Help identifying this bass! 1977 or 1988 or something else?!

[sambecker1]

Dear Basschatters,

I hope you're well. I recently acquired this bass and it seemed like an interesting mix of things to me. I have taken the neck of and it's a Herb Gastelum neck which is a nice surpirse but by my sight on the pencil marking it looks to be an 88 neck and then the pots are from a 77 but I can't tell the markings on the body. Any help identifying what this is would be brilliant and hugely appreciated!
 

Best wishes,

Sam

 

 

[MrFingers]

 

Body does look like a 1970's product to me. It has the straight pocket, so: late 1970's.

Neck is from a 1988 Fender AVRI '62 P-bass. Pickguard is way more recent.

What does the pickup look like underneath the covers?

Edited 19 hours ago by MrFingers

[sambecker1]

Thanks for this @MrFingers! That’s super helpful. I’ll have a look under the pickups over the next couple of days and let you know what’s under there. The scratch plate is definitely very recent. 

[NancyJohnson]

I suppose while it's nice to know the DNA of an instrument, but once it's all bolted together and playable, does it really matter?

 

Irrespective of the years, everything here is machine made and the parts are interchangeable.