Please tell me about that bass

[Dexterward]

Hello there from Germany!

 

Can someone please tell me something about this bass? It was built by Chris May, who owned a music store on Denmark Street in London. It was built in the early 80s. Solid woods, Schaller hardware, overwater pickup, 24 frets, Thunderbird headstock. What series is it? thank you

 

[bassbiscuits]

It’s an overwater bass I believe. 
 

I’m sure someone on here knows the model. 

[Misdee]

It looks like the most basic version of the bass Overwater made in the late 1970's/ early 1980's. I think it was called the Artisan, if I remember correctly.  It might well have been a slightly different shape to the full-spec Thunderbird-basses they made, a bit more compact, but I'm going back a long way in the recesses of my memory. A local guitar shop was an Overwater stockist and I remember they had one in stock. That will have been about 40 years ago.

 

Anyhow,  they were excellent quality instruments and would look the part nowadays in any indie/alternative rock band.

 

I know that in those days a feature of top of the range Overwater basses was conical fretting, where the frets  got progressively thinner going up the neck. It's worth checking if this bass has that. Anyhow, it's a really interesting bass and a very good find.

Edited 3 hours ago by Misdee