Prosebass

[quote name='OldGit' post='337817' date='Nov 26 2008, 10:33 PM']So true (oh and she thinks [i]you[/i] do live in the shed ) Q: How do you make sure a luthier has £1 million by the time he is 30? A: Give him £2 million when he's 29[/quote] I do live in the shed.....and it is a shed......although business is so good I am building a 6 x 4 extension on it at the weekend My last business had 2 retail showrooms and a 4000sq ft warehouse and I sold close on £1 million in 3 years and hardly made a living from it .....making basses is way better. Somebody has to buck the trend of this "starving artisan" business....

Theres a lot to be said for the old phrase "find a hobby that pays and you'll never think of it as a job. No matter how many hours you put in"

If I sold virtually everything I own , had a go at prostitution, became self sufficient food wise with a sideline in Olive Oil when I've moved to rural Portugal and found a property for £50,000 then I just may, make a living out of making basses. It is really enjoyable and unlike a 9am-5pm job I love every minute of my 9am till midnight profession for virtually bugger all profit.... The big difference is I have got to the age where its all "been there done that" so I have found I spend nothing so need to earn very little....and yes Mrs Prosebass has a job, if she didn't we would live in a shed....

[quote name='Muppet' post='337635' date='Nov 26 2008, 07:51 PM']I had an 83. These are the thing I noticed. Tuners are incorrect - with this logo they should be covered gear tuners String tree incorrect type and placement Neck - truss rod adjustment should have a dark surround Body - should have 14 holes for the single ply pickguard Pickups - defintely not Fender and should have white covers anyway Neck plate - should not have Fender Corona, just Fender Colour - should be ivory, black, sienna burst (mine was) or brown burst Apart from that, looks fine. Steve[/quote] Thanks.....

[quote name='Beedster' post='337642' date='Nov 26 2008, 07:57 PM']Hi Paul I recently viewed a 'Fender Custom Shop' bass. I examined the neck pocket and it had no identifying marks, and I told the seller so. Several weeks later the same bass appeared on ebay WITH a very good copy of a Fender tech's signature and some dates stamps in the very same neck pocket. There's a lot of money in it if you get it right Chris PS if it plays good and sounds good and the price is tight, who cares who made it[/quote] To the uninformed this bass could easily have been passed off as an Fender. Credit to the auction house that they described as a "Fender Replica" and put a disclaimer sticker on the case and bass. I must admit I was taken aback with it when I opened the case but after a quick look realised that it was indeed a replica / forgery... I would love to know the makers of the neck as they can make necks for me if this is typical of their handy work. It is without doubt a stunning neck and lovely to play. The action at the 12th is around 2mm now I have given it a bit of a fettle and is perfectly straight along its length. Sound wise it is also as good as the genuine article. And as the "Beedster" says [quote]if it plays good and sounds good and the price is tight, who cares who made it[/quote] I have some Tuners off a Geddy Lee model thanks to rayfw that would look good on it and maybe a mahogany body, some of my Artec pups , a badass bridge and Gold anodised scratch-plate..... Watch this space.......... Thanks so much to everyone who inputted to this thread, I'm sure all who have read it are a little more knowledgeable with their Fender Model History. It just goes to show what a minefield Fenders can be , even I was scratching my head with a "is it ? no it can't be ? maybe some of it is ? ah well..... cheers...Paul

Close-ups of truss-rod access and fingerboard wood. [attachment=16432:truss01.jpg] [attachment=16433:truss02.jpg] Thanks for all the info so far, whether any of it turns out to be Fender will be interesting. It is superbly finished and has a real "piano" tone to it. The neck is as nice as any I have seen on a Precision.

[quote name='sixshooter' post='337457' date='Nov 26 2008, 05:02 PM']From memory the 83 would have been been a US Standard P Bass which would have had the revised tuners, See this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1983-Fender-Precision-Bass-Tuners-Near-Mint-P-Bass_W0QQitemZ230308263173QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item230308263173&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]Link[/url] the pick up covers were white and I do not remember seeing an option for that colour. The pickguard I would say is not original either. Once I have got back to my library at home I can confirm much more detail later if you need it. I happen to have a 83 P bass in White![/quote] Thanks that would be appreciated as I would like to get to the bottom of this basses origins. I suspect someone has spent quite a while faking this bass (even down to the stamps) or maybe some bits are Fender and it has been refinished ? Certainly interesting For the record I picked it up at a local household auction house this morning. Think I will be back there next week...

Keep them coming chaps.... To be honest it didn't look right as soon as I saw it. Would I be right in thinking Fender didn't change their screw positions for the scratch plates ? The tuners and string tree look wrong...and the string tree looks too far down the headstock ? The pup has a crackle finish to it Action, sound and playability are superb and it certainly "feels" right. If it is a "copy" then the above aspects are spot on. Another question ......is the Headstock logo the correct one ? It is at least under the finish and not placed on top. I think the case is genuine

Not being a Fender Expert I need some pointers on this bass

Its not a £300.00 bass in the slightest and that statement is a downright lie. It is a generic Chinese import that will generally not be put together very well and will have cheap pups. I brought a load of similar basses over as samples when I was thinking of importing in quantity and I sold very similar basses for £99.99 on ebay. If you have £150.00 to spend buy a secondhand one on here like a Westone or Ibanez which are much better made. Even a Squier Standard (Indonesian) is a much better buy for around £125.00 new or less secondhand. The other thing is you will probably have to spend several hours bolting the neck on and setting up the action and intonation. The seller is very craftily selling them as kits so there is no come back if you have any problems as you are not buying an assembled bass. I hate sellers like that. And what sort of a statement is this..... [quote]Please keep in mind that all guitars travelling around the country in cardboard boxes, as they all do, may inadvertently obtain slight scuffs and marks from packing.[/quote] Why do people buy off these guys.....

[quote name='simon1964' post='334343' date='Nov 22 2008, 12:08 PM']Isn't the headstock logo a 60s transition Jazz logo? Certainly doesn't look like a Precision logo.[/quote] I think it is but its in the wrong place as is the string retainer and it don't look right ! but that could be a slight variation As the Beedster says its probably a MIM but the seller states it is a Precision Neck, with a Jazz Logo ? I think he is confusing us...... As is the truss rod adjustment which is at the wrong end for an early Jazz / Precision whatever ! [attachment=16261:Jazz02.jpg] [attachment=16263:Jazz01.jpg]

Looks like a waste of wood and strings to me ! The only thing I'd do with it is hang it on the wall to ward off the "Bass Gremlins" Maybe you could buy 2 , strap them together and "hey presto" a harp......

[quote name='BigRedX' post='334123' date='Nov 21 2008, 09:58 PM']It's definitely one of those things were you won't 100% get how it works until you actually have the instrument in your hands. The ball and socket joint behind the nut holds the neck in position relative to the string anchor which is attached to the arm. At the other end of the neck the bridge simply rests on a plate that passes underneath it. The bottom of the bridge is radiused (have a look at the third photo), so the neck/bridge assembly pivots at both points but is also able to move forwards and backwards in relation to the body at the bridge point of contact.[/quote] That exactly what I meant when I said the neck heel needed to pivot but they have gone one better and put the pivot under the bridge so there will be no neck flex at all. If the skeleton flexes it just lifts the whole neck / body part which pivots at the bridge. So worst case scenario is just an adjustment in string height. Very clever engineering.

The Warmoth does it for me and looks a wonderful merging of classic wood with industrial looking metal.

Interesting way of doing away with a trussrod . The top half looks quite elegant but the bottom certainly doesn't to me. As we were discussing in another thread, is it a case of finding a different way of doing something just for the sake of it rather than there being a need ? I fully understand the mechanics of how they keep the neck straight as the way it is designed is supposed to put no pull on the neck. Does it work in practice ? (hope so they have a patent on it ) The way I see it is that unless the heel of the neck is pivoted any flex in the skeleton will be transmitted through the ball and socket and cause the neck to flex ? or is the skeleton totally rigid ?

And a generous guy as well, just donated a bridge and 4 tuners (free-gratis) for a bass I am putting together for a community music project. Nice one thanks Bob

[quote name='Protium' post='333570' date='Nov 21 2008, 12:43 AM']Aha so it was you who bought that body I was watching it but missed the auction [/quote] It was indeed....a customer had just asked if I could make them an inexpensive lined fretless in bright red so not having to spray a body kept the price right down for her.

[quote name='Jase' post='333558' date='Nov 21 2008, 12:17 AM']Looks great! One question....why did you re-cut the slots? Just wondered if it matters whether slots are filled or left open [/quote] Its virtually impossible to remove frets without a bit of board damage. This is ok with a re-fret as the frets cover the damage. What I do is cut the fret slot wider so it has clean sides with no damage. Then I filled it till it was flush and re-cut the slots but only to a depth of 1mm, so not really re-cutting them. I then "drew in" the frets and then french polished. Just thought I'd try it like that ! and it looks really neat. Normally on a de-fret I fill with veneer and finish them flush, but that takes a lot of time. My Hofner S7B was de-fretted in 1982 and I used it for 10 years with open slots, so in my experience it has no affect on the bass whether you fill them of not.

Here is a little number I knocked up for a customer yesterday.