what bass is this?

[zom8ie99]

hi

i was given this bass from my uncle, but i know nothing about it.

can anyone help me out?
im looking for:
maker
model
value
year
etc.

[Ou7shined]

[url="http://www.wilkesguitars.co.uk/index.htm"]www.wilkesguitars.co.uk[/url]

[Gust0o]

Easy! Easy!

[Conan]

Wasn't there a "slappers'" version that had metal plates on the body end of the fretboard? Or did I just dream that?

BTW, at work I can't see the pictures - so if there is a pic of such a bass above I apologise!

Edited December 1, 2010 by Conan

[derrenleepoole]

That's a lovely 80's tastic bass Wonder how much it's worth?

[MoonBassAlpha]

Looks a bit like a poor man's Jaydee. Looks good quality though - Schaller bridge?

[only4]

I have 3 Wilkes basses, a 5 a 4 and a fretless which has the brass plates at the end of the fret board as mentioned by Conan.
The 4 strings have Schaller hardware but the 5 has a custom made bridge. They have a triangular neck profile which is very comfortable to play. All round a great bass.

[basswesty]

A friend of mine has one of these. Really nice bass it is too. One to keep hold of me thinks...

[BigRedX]

[quote name='only4' post='1043698' date='Dec 1 2010, 12:57 PM']I have 3 Wilkes basses, a 5 a 4 and a fretless which has the brass plates at the end of the fret board as mentioned by Conan.
The 4 strings have Schaller hardware but the 5 has a custom made bridge. They have a triangular neck profile which is very comfortable to play. All round a great bass.[/quote]
When was your 5-string made?

[only4]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1043876' date='Dec 1 2010, 03:00 PM']When was your 5-string made?[/quote]

To be honest i'm not sure, i never looked in to it.
I think it's one of their later models which has wooden pickup covers with the Wilkes logo carved on.
[attachment=65506:DSC00886.JPG]
Sorry not a good photo, taken in my office just after i bought it!

[BigRedX]

only4, thanks for the info and photo.

The reason I ask is because I have 2 Overwater 5-string basses from the early to mid 80s, one (from 83/84) with a custom bridge and the other (from 1985) with a Schaller 3-D 5-string bridge. Chris May told me that the earlier model has the custom bridge because as far as he knew there was no Schaller 5-string bridge available at the time. Another thread on here about the development of the 5-string bass made me realise that I own one of the oldest 5-string basses (designed to be tuned BEADG) and was therefore interested to see if anyone had an older one.

Sorry for the slight derail... back to the thread.