Belka

Do you mean heavy metal style? That would be minor/diminished tonality with the prominent flat 2 and raised 4/flat 5, not major . The only way I can imagine it used in major tonality is when playing over a first inversion of the V chord, for example B/G if playing in C. Even then emphasising the Flat II/V degrees of the mode wouldn't really be necessary as they wouldn't work as chord tones (technically the flat V would be a chord tone if it's a dominant 7, but again, Dom 7 chords are rarer these days in most popular music), just scale passing tones. To be honest I know very little about contemporary Christian music so I may be missing something here.

I think that the above scenario is extremely unlikely, unless your band leader is a mode obsessed lead guitarist. IME the real value of modes is not applying them as degrees of a major scale, but knowing how to apply them over certain chords. Lydian for example, can be used over maj7 chords functioning as the I chord, not just the IV. You also shouldn't worry about using all the notes in the mode, but know where to apply the key degrees, in this case the raised 4th, to provide the colour. Locrian would hardly ever be found in modern music in a major key - it's far more likely to be used as the II chord in a minor(major) key in Jazz, where it would be thought of as min7b5 rather than Locrian anyway. What I'm trying to say is that until you have an understanding of the function of a chord (I, IImin, V, etc,), what its chord tones are and how it can be extended, 'knowing' the modes won't really give much benefit to your playing

I think whoever did that has moved beyond the realm of supplying a semi-vintage bass at a more affordable price into out and out fakery, no matter what they say. Luckily they don't really know what they're doing - I may be wrong but I don't think any '60s necks had employee name stamps on them - that was a '70s thing.

They didn't - as I think I mentioned, slab boards were phased out in '61/62, and didn't show up again until 1984. That neck is in no way authentic. I'd guess Warmoth/Allparts with Fender Pure Vintage tuners. Actually, thinking about it, one of my statements is inaccurate- slab boards would have featured on the original Fullerton reissues, so 1982 was when they came back, not 1984. The neck in question is not in any way a Fullerton reissue however.

When he shows the headstock. Clearly a slab.

It's not an original neck in any way. That's a slab fingerboard, not a veneer, which it should be on any Fender from 1962-1983. Those tuners are the Fender branded Schallers that came out in 1976 and are still used in Fender's '70s reissue basses today. The guard is a clear repro. The body, electronics and bridge could be real, you'd need to a closer look inside to verify.

Fender Precision Bass comparison USA vs MIM vs JAPANhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgzD3vcrExE Check out the '77 in this video - by far the most aggressive sound.

Great sound, although the white pickguard would probably date that precision as an early '70s model - could well have been changed of course.

Personally I wouldn't change a thing on it unless it was necessary. Unless you fork out the money for a Spitfire or something the tort pickguard won't look right. Those S series sunburst finishes were quite bright, something like the target burst you used to see earlier, and along with that S series logo a tort guard would just seem out of place - they just look better/more authentic with the black guard. As for changing the pickups, I suppose it depends what you want. If you want something like an EMG or Bartolini because you like their particular sound, then go for, as long as you keep the original. Personally though, I think the late '70s S series basses are some of the best sounding P basses - they have a lot more treble/upper-mid than '60s or early '70s basses. Honestly, if you want a more vintage P, hold out for an early '70s one and sell this one on. You can find refinished ones for not much more than an original late '70s one (Andy Baxter sold a refinised 1970 with original tort guard for less than £2,300 recently).

I think a lot of Sadowsky's success is down to the time and place they were in. New York is full of session/theatre musicians who were mostly using Fenders. No doubt a lot of them had reliability issues, or became too valuable to play out, or didn't have a low B. Sadowsky was able to solve all these issues locally while still giving them an FSO that was familiar/comfortable to them and their employers, so it's no wonder they became successful. That said, there's nothing inherently pioneering/groundbreaking about them - B strings and active electronics had been around for a while when Sadowsky started making his own basses - he just put them into a package that appealed to a lot of people, and which also happened to be a high quality product. I'd guess that a lot of the hype about the Sadowsky preamp is less due to the fact that it is unique and special in some way, and more due to the fact that it was the first active preamp available on a traditional looking/sounding bass.

Wasn't this event being organised by the same guy/team behind Bass Review magazine? The one that has taken people's money for 16 issues and delivered 12 (there's a separate thread on it on this very forum)? I hope that both Bass Day and the magazine were started with the best of intentions, but it looks to me like we're moving into Letts Bass/Darrin Huff/SGD/Dr Bass territory here. Maybe I'm just being cynical, but I have to wonder if the cash he raised from Bass Day went towards keeping the magazine afloat. Robbing Peter to pay Paul perhaps. Good luck to all those who are owed money back.

It's far more likely to be a pickguard swap - the ad states there are two sets of holes drilled for two different pickguards - the original probably went bad and it's been replaced with another that didn't quite fit - hence the extra holes and gap at the neck. I may be wrong, but by 1969 Fender's tort was a bit darker - this one is very vibrant/red, it could be from an earlier instrument.

Unfortunately, outside of Spitfire, Avant Guard, Lava Guard, Reptile Guard, you're not going to find anything like that. There is nothing mass produced that looks like that. If you want something off the shelf rather than spending a lot on those aforementioned companies, I honestly think you'd be better off going for red pearl material rather than tort. It won't look right close up but from a distance it'll look good. Something like this attached pictures:

Same here. On their website issue 11 is the last one I can see. I used PayPal rather than bank transfer too. Might be time to start trying to claw the £21 back through PayPal.