MNY

Hello Terry, Having had a scout around this afternoon it would seem Marcus’s bass is an early Sadowsky 5 made sometime mid to late 1980’s. These versions had 21 frets, electronics wise they were fitted with Bartolini pickups and circuit. I think you’re spot on with ref to the headstock config, the 1990 Jazz bass plus which was the first modern 5 string bass from Fender had 5 inline tuners, as opposed to Sadowsky’s 4+1.

I just looked at the headstock shape and control layout and felt it was more than likely a Sadowsky. It’s a bit frustrating that the video is not very clear.

Yes I agree, very strange, the video isn’t clear but when you realise the drummer is Omar Hakim and the guitar player Hiram Bullock, two of Marcus’s close friends it can’t be anyone else other than him, plus he played on the bulk of Spellbound along with Nathan East so it all seems to make sense.

I thought I had seen and heard Marcus playing a Sadowsky 5 string, check this out. Pretty sure he used this same bass on High Life by Wayne Shorter. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1705956527472114&surface_type=vod&referral_source=vod_newsfeed_unit

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to respond. It’s great to see the expertise demonstrated by members of this forum. Quite remarkable really. 🙏

I have the thumb rest, in fact I removed it when I got the bass a few weeks ago. I have the bridge and pick up covers as well. I think that one of the earlier posters is spot on about the colour, which has more of a yellow tone to the burst than one of the 60’s basses and therefore the black pickguard seems to match better. I have decided that I will leave the bass as is, it sounded excellent when I played it yesterday. I will just need to have the wiring checked as I think there might be a loose connection somewhere which is causing an earth buzz.

I bought it on a whim to be honest. I am not too bothered about it losing value as it’s no different in that regard than any other bass I have ever bought, there are some things that need addressing though which hopefully won’t compromise the originality. Cheers.

It’s not ‘minty fresh’ and does have some wear which gives it character. It’s fair to say that I’m not too bothered about the value aspect, but I would like to cure the earthing issue and sort out the noisy pots.

This is more of preferred tonal reference and also Freddie Washington’s p bass, which I believe has had a Baroloini pick up for the majority of its working life. I love listening to Herbie Hancock (Paul Jackson, Ready Freddie,Eddie Watkins, Byron Miller) George Duke with Byron Miller, Willie Weeks with Donny Hathaway and Larsen-Feiten band especially the album Full Moon, Chuck Rainey on virtually everything he’s done but a particular favourite which is rather obscure is the track Djinji by Hirth Martinez, from the album Hirth from Earth.

Many thanks for taking the trouble to submit such a detailed response. cheers, Mark.

I agree entirely, I sometimes wonder why I care so much about aesthetics. I have a lovely custom bass which sounds ridiculously good but I am conflicted because of the body shape. I tend to forget about the shape when I play it because it sounds incredible but afterwards I wish it was a tad more conventional 🙈

Thank you 👍

Many thanks for your comments. Do you have a suggested source for the pickguard please?

Thank you all, much appreciated. 👍