GeeCee

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.)

8 hours ago, joe_geezer said:

It looks like a GA24?

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

On 18/10/2022 at 02:35, Kiwi said:

Yes, someone on here admitted to having one in their collection a few years back.  They were basically black, Jaydee-made jazz basses, nothing special. 

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.

3 hours ago, ambient said:

Are they your instruments?

 

The one in the centre of the group looks fabulous.

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.

7 hours ago, ambient said:

I’ve never seen a Pangborn in real life. I did a Google search before I posted my reply; there doesn’t seem to be many examples of his work about.

 

To be honest, it would be asking a lot to have gone from this example - which I actually quite like - to the one featured in the very old magazine I have, with the dragon inlays and LED eyes, in just four years or so.

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).

On 05/09/2022 at 12:46, ambient said:

Ashley Pangbourne?

 

He built Alembic style instruments in the 1980s.

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, 😀.

1 hour ago, Jakester said:

Last time I went past a couple of weeks ago, it looked…just the way it has for years, but that’s not really any indication!

 

TBH I wouldn’t be at all surprised. I actually had to work really hard to get the guy to sell me something a few years back!

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, 😀?

Tough one, Jaydee is enjoying a bit of a renaissance right now, like Wal, and has full order books and significant waiting list BUT that's for the Mark King and Iommi models.  I would imagine a Flying V bass is going to have a more limited appeal, but if someone has just got have one who knows.  With John semi-retired - I don't think the sons offer the same kind of custom service that he did - maybe that works in your favor.  Got any pics?

Are any Basschatters living in or near Bristol able to confirm that Electric Ladyland has shut its doors for good?

4 hours ago, ambient said:

Is that one of his original instruments?

Yes, it's his original Jaydee bass (003SA), the one he bought from Sounds in London with his record company advance.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to set-up a who is best argument, far from it, nor am I suggesting that there is anything inherently wrong with JDs.  FWIW, I have one Wal and several JDs, which should tell you what I prefer (though for pension purposes I wish I had done that the other way round).  I guess my point is that times change, these are all instruments designed in the 70s that are played mostly by middle-aged men, myself included (though I am rapidly approaching old-age).  I was just trying to speak to the comment about JD not offering something new and why I am not sure that is going to happen.  A few years back I was talking with Paul Day who was selling his rare early 60's Burns Bison guitars.  I asked him why and he said the same thing, old guitars for old men and he was selling them on while there was still someone left who cared enough about them to buy them.  

BTW, the PUs and electronics (3-band EQ) in the original MK, GA and Roadie models are the same, though you have the choice now for an updated (non-reverse P) PU.  I believe the boards got tweaked and refined over the years.  The PUs and electronics are different in the Calibas and Celeste models (stacked humbuckers with 4- and 2-band EQs, or something like that).

7 hours ago, 4000 said:

Well the Series 3 is smaller and lighter than the first two versions, albeit essentially more or less the same shape. And really, that’s all Wal have done, come up with three variations of the same thing. The difference is JD historically would build you pretty much anything if you asked. And may still, who knows. And if we’re splitting hairs they actually do more models than Wal, with potentially more options. 

Its the PUs and electronics that make a Wal a Wal and that is mostly down to Ian Waller.  Who knows what else they may have done had he lived.  They never were and are not a full custom shop like JD.  That said, I think Wal basses are generally really well made.  The body shape and neck profile may or may not be your cup of tea, but you don't have as many people cursing Wals for their rubbery necks.  I don't think JD offers the range of models they used to such as the Calibas or Celeste.  Also, I don't think they do as much non-Jaydee work.  John was the man to set-up and repair/restore anything, regardless of what you thought about his own bass models.

Ibanez did an interesting tweak of the Musician series for Alphonso Johnson.  It's factory built.

On 30/05/2021 at 04:34, Grassie said:

Can't seem to find the FB page....

 

Here are the pictures

11 hours ago, Grassie said:

Hi folks,

I'm in the midst of another one of my bass related art projects and I'm after some decent pictures of the Pangborn played by MK (as seen in the videos for "The Sun Goes Down" and "Lessons In Love").

I've managed to get a couple of fuzzy screenshots from those vids, but there seems to be very little else in the way of quality photos of it. If anyone has any (or of the same model - a Warlord I think) I'd be eternally grateful if you could share them!

Many thanks!  x

 

There is a Pangborn FaceBook page that has some pictures of it now.  It's hanging up in a bar somewhere in Amsterdam (I think).  There are a bunch of decent photos of Warlords on BC, just search for Pangborn.

On 19/05/2021 at 21:36, Chris2112 said:

I believe it would be a Chieftain model though I'm not certain. There are other Chieftain models with that same body shape albeit different pickup placements. 

I would think that one predates the Chieftain bass.  The Chieftain basses weren't built by Pangborn either, more assembled by, with the woodworking done elsewhere, if memory serves correctly.  That is probably late 70's.  I have a fretless one of a similar vintage that has the same headstock shape.  The PUs in mine were originally reverse P's too, but got swapped out for wider soapbars at some point.  Mine has a Baddass bridge and the same kind of switch and truss rod cover.  The guy who played bass for Buck's Fizz did have at least one Pangborn, it was a Warlord though.  Maybe he had this one too.

On 19/05/2021 at 16:53, Russ said:

I do love a Jaydee (was the first proper "high-end" bass I ever played).

But it'd be nice if Mr Diggins would come up with something new occasionally. The current designs have been in production for 40 years and it'd be nice to see something a bit more contemporary and modern. Things have moved on a lot in terms of aesthetics, weight, playability, electronics and so on. 

Mr Diggins is in his seventies and basically semi-retired; he worked at John Birch for a few years before setting up on his own in '77.  Jaydee Guitars is now run by his sons with a grandson doing a lot if not all of the finishing work.  Why would they bother coming up with something new at this point.  I think they sell as many SG copies to Iommi and AC/DC fans as they do Classic basses to MK fans.

On 03/04/2021 at 05:40, Dave Coates Audio said:

Thought you might like to see this example that came to me for a setup and some minor repairs this week, it could well be the one that scojack and GeeCee mentioned in connection with MK.

Dave Coates Audio

That's the one; obviously built for a Mr. Young (not Mr. King).  That is pretty damn nice though.

8 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Aria?? A bit Jaydee-ish...ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-Guitar-Body-Lot-3/333926206948?hash=item4dbf8d8de4:g:nkkAAOSwiPxgVMOU

Yeah, does look like a Jaydee Hooligan 85.

On 18/08/2020 at 11:19, doc40hz said:

Can any JayDee owners answer me this? I have three JayDees. Two Series IIs and one Series III. All from the mid/late 80s I think. 

I always assumed the treble circuits noise was just a quirk of the preamp. It's really hissy when boosted, but this hiss disappears when the mids are cut. 

I recently bought my second Series II from another basschatter. It had a defective bass circuit so was sent back to the JayDee workshop and it had a new preamp fitted. The treble circuit on the new preamp is dead quite, and doesn't sound so dramatic in its treble boost.

So.....are my other preamps defective or is that just what they sounded like and the new preamp is quieter?

 

I think it's what they sounded like new.  The treble boost was always a bit hissy when turned up, but early days for active electronics.  Never bothered me much because I like a middly sound and never really boosted the treble.  I don't doubt they have improved it since then and use a quieter chip.

On ‎03‎/‎09‎/‎2020 at 13:05, Stub Mandrel said:

The clue to the bass is those brass 'coins' that anchor the strings, I just wish I could place them...

Without a doubt a Jaydee - very early model too.  Probably a Jaydee Session bass and I would guess around 1980/1.

43 minutes ago, scojack said:

Waaaaaaahhhhhh that's my old Betsy in the front !! Waaaaahhhhhh, i had that bass man and boy!!!! It was originally built for Steve Stroud from Bucks Fizz.

Im off for a big cry ! I should never had let this bass go .....sniff sniff !!

Sorry, I didn't mean to reopen an old wound.

This is Pangborn's "Mark King" Warlord that was most closely patterned after Jaydee's Mark King model even copying the funk groove at the base on the neck.  I suspect the electronics have been swapped around.  I would have expected a PU selector where the first LED is, then volume and master tone rotaries, with the passive-active on-off switch and the bottom three controls the 3-band EQ.  That said, Ashley seems to made every bass differently, see picture below.  They are all Pangborns.  The EQ controls were smaller, but he used a variety of different knob types.

15 hours ago, therealting said:

Is there a link? I’m curious 

There is another thread on BC about it, search here (or on EBay) for "Jaydee Copy".