one I had. (Not the exact one but same look)

Ahhhhgggg.. if I hadn't just bought and fitted a Gotoh 201 for my MIK Squier P, I would have been all over this. Had one on my old black bitser.

59 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Agreed the decal is way too high up, but the colour just looks like a Sienna Burst with an overly saturated photo.

But if it was all genuine, isn't that really expensive for a 78 fretless P? I mean, is that the going rate for a late 70s P now?

edit: No, Sienna burst wasn't intro'd until 79

I did find a 78 that was sold at The Bass Gallery with the decal in that unusual position - maybe the decal guy had smoked a bit too much weed that week..

Going to go out on a limb and say that even IF the neck was genuine (to which I have my doubts) the body is either a Mighty Mite or Warmoth. I can remember looking into buying a P body a few years back and seeing a finished one available from either Mighty mite or Warmoth in that exact burst (remember it because I hated the colour)

Body looks like a MightyMite one - seen that burst before, sure it was MightyMite. Decal looks odd - is it out of position? Bitser?

Looks like somebody did.. its sold. Only red P bass I can stand is CAR...  Fiesta red gives me flashbacks to my parents love of the Shadows...

My frst ever bass amp! Might be my impresionable young ears but I remember it sounding bloody epic even with the scratchy pots. Like a sideboard in size and I traded it in for a Marshall combo,

26 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

Another one way North - kosher? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WAL-Mk1-Bass-1980s-French-walnut-mixed-woods/264784897617?hash=item3da668e651:g:wb8AAOSwv7ZfpnXb

Rather blends into the flooring in the pics......

Its on Gumtree  too in the same area

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/wal-bass/1389465930

14 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

Nice bass but is that a Banksy on the wall?

My secrets out..... SHHHH.. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

3 hours ago, luckman67 said:

Here is my 1989 S9 MIK Squier Precision with a nice gloss neck and, licensed by Schaller machine heads & a heavy plywood body. It was bought by my Girlfriend twice for me in 1998, & again in 2008 when I was lucky enough to get it back from my friend who I sold it to. It now resides in a padded gig bag in the loft as it doesn't get played much &, I'm not a fan of the thinner Squier bodies.

Nooooo not the loft!!! Hope it’s warm and dry loft!

2 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Congrats, def a well kept secret, the MIK Squiers, very decent instruments indeed

Its a later one too so its the solid alder (I believe) body rather than the composite/ply they used on the earlier ones. Also need to change the tuners as they are pretty much past their sell by date - but I do have a set of Wilkinson 70's style that I bought from here on a whim about a year or so ago.

Bought Pete's SD Quarter Pounders - excellent condition with all the bits in the original box, arrived quickly and so well packaged I could have played football with it and not worried one bit!

Thanks Pete

Years ago (1996 to be exact) I bought a maroon-ish coloured brand new MIK Squier as a backup to my 76 P bass. It never really got played much and was sold on when I quit and sold all my gear around 2000.

Fast foreward to this week, and this comes up on ebay - same year/model/colour.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Squier-P-Bass-Korean/254711420265?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648

Arrived today - oh god was it dirty - gunky fretboard, dirty body and neck, collapsed pickups, crackly pots. Upside is the neck is fine aside from a lot of grime and dings, Truss rod works great.

Basic clean up done and stage 1 of upgrades (Gotoh 201B, SD Quarter Pounders, Sprague/switchcraft/CTS loom). Gold mirrored pickguard due and more cleaning.

pm incoming

20 minutes ago, Si-Fi said:

I know the feeling, there is one bass I regretted selling in the past.

Wasn't sure till I compared the grain pattern - and that difference in stain colour just on the bass side of the bridge. I bought it from somebody else on here. If I had £900 burning a hole in my pocket I'd buy it in a heartbeat! Looks like you looked after it well, glad it's had some decent usage.