GuyR

Lack of a sound provenance back to 1990 or thereabouts puts me off buying a vintage instrument.

When you look at the Denmark St Guitars website, the multitude of authentic blackguards, original custom colour and prototype Strats, genuine paisleys and completely legitimate celebrity owned guitars leads you to only one conclusion. One can only be in awe of their ability to consistently track down and secure for sale such a stellar and market-leading selection.

I tried a CAR 65 Strat that Clive Brown had restored and examined it closely. The finish was convincing. In particular, the parallel line checking that seems more prevalent in CAR than any other vintage Fender finish was replicated perfectly. It was indistinguishable from my own examples, both of which have sufficient provenance for me to be confident as original finish. I would have had no hesitation in accepting it as original had it been so described. Any example of his work without the “tells” would only need to pass through the hands of one miscreant to be established in the canon of the bona fide. I wonder how many times that has happened- I hope he’s never worked for the Harrisons.

At a glance, maybe neck, tuners, front pickup, bell plate, bridge and guard look ok. In my opinion, if the body was right, it’s still worth £3-4k but without any confidence re the body, it would feel like a leap of faith to pay much over £2k including fees. Its a shame you have to buy it first, to be able to strip the body and check the various tells that would demonstrate it was original, under the “refinished before these basses were worth faking” paint. The router hump appears to be there, so if it plays ok, it might be worth a punt, but without two original pickups, I would walk away.

I can imagine circumstances where I’d spend that on a bass. But not that bass. Forgiveness sometimes, permission never.

Great basses, well done for getting a bargain. Looks much better without the ghastly scratchplate!! Good to hear about a stand-up seller

I have a very nice 83 Fullerton and 82&84 JVs. The 84 was picked from every new Jazz bass available in Denmark St one day in 1984. It’s a great one. Which is better? They are all very lovely and I enjoy playing them, but neither they, nor any other modern bass will, for me, come close to replicating the feel of a worn nitro finish, preferably pre CBS Fender bass. The sticky, thick poly finish wears in a completely different, flaky, and less agreeable way, so they can never look authentic and, as @Steve Browning quite rightly says, the tort is a crime against humanity. It might be 43 years old, but it’s not a vintage bass to me.

If I were buying the one he wanted the least out of 40, I’d definitely want to try it first😀

You know which Stingray it is though?

Is that image taken outside Bass Gallery?

I had the privilege of seeing Dill Katz play on numerous occasions in the 80s and 90s. In particular with his “Mr Gone” ensemble featuring Ted McKenna, Tommy Eyre and John Etheridge. He was a masterful player, with a very distinctive style and sound, with his fat sounding Ned Callan modified Jazz Bass, the unlined fretless fingerboard extended to the pickup. His soloing was captivating and expressive, unafraid to push the boundaries. A great shame to hear of his passing.

You can certainly get excellent value at GH, with very little risk. Even more so if you attend and bid in person. Congratulations on a very good buy.

Apart from the neck plate, mix&match screws, strap buttons, it looks right, as far as I can tell without looking up the correct decal type. Lovely looking bass!! That level of wear suggests it plays as well as it looks.

You certainly avoid a misdescription that way

Clay dots and LPB is a combination you don’t see very often. The neck pocket with the original unfaded colour shows how vivid the original finishes were. Very lovely. Seems all the money, will be interesting to see how quickly it sells.

That’s a great score. If it plays as good as it looks, it’s a winner. Very good pictures too!

I have a couple of guitars with quite fragile nitro finishes. I only use the moisture in my breath and clean off with a soft cotton cloth. Anything wetter than that leaves the surface cloudy, having absorbed the water, for months afterwards. I tried saliva on one of my basses and the finish came straight off, down to the yellow undercoat. I always proceed with the utmost caution these days.

I was in Martin Petersen’s workshop looking at this in the auction catalogue online. When he built it to special order, he had to have bespoke strings manufactured. He thought he might have some still tucked away, so probably worth getting in touch. He commented that it was a little unfair of GH to not have mentioned the scale in the catalogue. Cool bass though, hope you can adjust to it.

1966 slab precision for sale at GH auction in march. An interesting lot, number 394, with a good provenance. Cant seem to post a link.

I think some people heat the head of the screw with a soldering iron to expand it and break the grip of the thread as it cools. I’m sure there are other techniques.

That is an authentic looking bass. I would be inclined to give it to a professional to get the bridge off. luckily, period replacement parts for mid 70s Fenders shouldn’t be too prohibitive if required, but I think the bridge plate could be made to look ok if cleaned up. Congratulations on a handsome purchase.

https://www.guitar-auctions.co.uk/sale/234/147/1971-Fender-Competition-Mustang-Bass-guitar-made-in-USA what a shame - a really good looking mustang. Why would you do that to the scratchplate? it’s been made “player grade”

Couldn’t agree more. I’m referring to buying instruments already fitted with replacement parts.

Agreed. To me, players grade means something irreversible has been done to the instrument, fundamentally and permanently reducing the desirability as an original example. A refinish or body route alone would render an instrument “player grade” for me. A combination of “lesser sins” such as changed tuners (worse if extra holes), changed electric components, might attract the description player grade, but if so, there is hardly a vintage Fender ( I’m concentrating on 60s here) that is fully original, without some minor component, or frets replaced. It is a simple matter to substitute components like-for-like with period replacements and it isn’t too great a concern for me as a buyer. If a seller volunteers such information at the point of purchase, my confidence in the integrity of the instrument is enhanced. I’m still taking it apart, of course..