Kazan

I believe that was the initial run. Crazy. In a way, almost accurate to the original t-birds and Embassies - will almost always see the saddles adjusted all the way forward on those which still have the original bridges - or sometimes modded to reposition the mounting studs. There are direct replacement bridges which allow greater saddle travel. I've mentioned previously that I used to own the '64 t-bird that Tiran Porter played in The Doobie Brothers and it had the period mod of a fender bridge on top of a plastic spacer in order to deal with the issue (I spoke with the tech who did it at the time).

Thanks! The prep is crucial to good results. Using poly or similar makes much more sense with flake really. Much easier to get the thickness needed and clarity. A lot of the originals from the early 60's were actually done with acrylic which holds up much better and does not yellow much either. Some were done with nitro but they look bumpy with a rough surface now as the nitro has shrunk over the years. Bass VI will look terrific! You've seen this Champagne sparkle original '63?

Interesting. Clearly a pattern Thanks. Just a project/mutt. Started as a Fender Japan reissue of an early '66 that I got used. It had Sadowsky preamp already installed as well as DiMarzio UltraJazz pickups (so, essentially Sadowsky electronic setup as DiMarzio makes many of their pickups). Took all the poly off, slightly altered the neck profile to better match an original early '66 I have and then had a friend spray the metal flake - all nitro - black base coat, flake in clear nitro, clear nitro to initial level, black tinted clear to burst and then more clear - need a lot to bury the flake fully (I've done quite a few nitro refins but don't have the equipment for flake plus it is a huge, huge mess and gets everywhere). Put on an extra set of original '66 tuning machines I had (tug bar is an original as well). The guard I got from a friend in Italy and it's thick single ply old real celluloid. Nice weight, sounds and plays great. Very happy with it though have not had the chance to actually gig it yet - took a long time for all that nitro to fully cure.

Not really a settee but close enough and an addition I've been enjoying - and color coordinated!

Great collection. On the 65/66 is the neck stamp July 65? I've seen 4 or 5 with padouk and those were all from that month specifically.

Sorry to revive an older thread. Kevin, did you need to relocate the feet on your CTM-100 or do they manage to fit on top? Like the sound of the combination? Thanks!

As with sparkle/metal flake finishes in general, hard to photograph and looks different at different angles:

Me, too. As it was an invoice, perhaps being sent in order so maybe not all sent yet (?) International shipping was an extra 25 USD.

Preorders on v.2 have gone live. Just ordered mine. Delivery not expected until summer though.

There's always more to learn None of the modern tort (including the Spitfire ones) really comes close to the look of the stuff from the 60's. The mint green ones are much easier to make convincing copies of (and the ones John makes look great - and the tort ones he does are about the best of the modern made ones out there).

Lovely bass and colour combo. Always impressed with John's work and he's way more vintage accurate than Fender is... Just for the record on tort vs green guards, it's actually the other way around. Green guards becoming standard on custom color basses (except white and blonde) in mid '62 (there were some outliers earlier - I had an original black '61 with green guard and Geddy Lee has a '60 P and '61 J, also both black - but they are exceptions). Custom colors from mid '59 through mid '62 almost always had tort guards stock. In any case, I think the combo on your bass looks terrific! A friend had a '63 very much like that - LPB/green guard - and traded it for a new Guild Pilot bass in the late '80s... D'oh!

Yes, beautiful early '66. Looked like maybe Charcoal Frost to me (or even just black with the reflections - on my screen anyway....) Andrew White is the player.

Have seen PJ many, many times (and saw Nirvana on a 3 band bill for $1...) and have never been disappointed by them. I won't hesitate to see them again.

I love the look. The 2+2 headstock clearly makes sense for balance, cost, overall size and reduced risk of breakage (and I still find the batwing design iconic even if it's a compromise of sorts). The new ones are clearly a great bargain! As are the Vintage Pro T-birds (I have a '64 T-bird as well....)

Thank you, sir! Such a pity they left it off of the reissues - I do understand why both for balance and to reduce costs - but it is such a distinctive characteristic of the originals. Also the reissues went for a wider neck when the 60's ones were very slim. This is thinner than a Jazz Bass (or more like the very first Jazz Basses which were 1 7/16" at the nut).