SOLD - Scott Handmade Modern Jazz

[lozbass]

Now sold - thanks for all the comments and enquiries

More from the clear-out:

This is a Scott Handmade modern Jazz style 4 with the following features:

34" scale - 24 frets
Narrow neck (slender J profile) - maple with thick rosewood board (abalone front dots, brass side dots)
Brass nut - 1.5"
String spacing at nut - 9.5mm; at bridge - 19mm
Deep slotted neck (glued I think)
Mahogany body with nicely figured quilt maple drop top
Wood plate over control route
Tall post tuners
Schaller 3D 4 bridge
2 band active circuit
Controls: vol, pan, treble bass (but see below)
Fender nickel rounds (light gauge)

The good:

Lovely low action - great set-up and extremely playable
Feels, plays and sounds like a good boutique bass
Looks cool
Very comfortable - excellent balance
Great passive tone - modern and aggressive with plenty of weight - very even across the strings

The less good:

Some light marks, scratches (on the back) and general playwear
Control plate is not cut from the mahogany body
Circuit is not currently operational - this could be a simple solder job or something more complicated - I just don't know (pull up the volume pot for passive operation - the bass is silent with the volume pot pushed down)
I don't know who built the circuit (any ideas?) or the pickups (I've not taken them out)
The G tuner is slightly bent (i.e., the fork that holds the elephant ear is not sufficiently tight and the tuner can vibrate - I've stuck a piece of paper in there but a bit of solder or a pin would provide a more permanent solution)

The story:

Please note - I have absolutely no independent verification of this story and I'm not attempting to sell the bass on the back of it (somebody may know more - any ideas, please let me know)
On buying the bass (ebay) I was told that it was originally built by Peter Scott for Mark King (and to the latter's spec) in the '90s - however, it stayed in Scott's hands and was given to the previous owner as part payment of a debt. The bass was then used by 'Bad Habits' and appears in some of that band's videos.

Peter Scott:

It's been difficult to track Scott down - he has worked in Switzerland with Rolf Spuler (guitar designer) and possibly still does. From what I've heard of him, he's somewhat elusive and err...unusual. The only links I have are the following:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9n3EMrhYn4&feature=search"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9n3EMrhYn4...;feature=search[/url] - Scott playing one of his own Hammerhead basses (possibly the bass used by Patrice's bassplayer - there are videos of this on the web)

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=30731"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?act=attach...st&id=30731[/url] - see page 21 for details of Scott's luthiery

So, in sum...a very nicely made boutique bass in good condition - great player, cool looks and solid, funky, modern tone. Some playwear, a damaged (fixable?) circuit, and a damaged (fixable?) machine head.

I paid around £360 for the bass around a year ago and have had a lot of fun with it - I simply need to reduce the amount of gear that I have lying around. I'm looking for £290 for it now. It can be collected from Manchester or I can ship to the UK for £15 (I don't have a case but the bass will be well packed). Any questions, just let me know. If you know anything more about the bass or the builder, I'd be very grateful.

Edited August 23, 2010 by lozbass

[MB1]

MB1.
Great Scott!..................................................................................Coat Collected!

Edited August 22, 2010 by MB1

[fede162162]

I'm tempted...

can you explain what you mean saying "Control plate is not cut from the mahogany body"?

thank you,

cheers

[lozbass]

[quote name='fede162162' post='932967' date='Aug 22 2010, 06:53 PM']can you explain what you mean saying "Control plate is not cut from the mahogany body"?[/quote]
PMs answered and, in answer to the question above, the control cover plate doesn't appear to be made from the piece of wood that would have been left following routing for the cavity (as is the case with, for example, Sei basses). It appears that the control cover is made from a piece of timber that closely resembles the mahogany body (but may not be mahogany). You can see a slight difference in colour in one of the images - the plate appears to be a little proud in the image but is pretty much flush in reality (I hadn't screwed it back fully when taking photographs of the circuit).

I hope this helps.

[spacecowboy]

That bass looks bloody lovely!.....

[LukeFRC]

looks like a nicely made bit of wood for not much money.... also I would be willing to guess that if you got it and couldn't fix that pre-amp that if you stuck info in the home built FX thread in the effects section some folk would be able to help you fix it!

[mikhay77]

Nice,and an absolute bargain,less than £300 for a handmade bass,wish I had the cash,good luck.

[LukeFRC]

im actually fairly tempted... ive been wanting to try a jazz, does it sound like a good jazz bass?

[mojobass]

if this is still here in a couple of weeks i could well be tempted

[flippyfloop]

2 octave jazz bass, nice....
Good price.

[lozbass]

Hi all, thanks for the very positive comments! This has generated a lot of interest and I think that a deal is close.

On the tone question, the bass does have a nice single coil Jazz sound - it gets pretty honky and aggressive when panned to the bridge pickup but retains a modern edge (it's more pokey and less mellow than a '60s style J - certainly more modern sounding than an AC LG4 which is all I have for reference). Bags of sustain and a general 'quality' sound - it's powerful, present and solid in passive mode.

[lozbass]

The Scott is now sold - thanks for all the comments and enquiries