Searching for a really specific bass.

[Franchement]

Hello everybody !

I am looking for a bass but I have demanding criteria.
I would really like her to be :
 
- Passive
- Neck through
- 4 strings
- A single pickup (typed P-bass or Soap bar) with a hot powerful sound
- Handcrafted by the manufacturer's team (not in China ..)
- With a natural oiled or waxed finish (not painted)

- Not a fender or a Fender like !
 
Except in Custom shop, I found nothing ..
 
Do you have any ideas ?

Edited August 7, 2020 by Franchement

[geoffbyrne]

G&L?

G.

[Franchement]

Damn, I forgot an important detail :

No Fender or fender like...

 

Thank you Geoffbyrne for the suggestion !

[Sibob]

So just to be clear, you want something hand-built.....but not custom shop?

😜

Si

[Bassassin]

If it doesn't have to be new, that's a fairly standard format for late 70s/early 80s original design Japanese basses. This is a Kasuga Scorpion:

[Franchement]

Haha

I'm just wondering if some brands offer this kind of stuff..

[Franchement]

@Bassassin : Beautiful !

[Sibob]

Serek's Sacramento fits the bill: https://www.serekbasses.com/basses/sacramento/

Although again, there seems to be a fine-line between hand-built and 'custom shop' in my mind. In that if something is hand-built, they're probably going to be able to accommodate a certain custom spec for you. In this case, simply asking Jake Serek for a Sacramento with a single pickup.

Cheers
Si

Edited August 7, 2020 by Sibob

[Franchement]

@Sibob Beautiful model - Thanks !

[Franchement]

So, after your suggestions and those of other forums, we have :

- Kasuga Scorpion

- Kawai F1B

- Yamaha BB 1200

- Aria Pro II SB 700

- Jaydee Roadie 1 

 

All from the early 80' !

 

Other ideas ?

[ead]

Spector Euro 4LE '77 - OK, I know it's not passive but could easily be made so.

Edited August 7, 2020 by ead

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

A wishbass would fit the stated criteria

Edited August 8, 2020 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[itu]

Rickenbacker 4000, it is painted.

Some Alembics fill the bill, but they are practically all custom.

SKC has produced a single pickup unit. Maybe it was a bolt-on.

Spalt Viper. But no, it is a bolt-on, too.

Gibson Grabber, EB-series...

Meridian Aural II neck through + custom options...

My custom fretless.

Marleaux Diva.

Kelvin Daly builds custom stuff, too.

A talk to a local luthier is clearly your choice. Those specs mentioned are already limiting the possibilities quite some. At the same time you can adjust string width, woods, weight etc. to your specs.

Edited August 8, 2020 by itu

[el borracho]

Ibanez Musician MC800 (apart from the finish)  but you're not having mine - if I went down to one bass, from 10, this would be the last one.

Edited August 7, 2020 by el borracho

[LukeFRC]

Warwick streamer standard?

EDIT: ah not neck thru

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by LukeFRC

[LukeFRC]

Yamaha BB1200 - but it's got a poly finish

[Lfalex v1.1]

Did Aria do a natural SB700? (Damn. It's active.)

One of the Westone Thunders? Did they do a 3 that wasn't "A"?

Otherwise; Find a local luthier

OR buy an active model that ticks all the boxes and replace the electronics / pickups with passive items of your choice. 

Edit. The SB700 is passive. I thought it was just a single pickup 1000...

Edited August 8, 2020 by Lfalex v1.1

[Eldon Tyrell]

21 hours ago, ead said:

Spector Euro 4LE '77 - OK, I know it's not passive but could easily be made so.

Yes, the 77 could fit the bill (although, admittedly, it is not a passive bass but that can be changed if necessary). It is such a fantastic bass. One of my few real keeper basses. Powerful sound (I always refer to it as a P bass on steroids), cool late 70s look (when colours such as brown and orange were de rigueur ; -), not too heavy and with an amazing neck (slim but not too narrow, so not like a J or a Tbird). Finally, the curved body makes the 77 super comfy too. Definitely worth a try. 

[LukeFRC]

this would hit all your wants except the waxed finish - but it does look to be in nitro with no grain filling ... so it's not a billion miles away

 

[Woodwind]

23 hours ago, el borracho said:

Ibanez Musician MC800 (apart from the finish)  but you're not having mine - if I went down to one bass, from 10, this would be the last one.

A friend of mine got exactly one like this from Macari's in London in the early 2000's and I was horrified to hear he moved it on a few years after.

I would have bought it off him in a heart beat.

Musicman position for the pickup gave such a great sound. 

Incredible construction standard.

Lovely, lovely bass

Edited August 8, 2020 by Woodwind

[Franchement]

@ead Good idea, beautiful bass !

@Jean-Luc Pickguard Haha what's that ? A bass for 200$ - A joke ??

@itu Wow, you offer me a catalog ! I'm gonna dig into that

@Lfalex v1.1 Thanks, I'm gonna watch that..

 

So it seems that there's not a lot of actual models with that configuration...

 

Thank you all !

[el borracho]

12 hours ago, Woodwind said:

A friend of mine got exactly one like this from Macari's in London in the early 2000's and I was horrified to hear he moved it on a few years after.

I would have bought it off him in a heart beat.

Musicman position for the pickup gave such a great sound. 

Incredible construction standard.

Lovely, lovely bass

I've never seen another one with the single pickup - they're usually the twin pickup active ones. Got mine in the early 90s  & was my main bass for 10+years. Gigged heavily & has a lot of battle scars.

Best £195 I've ever spent!

Edited August 9, 2020 by el borracho

[Franchement]

@el borracho Yeah it looks so amazing. I listened demos and I think it's my favorite of all those mentioned here.

[Bassassin]

This topic deserves more attention than I've currently given it.

A few other late 70s/early 80s basses that might fit the bill. Most of them had natural finishes as that was fashionable at the time, but they're predominantly poly lacquer finishes rather than oiled, so hopefully that's not a deal breaker.

Aria Pro SB-R60

The SB-Rs (and the near identical SB Elites)  have a more conventional-shaped neck (and much nicer inlays) than something like an SB700, which has a fairly parallel neck, with a wide nut & very narrow string spacing. . Still fairly easy to find for a vintage Japanese bass, & definitely a lot more common than an MC800!

Aria Pro TSB550

32" scale. Not as common as the SB-R but they do turn up from time to time and aren't outrageously expensive.

There are good number of less well-known basses fron this era too, here's a thing branded Asama:

The same basses (and matching guitar versions) turn up with a variety of different names - nine at the last count. Most common as Lincoln in the UK.

Moving to Korea, this was made by Cort, sold in the US branded as Lotus, and confusingly, is a copy of Washburn's Vulture/Scavenger basses.

Washburn didn't do a single-pickup through-neck Vulture & the Scavengers were bolt-neck.

And moving a bit closer to home, from Italy, here's an Eko/Camac BX7:

These are from about 1984 - sort of. What's interesting is that Brandoni Guitars in Wembley bought masses of Eko liquidation stock including the BX7 unbuilt neck/bodies, and seemingly will sell you this brand-new, as an NOS body built up with modern components. For £325...

I might go shopping.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Bassassin

[tomthebass]

Imho the finish is the limiting factor in your criteria - I'd be inclined to choose a gorgeous varnished bass and have it stripped and waxed by a luthier, shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred bucks