• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Mary Kaye P-Bass (special edition)

#23
John, is this one you built or a 57 AV?

johnk_10 said:
.........or a liitle more traditional Mary Kaye trans blonde with maple. all it would need is a white pickguard and gold hardware to be look like a real MK.

58pbass-3.jpg
Click to expand...
 
#31
JimB52 said:
The rumor was that the Mary Kaye run of basses and guitars in 1987 -89 were the first instruments made by what became the Fender Custom shop.
Click to expand...

If this is the case, this bass we're talkin' about really does have intrinsic value. "smcd" - hang onto that sweetypie!

PS: I just read the link provided by "MisterV619" which says the Fender Custom Shop was brand new in 1987 & the M.K.'56 strat was the 1st model run.
 
#33
MisterV619 said:
Seems she was a guitar player and not a bass player, so I wonder why she got an artist model bass issued?



[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

I somehow suspect Fender made a Mary Kaye tribute model of a few of their instruments (in celebration of her contribution to popular music). She was at the forefront of the "electric guitar as integral to rock &roll" movement - as it were.
Perhaps someone else can expand on that.
 
#35
johnk_10 said:
not a bass, but here's a of pic of my fender american vintage reissue mary kaye strat. i previously had 3 custom shop MK strats, and my current 'non-custom shop' limited edition anniversary model (2007) is awesome, weighing in at only 7 lbs. .

marykaye-1.jpg
Click to expand...

That's a beauty J. There is a hardtail custom shop M.K. strat for sale @ one of the links someone gave. The advert. said it was the only 1 (?)
 
#36
johnk_10 said:
.........or a liitle more traditional Mary Kaye trans blonde with maple. all it would need is a white pickguard and gold hardware to be look like a real MK.
Click to expand...

I liked the pic, but I have to say, a web search for 'trans blond' came back with a completely different vibe...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Volker Kirstein
#37
MisterV619 said:
Seems she was a guitar player and not a bass player, so I wonder why she got an artist model bass issued?



[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

That photo was taken by Fender for an advertising campaign. She never owned the guitar in question, but the cosmetics (ash body with transparent blond finish and maple neck became known as "The Mary Kaye" Strat. There was one that was sold in vintage guitar shows as THE Mary Kaye Strat until Dan Forte took the logical step of actually calling Ms. Kaye on the phone. She confirmed she never owned the guitar and didn't know the cosmetics of it had her name attached.

When FMIC introduced the limited edition Mary Kaye Strat they just wanted to put out essentially a '57 Strat with the transparent blond on ash look, but the name "Mary Kaye" was common in the collector world so they called it that. And they made a matching P bass too. That's all, it was never an "Artist Signature" series instrument in any way.

John
 
  • Like
Reactions: SJLee, Volker Kirstein and One Drop
#38
JTE said:
That photo was taken by Fender for an advertising campaign. She never owned the guitar in question, but the cosmetics (ash body with transparent blond finish and maple neck became known as "The Mary Kaye" Strat. There was one that was sold in vintage guitar shows as THE Mary Kaye Strat until Dan Forte took the logical step of actually calling Ms. Kaye on the phone. She confirmed she never owned the guitar and didn't know the cosmetics of it had her name attached.

When FMIC introduced the limited edition Mary Kaye Strat they just wanted to put out essentially a '57 Strat with the transparent blond on ash look, but the name "Mary Kaye" was common in the collector world so they called it that. And they made a matching P bass too. That's all, it was never an "Artist Signature" series instrument in any way.

John
Click to expand...

As I mentioned previously, the owner of the M.K. P-Bass that I saw told me he also had a M.K. J-Bass. If that is true, there must be some kind of "series" involved w/ this. Has anyone heard of other examples of this "series" IF they exist?
 
#39
P. Bass said:
As I mentioned previously, the owner of the M.K. P-Bass that I saw told me he also had a M.K. J-Bass. If that is true, there must be some kind of "series" involved w/ this. Has anyone heard of other examples of this "series" IF they exist?
Click to expand...

Yeah, they did a limited edition (nothing really special about the way they were made, just the cosmetics) of the whole Vintage Series at the time (at least the Precision, the Jazz, and the Strat, I never saw a Telecaster guitar one) with the transparent blond finish on ash bodies and gold hardware. FMIC did call it the "Mary Kaye" series, but not so much as a tribute to Ms. Kaye, but because that's what the public called that combination of finish/hardware/wood.

John
 
#40
i can see why the trans-white/blonde over swamp ash is so popular, since its my favorite color on a Fender.

here's a pic of my 1955 that had to refinish since i when i bought it, it was already stripped, and had to make a new pickguard for it. it weighs only 7lbs 4 oz.!

55pbass-1.jpg


and here it is with the '58 style one that i just built the other day:

58-55pbasses-1.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Admiral Akbar, aaron_798113, txhawaii and 3 others

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back