Hi All
Agent double-O-Soul reporting from behind the lines in deepest France.
I've owned the exact same "enigmatic" bass for over 15 years now, not knowing what I had in my hands...
... and I still don't know because like yours it's active + bolt on !
Same color, same brass-plate J780011, and the back of the head says 098008 so mine probaly dates from 1980.
(also, for the purists, the head has got deep bat ears, not the younger shallow ones).
When I bought it it was already defretted and passive, with a Bartolini pup. I added a very simple home-made preamp.
I can send you a couple of picks to compare.
I've sent several detailed photos to Graeme Fyfe (Scotland ?) who runs a website all about Aria Pro II basses asking him he can identify our Unidentified Funky Objects, but no reply yet (he's a busy guy).
Link Removed
Then last month the pick-up finally expired and when I started looking around for a replacement pup (I got another 2nd hand bartolini), I realised why I loved my good old bass :because everyone on the web agrees it's a gem !
So since I wanted a fretted bass, and a neck-thru fretless, last month I managed to buy 2 more SB-1000 on the french 2nd hand market : an empty 1982 fretless (no pick-up, no electronics, 6-way rotary missing) and a perfectly preserved fretted 1981 ... except that its electronics seem to be fried (hence my presence online tonight).
=> does ANYONE know what preamp hides in the little black box under the batteries ?
=> does ANYONE have a wiring diagram of the whole innards of the Beast ?
UPDATE SINCE LAST NIGHT,; I've sourced more info here and there:
- some early SB1000 may have had a bolt-on neck, like "ours"
- also, those had no red LED, and a non-recessed jack socket
- early 1980 still had bat-ears
=> So I would tend to conclude that we have here an early 1980 SB1000.
Thanks for any help, and hoping to be of any help myself in return,
Orphée
Grenoble
France
Agent double-O-Soul reporting from behind the lines in deepest France.
I've owned the exact same "enigmatic" bass for over 15 years now, not knowing what I had in my hands...
... and I still don't know because like yours it's active + bolt on !
Same color, same brass-plate J780011, and the back of the head says 098008 so mine probaly dates from 1980.
(also, for the purists, the head has got deep bat ears, not the younger shallow ones).
When I bought it it was already defretted and passive, with a Bartolini pup. I added a very simple home-made preamp.
I can send you a couple of picks to compare.
I've sent several detailed photos to Graeme Fyfe (Scotland ?) who runs a website all about Aria Pro II basses asking him he can identify our Unidentified Funky Objects, but no reply yet (he's a busy guy).
Link Removed
Then last month the pick-up finally expired and when I started looking around for a replacement pup (I got another 2nd hand bartolini), I realised why I loved my good old bass :because everyone on the web agrees it's a gem !
So since I wanted a fretted bass, and a neck-thru fretless, last month I managed to buy 2 more SB-1000 on the french 2nd hand market : an empty 1982 fretless (no pick-up, no electronics, 6-way rotary missing) and a perfectly preserved fretted 1981 ... except that its electronics seem to be fried (hence my presence online tonight).
=> does ANYONE know what preamp hides in the little black box under the batteries ?
=> does ANYONE have a wiring diagram of the whole innards of the Beast ?
UPDATE SINCE LAST NIGHT,; I've sourced more info here and there:
- some early SB1000 may have had a bolt-on neck, like "ours"
- also, those had no red LED, and a non-recessed jack socket
- early 1980 still had bat-ears
=> So I would tend to conclude that we have here an early 1980 SB1000.
Thanks for any help, and hoping to be of any help myself in return,
Orphée
Grenoble
France
