The CA Series (included the P Bass Specail, a couple of Strats and a couple of Tele guitars) were made with some work done in Corona and some done in Mexico. Way to keep the price down but use good parts, etc.
I bought a P Bass Special in January '99. GREAT bass, and the first Precision I even looked at since I got my VS '62 Precsion way back in '83. The CA P Special had a vintage style bridge, anodized guiard, P/J pickup (but I never paid attention to the location of the J PUP, don't know if it was the original spacing or '70s spacing), a neck that was narrower than a P, but not a toothpick at all. Mine had great sounding pickups, they used good pots and jack on it, and the only thing I felt weren't up to gigging standards were the tuning machines. I replace mine with a set of Hipshots tweo weeks after I got it (I've had Bass Xtenders since they first came out) and it was a great bass. In fact, it's one of the very few I've had and sold over the years that I wish I'd kept and would kind of like to get back.
The only reason I don't have it is that when I went in to the store to pick up my Hipshots, they had a bass they wanted to show me... It was the Lakland Deluxe 4-94 that has been my #1 go-to bass ever since. I eventually traded the P Bass Special for a Geddy Lee (yuck- skinny little neck that was just about unplayable it was so tiny), and the guy I traded with eventually traded the P off...
These were discontinued and replaced with the MIM P Bass Special. Some say they were identical, but every MIM P Bass Special I ever played had a MUCH less refined feel- sloppy fretwork, mediocre fit & finish, etc. The MIM (at least before they made them active- I never played one of those) weren't bad, but not as good as the California.
I don't see them pop up often.
John | 