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Ive had this bass for a few years now and is my main and most favourite P bass. I know that MIJ/CIJ basses often have chequered history in as far as body material, pups and even serials can be hard to date. This example has an E serial number and very luckily also a clear pencil neck date - 16th December 1985. It also features the larger plated tuners more commonly seen on 70's style USA Fenders (not the reverse style that would be more in keeping with a real 57/58). I do still have what appears to be the original plain white pickguard also Ive been told that the E number and also the presence of the larger tuners suggests this one should be loaded with US pups rather than the ceramic Japanese ones from later dates. I *THINK* the body is alder but i do know from searching online that some of this period are also basswood. Ill try and get more detailed pics particularly of the pickups but would be interest if anyone else has one similar or if anyone with more knowledge than me could chip in any more about the lovely early Japanese basses. There seems to be an increase in value of these also (not quite to JV levels though!) so i may also need a steer on value when i renew my instrument insurance

If old school thumpy (like me - i do P's rather than J's) but i did fall in love with a MIJ RI75 jazz bass. I stuck Elites Groundwounds on it and doubled with a set of Wizard 84 pups it sounded full, meaty, thumpy and P-ish but kept the J growl

As some of you may know ive been after one of these old hybrid heads for a while, ever since i saw the Zutons at Jools Holland and their bass player, Russ Pritchard, played one. They were originally branded Sunn but overheating issues apparently plagues these and the rebadged Fender ones had additional heat sinks and ventilation added to sort the issue. Finally one came up in need of a good service which i jumped on. Im really enjoying the amp now it has had some much needed TLC but the power on it is phenomenal. I believe running it through my Ampeg 2x12 4ohm cab the head can deliver around 800w which is far more than i need but tone wise its great. The amp has 2 channels - Ch1 is a clean type channel using 1 of the 12ax7s, channel 2 (which cant be used on its own randomly) is an overdrive type channel using the 2nd 12AX7. Both channels have input volume, channel 2 has a gain and then there is a blend knob so plenty of options. I do find the the pre amp is clipped easily even at lower levels so im toying with the idea of swapping the 12AX7's for some 12AU7's to tame it a little bit. Anybody else use one of these or the little brother of it, the TB600? Any EQ tips? Anyone done much valve rolling in one? Interested to hear anyone's experience with these

Just seen that one on AB's site. Very nice but that 59 is beautiful! I have a thing for slightly beat up burst/gold/maple P basses. ill have to make do with my 85 MIJ reissue

Ive drooled over this one at Bass Gallery for days and days. Seems reasonably priced but I'm not enough of an expert to know what a re-fret and new nut does to value https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/fender-precision-1963

Following my above post i can now fully recommend Mike Powell (MPAV Services) of Bolton - www.mpavservice.co.uk. Mainly a hifi type repair man but he does take on guitar amps (when i dropped my amp off he had a few Trace combos in his workshop). Completed my repair - new volume pot and 4 new output jacks - on my bassman in 2 days at a very reasonable cost and to a great standard. Definitely recommend for any fellow North West BCers

Their usual bass player, a Spector toting guy called Leigh Foxx, had a bad injury involving his back a while ago and has been out for a while. His sound was massive with a spector through an SVT rig. I believe Glen Matlock still uses an old Fender bassman 100 from his old Pistol days!

Something slightly different but still precision - my MIM Cabronita that has been modded. I once played a highly ltd edition Borrocha bass that comes from the cabronita line and it was sublime. These ‘standard’ ones share the same outstanding neck so I replaced the pup with the TV Jones Supertron like the borracha and swapped the bridge to a BBOT. Strung with fender flats it is pure thunder and growl 😍

Heavy duty rack case used to ship my latest acquisition in. The internal brackets need refixing to the case. Absolutely no use for it and its taking up space. Free to good home. Collection only from Bolton pls

The 'Valve' knob is actually counter intuitive. In its most anti clockwise position its starves the plate and makes it sound more 'loose/slow' and valve like. Fully clockwise it actually tightens things up. For cleaner i would definately max the master and use gain to set 'volume'. The dirt/grit comes mainly from the pre

As mentioned, engage the EQ even if its left flat but raise the far right hand slider. Theres hidden volume in there

Any amp tech recommendations for North West/Manchester? Usually use Roland Lumby but he only takes on valve work now. Dave Lunt seems to have retired from what i gather Its a hybrid Fender Bassman that needs a new volume pot as it has sheared off. Looks like the post go straight into the board so could be a big job

The Elites half/ground wounds are really good in my opinion. Had them on a MIJ Jazz and sounded great

With it being a CC there probably wont be any service history or knowledge of valve age. Plus as mentioned, it comes with an 8ohm cab which isnt compatible - it may suggest the head has been used long term with the cab which itself could've caused issues. Assuming everything was a-ok i would probably offer £1k, flip the cab and spend the cab money of a service with a competent tech. As @Beedster mentions also though, heavy iron just doesnt seem to shift nowadays

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325672466216?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=5FL9HKvQQzW&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=oN5XbKSRQjS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY being sold with non compatible 8ohm cab so may well have been used and abused with it. Never see anything cool like this in my local CC 😫

Do they ever actually sell anything at those prices? I know they have the shell/corpse of what was previously a Ric 4005 thats been for sale forever and a completely stupid price!

It was from Legends over at Bass Bros. Ive tried TI’s - too floppy for me. Ive ordered some la bella 760FL’s so hopefully have them in soon. More pics to follow