meesterbassman

just checking (now that I have one of these) - the 3 way switch is pickup selector and the switches are single coil or both (series) for each pickup. and in addition any idea which way the toggle switches work (I’m assuming the beefier sounds are humbucking)? bass seems great (for £250 let alone the £120 I paid!) and pickups are actually pretty pokey compared to some budget basses I’ve had.

Thanks for the info. one popped up half price (mint condition) online so I took a punt (can use it as a teaching bass/student loan bass if needed). £140 delivered as new and a REAL bargain. just as well made as my Sire, newer Squiers or higher end Harley Benton’s I own/have played. ridiculous for the price (or 4/5 times what I paid!). not plugged in yet but would be easy to upgrade if needed. bridge and tuners look cheap but no more so than anything else sub £500 these days I think! and again, cheap/easy upgrades!

Just thought you may be interested to know (having traded with the OP for this lovely bass) that a new set of Bass Centre Elites 45-105 and the intonation is back to normal (so assuming it was some kind of issue with the string maybe?) lovely bass and goes well with my mini collection of early 80s MIJ Squier/ESP/Westone/Yamahas

Just come across this due to a bass coming up for sale. Assuming it’s a prototype as it’s sub £300 might reach out to Mark Gooday on FB as he’s pretty accessible on the Ashdown FB group

Great basses- I have one. Hand wound pickups that change tone as you rotate (but be careful as it’s 80s wiring!) paid £500 for mine last year (had sat in case for 30 years). needed a decent fret tidying job (ends were rather proud of fingerboard) my luthier was very impressed too. very solid mahogany basses with brass nut and a large but very thin body so no heavier than some of my other p basses. can do a variety of P bass sounds by rotating pickups. surprisingly comfy to play and a rare one to have in your collection-they didn’t make many basses compared to all the 6 strings mine is serial 01064 so yours looks to be quite an early one

Bizarre post and a shot in the dark. my old teacher Colin Bilham has just died (age 90). First bass guitar chair in the west end and one of original Superstar and Joseph bands I believe. he *should* have sold his ‘64 precision to me a few years back (2005ish) but was arm twisted (I think) to flog it for (gulp) £750 by (I can only assume) some with minimal scruples. (Supposition there!) I was gutted. More so to discover that it then got sold on at auction in 2015 by Tennants in the UK at a price I could still have managed (£2.5k). the auctioneers tell me it left the UK but can’t say where. Colin bought it from the bass player in the Hollies... anyway, would LOVE to track it down (and ideally buy it back for posterity) - I’m gutted he’s gone (knew him for almost 40 years). anyone come across it (info here including serial): https://bid.tennants.co.uk/m/lot-details/index/catalog/300/lot/437946?url=%2Fm%2Fsearch%2F%3Fkey%3DColin%2Bbilham%26search-area%3Don%26xclosed%3Dno

Only just heard the news a week ago (and the only reason i've joined Basschat in fact!) glad someone posted this - i worked / studied alongside Dave at music college in the early 90s for 4 years - he was a great musician, and one of the funniest blokes i've ever met! Will never forget his Darth Vader impressions just prior to walking onstage for Mahler 5 (i was in tears by the time i sat down...!). He was a force of nature, and a law unto himself throughout college (never choosing to conform if it got in the way of his talent or ideals). Absolutely shocked he's gone already (especially being the same age!) - he did, as someone else has said, have half his career ahead of him. Thank god he did some big things with his life (both professionally and personally) in his short time RIP Dave - wish I'd made the effort to get back in contact a bit sooner, but glad i got to know you for a while! Phil Reynolds