ash Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) I'm selling this old Gordon Smith bass, its an unusual one in that it has round pickups that can be raised or lowered by turning them! It was hand made in 1981 in Partington near Manchester in the days when GS still made basses occasionally. The pickup concept works very well and you get a nice even response across the fretboard. The bass is typical non nonsense Gordon Smith, it has a fixed neck and is made from mahogany with a dark rosewood fretboard. It's a big bodied bass and although it looks heavy its actually much lighter than my JV P bass at around 8lbs...probably because the body is quite thin a bit like a Gibson. The bass is very well balanced too with a slim, shallow neck and chunky frets. I recently played a two hour set with it and it was very comfortable. It could be described as a cross between a Gibson Ripper and a Fender Precision in style, it certainly sounds like a Fender and the pickups have a nice tonal range with plenty of grunt when necessary. There are a couple of cosmetic blemishes and two filled holes where a thumbrest had been mounted but was in the wrong position for me. Hardware is all Schaller with one of their 3D bridges, pickups are Gordon Smith's own. I bought the bass fairly recently and it needed a fair bit of TLC but is now a great playing (if a wee bit unusual looking) bass. I contacted Linda at Gordon Smith guitars who was most helpful and told me the year of manufacture and model number. The knobs are replacements as they had gone walkies, the originals are 'speedknobs' like on a Grabber. I'm selling as I need to get my upright sorted and my Tele bass ain't shifting! Looking for £275 no trades. If posted I'll have to send it in a returnable case as I don't have a box. I won't be sending it outside the UK for this reason I'm afraid. Edited June 3, 2012 by ash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I remember tthe advert from when these were released - John Wetton was endorsing them. The rotating pickup thing isn't meant to be for raising or lowering them - it's to position the polepieces either in-line or either side of the strings, which (apparently) gives two different sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 The positioning of the pole pieces does make a subtle difference to the sound when turned but not as obvious as say the Grabber or Dan Armstrong sliding pickup, you can also adjust the height of the pickups to a degree as there is a central screw. I don't remember the John Wetton ad I only recall him doing an ad for a fretless white Shergold in Melody Maker and later a red Fernandes PJ in Guitarist. Anybody have any scans, would love to see that ad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozbass Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Fantastic instruments - genuinely expertly hand made and finished - I remember seeing the builder using one of these in his band (Shy Tots...dear me...) in the '70s - great tone. A very good price indeed for a bit of British luthiery history Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Now sold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 (edited) [quote name='ash' timestamp='1338715924' post='1678245'] I don't remember the John Wetton ad I only recall him doing an ad for a fretless white Shergold in Melody Maker and later a red Fernandes PJ in Guitarist. Anybody have any scans, would love to see that ad? [/quote] It was a quarter page (possibly even smaller) ad in "International Musician & Recording World" - I'll see if I can find it. There was a review as well but I'm pretty sure I no longer have that. Edited June 3, 2012 by RhysP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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