Rare Basses

[Bass_Guardian]

Hello All!

Quite intrigued to see what rare basses people have on this forum. I'm not meaning one off builds to meet peoples specs but production basses.

Who's all got a rare bass out there?

Pictures are of course a necessity 

Edited November 14, 2018 by Bass_Guardian
Title was a bit clickbait

[tom1946]

How aboot this?

It's an 80's Fender Performer, not many made.

Edited November 15, 2018 by tom1946

[fleabag]

I'll actually say what this is, but i'm sure many will know this beast

 

 

Edited January 20, 2019 by fleabag

[Happy Jack]

This one's unique.

[josie]

These two are Fender production models but in small numbers: 

Non-export Jazz Aerodyne 2002

Jazz Plus V 1992

The GMRs are individually fully hand-made but to one of their standard body shapes

[sprocketflup]

Have GMR stopped trading?

 

[Shaggy]

'81 Gibson RD Artist CMT

 

[josie]

GMR have moved back to Poland. The website seems to have disappeared but they're on Facebook. I have a "Flow-in" single-cut 5 as well, which was on the website (the exact one I have) but no pics to hand. 

Edited November 14, 2018 by josie

[itu]

Maybe my Ibanez Affirma (maple) and Misa Tri-Bass are closest to rare, if the latter is also considered as a bass.

https://misa-digital.myshopify.com/products/tri-bass

No, I do not own these, but some I would love to have:

Mouradian CS-74

fretless Ampeg (1966)

Vox Stinger IV (1967)

Overwater C (1985)

5-string Parker Fly (1992?)

Atlansia, any model

Zemaitis, any bass

any doubleneck: everybody remembers Rics, Wals and Pedullas but how about a Gretsch Bikini (1961)?

Lane Poor minima (late 1980's and 1990's)

Neuser Claudia / Clawhammer (1990's)

Edited November 14, 2018 by itu

[stingrayPete1977]

I don't think there are that many StingrayClassics with five strings in the UK and mine is Tobacco burst which was only available from the first run in 2010, I've never seen another. 

[Grahambythesea]

2 hours ago, fleabag said:

I'll actually say what this is, but i'm sure many will know this beast

Overwater Classic / Original  Deluxe ll,  1983,  Filter circuit , Bill Lawrence pups in Ebony covers

I remember seeing Rick Kemp in Steeleye Span playing one of these and loving the sound of it. Listen to Blackleg Miner - awesome. I then met him and tried his fretless version which was brill. So wanted one but couldn’t afford one. 

[kodiakblair]

Best photo I have is the auction one.

Peavey Resolite. Unusual for a Peavey bass it got a 2+2 headstock,also has a chambered body. These appeared in the catalogue  but only 4 were actually built.

[itu]

What is the body material of the Resolite? Is it something else than wood, like glass fiber?

I have seen a (Canadian?) bass in 1990's that had a wooden neck but a black hollow body and looked like a jazz. Godin, no?

[yorks5stringer]

I've got a rare international series Maui Blue 1993 Squier Japan P Bass. Only ever seen two....

 

[fleabag]

1 hour ago, Grahambythesea said:

I remember seeing Rick Kemp in Steeleye Span playing one of these and loving the sound of it. Listen to Blackleg Miner - awesome. I then met him and tried his fretless version which was brill. So wanted one but couldn’t afford one. 

I also remember Rod Clements of Lindisfarne playing a fretless classic. It came up for sale a few years ago and it was quite a price

[rodney72a]

Nordy vM5 prototype. Not sure how many vM5s they made altogether but it can't be many.

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by rodney72a

[kodiakblair]

6 hours ago, itu said:

What is the body material of the Resolite? Is it something else than wood, like glass fiber?

I have seen a (Canadian?) bass in 1990's that had a wooden neck but a black hollow body and looked like a jazz. Godin, no?

I'm afraid not, just an alder body capped with maple.

[Adee]

This is an '88 Washburn B80, Neon Pink / Blue Crackle finish, rare as hens teeth and very little info about them unfortunately.

The 'Stephens Extended Cutaway' is just plain sexy ....

 

[6feet7]

Two early 90's Patrick Eggle Milan V's. Very few made and no others like these two.

[LeftyJ]

All my basses are rare, being left-handed 😜

I used to own a lefty Aria SB-1000 that stands out - you just never see any. The set-neck models come by once in a while, but the neck-through models are very rare. Mine had two extra pickups installed, and was originally fretless but had been fretted by a previous owner. 

My Ibanez MC924's are also kind of rare as lefties. Rumour has it there are only about 250 in existance. I had been looking for one for a few years, and then found three within a couple of months and bought all three, and kept the best two. Fantastic basses. My 1983 is an absolute keeper (it's just one month younger than I am).

And I own an Esh Stinger that is somewhat unusual, especially as a lefty. It's a fun bass, with two EMG DC35's and a piezo bridge. Lots of punch, and a bright and powerful attack. Cool looks too, with the sandblasted ash with blackened grain beneath a white finish. It looks similar to this one, but left-handed, with a deeper neck pocket and longer heel, and with two big EMG soapbars. Controls are volume, passive tone, 3-way rotary pickup selector and 4-way "Esh-tronic" switch: mag only, mag only bypassing all controls, mag + piezo, piezo only.

Edited November 15, 2018 by LeftyJ

[Marc S]

On the face of it, and from a distance, this bass may look like a standard Squier P
But it's an A-Series, MIJ early 80's Japan market medium scale 32" bass. The bodies of these fine instruments are proportionally smaller too. It's very lightweight indeed

This one is also in an unusual finish / colour - it's Dichroic Metallic Green
It's really hard to photograph, but the colour changes, depending on the light and angle of light on it
It's a sparkly finish, and it changes colour from Dark Green, to mid-Green, to Black, To Purple....

Not seen another one of these

[NickD]

3 hours ago, Adee said:

This is an '88 Washburn B80, Neon Pink / Blue Crackle finish, rare as hens teeth and very little info about them unfortunately.

The 'Stephens Extended Cutaway' is just plain sexy ....

 

That is hideous!

Absolutely awful....

.... and yet strangely I desperately want one!

[Bass_Guardian]

On the right:

My '98 Status Trace Elliot SE in candy apple red 

They only made 50 5 string special editions so not sure how many where this colour combo. Gotta love a matching headstock

 

*Will try get a better photo tonight. Just found an old one on my phone.*

Edited November 15, 2018 by Bass_Guardian

[40hz]

Not sure if it quite qualifies as 'super' rare but my 1997 Modulus Flea bass has the doodle signature headstock, string guides and original Lane Poor pickup. Non truss rod neck too, so it has the slimmer neck profile. Not too many of these around!

Edited November 15, 2018 by 40hz

[Mastodon2]

Peavey Palaedium, the Jeff Berlin signature. This is one of the US basses, I think it's a 1993 model but I can't look at the serial number at the moment as I'm away for work. Jeff didn't stay with Peavey for all that long and signature basses never shift in huge numbers, especially for a jazz fusion player, so I doubt Peavey sold a huge number of them. They are fantastically made and worth next to nothing these days - Peavey have never commanded huge prices outside of their US-made Cirrus line. I got this for less than $300.

I love Peaveys of this vintage. I'd buy a Rudy Sarzo signature or a TL-6 if I saw one for sale. A B-Quad is on my dream bass list too.