Fretless Fender Mystery

[owen_87]

I was sent this bass via Whatsapp that was for sale at a local car boot sale this morning. If this is yours then please do let me know as I am curious!

 

So the question is.....any ideas on what it would be? Apparently it was being described as a Jaco signature but, well, I always hand him down as a sunburst Jazz type....

[Hellzero]

A Tony Franklin like Precision Bass would be a better description.

 

It has what looks like an ebony fingerboard with a brass nut on what also looks to be a 70's Fender P-Bass neck, with a Jazz Bass pickup under the bridge cover and the output jack located on the side as the hole is now certainly occupied by the tone control.

 

If it's an original Fender 70's Precision Bass neck, the fingerboard has been changed as it was either rosewood or varnished maple.

[AndyTravis]

I think it’s possibly a Squier standard series body in charcoal frost metallic.

 

The neck isn’t original fender I don’t think, maybe a mightymite with a decal.

 

if it’s any less than £200 probably a very serviceable bass.

[lemmywinks]

9 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I think it’s possibly a Squier standard series body in charcoal frost metallic.

 

The neck isn’t original fender I don’t think, maybe a mightymite with a decal.

 

if it’s any less than £200 probably a very serviceable bass.

 

 

My first thought was a Squier with a ebanol board Mighty Mite neck! 

https://www.guitarbitz.com/products/squier-affinity-precision-pj-bass-charcoal-frost-metallic

 

Plastic nut on my Might Mite P neck though, you'd have to check the heel to know for sure.

[Beedster]

It gets less attractive the more I look at it  

[JPJ]

13 hours ago, Hellzero said:

A Tony Franklin like Precision Bass would be a better description.

 

Not a Tony Franklin as they a) only come in sunburst, black, or lake placid blue finish, and b) have a three-way Strat style pickup selector switch. 

[JPJ]

21 minutes ago, Beedster said:

It gets less attractive the more I look at it  

Funny ain’t it, I quite like the look of it. Could be a good buy for someone depending on the price

[warwickhunt]

Clearly a Gibson... it says so!  

[Linus27]

1 minute ago, JPJ said:

Funny ain’t it, I quite like the look of it. Could be a good buy for someone depending on the price

 

I think its a very smart looking bass and as a fretless player then this sparks my interest. I actually really like the colour as well.

[Linus27]

Just now, warwickhunt said:

Clearly a Gibson... it says so!  

 

Good spot and clearly the headstock has also been changed as its different to the picture 🤣

[Hellzero]

7 minutes ago, JPJ said:

Not a Tony Franklin as they a) only come in sunburst, black, or lake placid blue finish, and b) have a three-way Strat style pickup selector switch. 

Hence the "Tony Franklin like" ...

[JPJ]

3 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Hence the "Tony Franklin like" ...

Guess who missed the word “like” 🤦‍♂️😂

[uk_lefty]

Putting jazz bass ashtrays on a bon-jazz bass is an abomination. I cannot stand it when I see these. Otherwise, bass looks alright, because of unknown origins etc. I wouldn't pay more for that than the price of a new fretless Harley Benton 

[lemmywinks]

Even though this is probably a Squier PJ from factory I'd always be wary of a PJ with the bridge cover on, that piece of metal could be hiding some hideous amateur routing.

[Beedster]

4 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Even though this is probably a Squier PJ from factory I'd always be wary of a PJ with the bridge cover on, that piece of metal could be hiding some hideous amateur routing.

 

....and even given that, installing a Jazz(-esque) ashtray on a Precision is rather poor form 👍

[Beedster]

8 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Putting jazz bass ashtrays on a bon-jazz bass is an abomination. I cannot stand it when I see these. Otherwise, bass looks alright, because of unknown origins etc. I wouldn't pay more for that than the price of a new fretless Harley Benton 

Ha, missed that, a common theme in this thread it appears  

[lemmywinks]

5 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

....and even given that, installing a Jazz(-esque) ashtray on a Precision is rather poor form 👍

 

 

Oh yes, morally wrong on every level.

[miles'tone]

My dad saw this at the car boot yesterday and rang me to see if I wanted it. Unfortunately he couldn't work out how to take a photo or send it to me 😄

Apparently the guy selling said it belongs to his son who plays guitar all over the world, and the bass had been in his attic for 25 years. There's no serial numbers on it.

I said it sounds like it's just been nicked off someone in Rhyl so I passed!

 

*edit - of course the story might be true, but over the phone it sounded fishy.

The guy wanted £200 for it btw @AndyTravis

 

Edited 4 hours ago by miles'tone

[uk_lefty]

It's a car boot sale though, so they say they want £200 and they'll have people offer them 50p and a pre-chewed Werthers Original then getting offended when they're told to sling it. 

 

Having said that.... At a vintage fair saw a nice Kramer guitar once. I think they wanted two grand "because of who it belonged to, wink wink" I was told. It was an Eddie Van Halen replica. B*blocks, can't be EVH's and can't even be pretending it is. I was right. They said it belonged to some bloke from a 70s rock band I'd vaguely heard of. As if that makes a budget Kramer, absolutely knackered, and with peeling decals to make it look like an EVH, worth more than £100.