GeeCee

I almost bought that bass years ago, well technically I did buy it, albeit only for a few days. Don't know about the MK connection but it is not the same bass as the one in the video. The one I bought was an 8-string GA24 in cherry red. Noticed there was a split in the fretboard at the first position when it arrived. The seller refunded me the money. I sent it back and he said he was going to make an insurance claim. Crossed my mind it was a scam - maybe the crack was already there and he thought he would get the PO to pay for it by selling it to a buyer who would want to return it. Decided the other explanation was more likely though - the bass arrived with all 8 strings fully slackened off, but not the truss rod.

A lot of Pangborn owners have had the actives crap out. A popular replacement is the 3-band active circuit from Jaydee.

Bit of an update for you. Paul couldn't confirm one way or the other. He did say that John had told him that the bass he has was the second bass as well, but he also said he takes everything with a grain of salt these days and mentioned that the basses were often produced in batches anyway. The facing woods are sort of similar - see attached - so I could see how you might mistake one for the other after 40 years. Interestingly, Paul's bass has the same Alembic style headstock as the first bass, so that would seem to make sense. It also has a lower serial number. However, on the website, when discussing the early history of the company John is quoted as saying "The headstock design I actually dreamt about years before, but not for bass! I saw someone playing a guitar on stage but the view I had was from behind the player, so all I could see was the neck and the head. This stayed in my mind until the next day, long enough to record it in detail. It did remind me of the symbol for peace and reinforced the use of it on the early guitar designs. It never occurred to me to use this design for bass until I received the second order, then it seemed to drop into place like it belonged there. The name at this stage had not been chosen, in fact, I was not looking or thinking about a name, I was just pleased that someone else wanted one of my basses. Only when I found myself surrounded by numerous types of timber that it came to me, the Supernaturals, because it was my intention to make all the instruments featuring the natural timber wood." That would seem to support the second bass not having an Alembic style headstock. Also, Paul's bass has the Supernatural name on the back of the headstock. Not sure that it really clears up much, assuming you care one way or the other, but hope it helps.

The Calibas model has been off the website for a while, but I don't see why not assuming all of the bits are still available. The electronics are slightly different - have a fourth EQ ("presence" control). Best just to ask.

I do, very much so, that is an unusual shade, not the usual pearlescent pink, more of a lilac. I think it belonged to Nick Smith originally.

Was this it?

In general, first digit is year, rest a loose indicator of the number of basses made. Since this is a series 3 Mark King bass, I would estimate 1988 (didn't get introduced until mid-80's). That said, I think people have requested specific serial numbers.

Where is damn delete button?

Bah, multiple posting

Actually, a pretty rare instrument - MK body shape with a 2-octave neck.

Flaccid penis, not a description you see applied to a bass every day. Picture of Lado attached.

I agree that bass is likely a Lado.

Agree, that's not a Pangborn (and there would be two screw holes for the badge).

I think a guy in US called Mark Manley owns it now, but he has never brought it up on the FB page.

No, I believe it was a bog-standard Series II Mark King model.

Let me know if you want me to do it for you. Second bass or not, it's still a cracking bass. As a bit of a JD collector, I'm jealous, 😀.

Person to ask is a guy called Paul Ruthven on the Jaydee Facebook page. Post a picture on there and he will chime in I'm sure. He has owned a few early Jaydees, including 001, and has spent a lot of time at the workshop. I don't like FB so rarely post anything and hold my nose when I do, but not a lot of activity on here these days.

Congratulations, nice bass. Interesting, I would have thought the second bass would have had the same Alembic style headstock as the first. There is also a bass that was built for Geezer Butler that has a 002 serial number, which is different from the one that Mark King had (dot neck, numbered as 00002). There is also a slighty later bass from the same batch as Mark King's that has the serial number S00001, which is different from the first bass, which is numbered 001. (PS. MK had several early basses, in addition to the Saturn inlay neck one, 0003SA, which he still plays.)

OK, never mind, could have sworn none of these other responses showed up when I responded..

Yes and no, in context of times, ebony fingerboard and active EMG pick-ups would have been a bit unusual but otherwise a '62 jazz bass.

Yes, that particular bass was owned by Steve Stroud who played with Buck Fizz (and married one of the women I believe) and then passed to another basschatter, Scojack. Been through a few Basschatter hands since then. Actually has a really nice neck and plays very well. Obviously influenced by Jaydee. The jazz bass is 36 inch scale (I think). Bought from a pawn store in Florida. Had Pat Wilkins work on that and he was quite impressed with it. The red bass has an aluminium fretless fingerboard. Bought on here and restored by Doug Wilkes. It works, sort of. Gives you an idea of the range of work he did though. None of the instruments is the same. The later stuff is better than the earlier stuff. Apparently, he was working on headless basses with graphite necks in Germany in the early 90s and is now MIA.

He did progress quickly. The bass with the dragon inlays was a bit special though. These are all Pangborns. The earliest is the red bass and the newest one is the 5 string jazz bass (though that is pushing 30 years old now).

This is about the closest guess I have seen so far. Ashley Pangborn started in the late 70's around the same time as Jaydee set up his own shop, which would fit with the date. I have seen the electronics in early Pangborn's and they were definitely rather "home-made" looking too - he also used vero board and he used Omega brand pots. Against, I would think the serial number would be too high if this were the 133rd instrument made by 1978. Frankly, the best thing about Pangborn basses was the woodworking, which was excellent on his later instruments. This one seems a bit crude, but the ergonomics on the early Pangborn basses also needed refining. I have an early one where the break angle over the nut is simply awful, just defies common sense, so he also had a bit of a learning period. I have never seen a Pangborn with an Alembic style headstock, but mine has a Musicman 3+1 arrangement so he wasn't averse to borrowing. Like this one, Ashley used M4S Schaller tuners and the shape of the control cavity and what I assume is a battery cover also look to be about the same. Coincidence, probably. What brand are the pick-ups?

Thanks Guys, Guess I will give it a miss. I have spoken to Steve a few times over the years and he is a cantankerous old sod for sure. Hard to believe he could be worse, 😀.

Thanks, and I know what you mean, going to be in the UK next week and trying to decide if I want to potentially waste a day travelling down to Bristol try my luck at the store actually being open that day and then persuading Steve to sell me something. Don't suppose he has got a (new) phone number yet, 😀?