GB Spitfire 5 project SOLD
£950
Woking

lowregisterhead · April 4, 2021

NOW SOLD

For sale is an early GB Spitfire 5-string. As lovely as it is, I find myself gravitating back to my Laklands, so I’ve decided to put it up for grabs. It’s 35” scale, 19mm spacing at the bridge, and weighs in at a very comfy 4.1kg.

Let me start by saying that this is still, in the main, a lovely bass. I bought it on here a little while ago, and it came to me with a recently re-finished neck, but the body was still in need of a little work, showing a few dings, chips and cracks in the lacquer commensurate with its age, as well as some fading in the finish.

As all of us will know, there’s a long-standing tradition with musicians the world over to tinker with their instruments. I like to work on my basses, mainly by doing my own set-ups, or to experiment by installing new pickups, preamps etc., usually with reasonable success. I rarely go much further, as that generally requires specialist equipment and a level of skill and patience that I lack! However, Bernie’s pickups and preamp have a very particular tone, so I thought, “I could fit some new pickups and a different preamp if I route the cavities a smidge - what’s the worst that can happen?” and got my Dremel out. The result is a bass that now has much greater tonal variety IMHO, but now has some additional cosmetic issues with the body, thanks to the routing bit working free of the drill on two separate occasions and causing a bit of damage, which I've tried to show in the photos. The accuracy of the pickup routing leaves a bit to be desired as well, if I’m honest.

I've fitted a new pair of Nordstrand Big Singles, and a second-hand John East Uni-pre 3-band preamp with a passive tone control and a low battery indicator, which came out of another bass I bought a while back. The original GB pickups and preamp are also included in the sale. The various issues are reflected in the price I’m asking, and as the body was in need of a refinish anyway, perhaps it’s not too much of a disaster - a relatively small investment could bring it back to its former glory in the hands of someone who actually knows what they’re doing! If you're not unduly concerned about the cosmetics, it's a playing great bass as it stands, of course.

I’ll put up a YouTube video shortly so you can see how it plays and sounds. There’s no case included, but as the neck is a snug fit, and attached with threaded allen bolts making it a breeze to remove and re-fit, I can ship it with the neck off packed with lots of bubble wrap. UK shipping is included in the price. Sorry, but no trade offers please.