My P Bass - What is it?

[Hudson1g]

Hi everyone, really happy to be a part of this group 😁

 

Id like your thoughts on a P Bass copy I have. My dad bought it 2nd hand in 1986. Its a real good player and has seen many gigs. I've always wondered what it really was and now it's mine, I'm doing a little digging. 

 

The Fender decal on neck is hand painted and someone has stuck a home made precision sticker on there lol. It's also been damaged at some point, could even be a replacement neck. Maybe it was in a punk band lol. Seems to fit the body well though. It has a heal trus rod. I've removed the neck to find the reminance of a serial sticker but it was to far gone.

The body has a block above the E which on a Fender would suggest mid 70s onwards and there are holes to suggest it had a bridge and pickup cover. 

Pots are 250k 05A Noble and one of the cables is blue.

It looks like one of the Italian Melody P Basses but the made in Japan neck plate suggests otherwise. 

 

Any ideas appreciated 😊

[Thunderbird]

Tokai is my only thought and that's a guess 

[John Cribbin]

Can you take the neck off? Often the answers are hidden there.

[kodiakblair]

On 08/12/2020 at 19:02, Hudson1g said:

My dad bought it 2nd hand in 1986. 

Did your Da buy it in Scotland ?

Could well be a Grant,

My first decent bass was a re-branded Grant. Sold get bus fare back home from London, loved that bass 😭

[Hudson1g]

On 13/12/2020 at 22:03, John Cribbin said:

Can you take the neck off? Often the answers are hidden there.

Hi John, i've had the neck off. There was a remanence of a sticker there but no answers unfortunately. I've seen some electrics in a Tokai made P bass which are very close but actually I've come to think its a well made Columbus. I have only pics to go on but ive found a few that seem identical to all the detail I can see. 

Its a shame, if it is a Columbus for all the bad rep because I really love playing this bass. Sure, new Fenders considerably better but there's no doubt this does the job and it feels like your playing history. 

[Hudson1g]

On 13/12/2020 at 22:15, kodiakblair said:

Did your Da buy it in Scotland ?

Could well be a Grant,

My first decent bass was a re-branded Grant. Sold get bus fare back home from London, loved that bass 😭

Hiya, actually no. My dads from the West Midlands. He was gigging then and still gigging now. I love your story though. Dad has similar ones and some of the gear he had and had to trade to keep the gigging up. The one in a photo I have looks to be an early Gibson ES335 which he tells me he traded it for amps cabs etc which got nicked 2 days later.

[kodiakblair]

10 hours ago, Hudson1g said:

 Sure, new Fenders considerably better but there's no doubt this does the job and it feels like your playing history. 

Compared to the Fenders of the day your bass is probably a damn sight better 😁

 

Took my re-branded Grant with me on the long awaited "KB buys his first Fender" day, spent a good few hours in the West End trying out basses.

The Grant was a soothing plaster to my burst "Fenders are the best" bubble 🤣