Okay, here's my third and final parts grab bag, and this one has a bit of story to go with it.
What we have here is a collection of parts from a single bass. In this case, it's a MIJ 1986 Fender P Bass — their PB-557 model. I bought it new—my first ever P Bass, and my first "real" bass—on November 14, 1986, in a little music store in Springfield, Oregon. When I bought it, she wore Fender MIJ Lake Placid Blue, which as you may know, is FAR from a correct LPB. It's an electrified version of LPB, and looked a lot like the blue on Fender's Steve Harris signature bass. Anyhow, I never liked the LPB, but for some reason, the little music store who ordered this bass for me couldn't get me black or red, either of which would've floated my boat. But this was 1986—so for you youngsters reading this, you walked into your mom and pop music store in Podunk, USA, and you partook of whatever limited options they gave you. So, LPB it was. Needless to say, the shiny blue lasted about three months before I took the body into my high school shop class and removed it. By hand. All of it. With sandpaper. The resulting poly dust sucked every ounce of moisture out of my hands. Then, once down to bare Alder, I gave it a few thin coats of clear gloss poly, and she wore her new natural skin for a couple years, until I cloaked her in candy apple green. Then Chrysler Race Hemi Orange. Then came the satin black arrow / stripe abomination. And somewhere along the line, in that haze of 1980s Olde English 800, Reaganomics, and bass debauchery, she picked up some stickers, and a stenciling of my high school band, The Meat Weezils, on the back. Again: it was the '80s. Don't judge. I've thought many times of a resurrection, but the original maple neck is totally hooped, and I'm just happier these days frankensteining together new Fender P's. So, that's the sordid tale. On to the details of the parts...
• For better or worse, every metal part shown here wears a 30-year-old patina. There's scratches, dust, oxidized nickel/chrome going on. They're not pretty; they're just pretty ratty.
• Body is Alder, I believe. That's what I recall, but the last time I saw her in the buff, it was 1987. She's got 4lbs.–10oz. of gravity in her. Contains numerous extra holes from installation of chrome pickup cover, relocated strap buttons, thumb rest, etc. All could be plugged/dowled, or just slap more stickers on and flog her like a rented mule.
• The pickup has continuity, and meters @ 10.41Ω, but these MIJ pickups were built kind of weird; the pickup lead wires came up through the plastic bobbin, then the actual thin coil wire just wrapped around that lead wire, then they somehow wound the pickup. You could probably just wrap the whole thing in some tape (which they did originally), but I'd recommend going in and installing proper brass grommets / soldering the leads, or at the least, affixing that junction with a blob of epoxy or some other dielectric shmoo to keep it in place. And I'd replace the plastic lead wire with new wire. It's been many years since I last played her, but I remember the pickup produced strong, cutting upper-mids and highs.
Exhibits A—D of my '80s malfeasance:
All of this crusty '80s carnality can be yours for $89, shipped CONUS via USPS, with insurance and tracking. PayPal payment only. No trades, thanks.
What we have here is a collection of parts from a single bass. In this case, it's a MIJ 1986 Fender P Bass — their PB-557 model. I bought it new—my first ever P Bass, and my first "real" bass—on November 14, 1986, in a little music store in Springfield, Oregon. When I bought it, she wore Fender MIJ Lake Placid Blue, which as you may know, is FAR from a correct LPB. It's an electrified version of LPB, and looked a lot like the blue on Fender's Steve Harris signature bass. Anyhow, I never liked the LPB, but for some reason, the little music store who ordered this bass for me couldn't get me black or red, either of which would've floated my boat. But this was 1986—so for you youngsters reading this, you walked into your mom and pop music store in Podunk, USA, and you partook of whatever limited options they gave you. So, LPB it was. Needless to say, the shiny blue lasted about three months before I took the body into my high school shop class and removed it. By hand. All of it. With sandpaper. The resulting poly dust sucked every ounce of moisture out of my hands. Then, once down to bare Alder, I gave it a few thin coats of clear gloss poly, and she wore her new natural skin for a couple years, until I cloaked her in candy apple green. Then Chrysler Race Hemi Orange. Then came the satin black arrow / stripe abomination. And somewhere along the line, in that haze of 1980s Olde English 800, Reaganomics, and bass debauchery, she picked up some stickers, and a stenciling of my high school band, The Meat Weezils, on the back. Again: it was the '80s. Don't judge. I've thought many times of a resurrection, but the original maple neck is totally hooped, and I'm just happier these days frankensteining together new Fender P's. So, that's the sordid tale. On to the details of the parts...
• For better or worse, every metal part shown here wears a 30-year-old patina. There's scratches, dust, oxidized nickel/chrome going on. They're not pretty; they're just pretty ratty.
• Body is Alder, I believe. That's what I recall, but the last time I saw her in the buff, it was 1987. She's got 4lbs.–10oz. of gravity in her. Contains numerous extra holes from installation of chrome pickup cover, relocated strap buttons, thumb rest, etc. All could be plugged/dowled, or just slap more stickers on and flog her like a rented mule.
• The pickup has continuity, and meters @ 10.41Ω, but these MIJ pickups were built kind of weird; the pickup lead wires came up through the plastic bobbin, then the actual thin coil wire just wrapped around that lead wire, then they somehow wound the pickup. You could probably just wrap the whole thing in some tape (which they did originally), but I'd recommend going in and installing proper brass grommets / soldering the leads, or at the least, affixing that junction with a blob of epoxy or some other dielectric shmoo to keep it in place. And I'd replace the plastic lead wire with new wire. It's been many years since I last played her, but I remember the pickup produced strong, cutting upper-mids and highs.
Exhibits A—D of my '80s malfeasance:
All of this crusty '80s carnality can be yours for $89, shipped CONUS via USPS, with insurance and tracking. PayPal payment only. No trades, thanks.
