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Mary Kaye P-Bass (special edition)

#41
johnk_10 said:
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
Click to expand...

Those are GORGEOUS P's! Can we talk you into gold plate on the '55 ?
 
#42
I'm in lust ...

:eek:

johnk_10 said:
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
Click to expand...
 
#43
Here are a couple of pics of my late '88/early '89 Mary Kaye '57 Reissue (taken by the previous owner).

It has a 13" body. My '97 California series P also has a 13" body...(?)

I'll probably be selling this one locally soon. I've always preferred Jazz necks, and can't see modding this bass. Just wouldn't be right.
 

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#45
I had a Mary Kay Jazz. :hyper:

I actually still have it, but it's no longer a Mary Kay. I stripped and tung-oiled the body, replaced the gold hardware with chrome, and replaced the stack-knobs with v-v-t controls, and it now sports no pickguard. The only gold left on it is the neck plate, neck screws, and the screw for the strap button on the back of the headstock. I know now, it was dumb to butcher it like I did, but I still like it a lot the way it is now. To make matters worse, when I was drilling a hole thru the body for the bridge ground wire (it originally had the copper strip from the bridge pickup plate to the bridge), I miscalculated the angle and drilled out thru the back of the bass instead of into the control cavity. Oh, that was an awful mistake for sure, but I'm over it now and can laugh about it.
:hiding:
 
#46
I talked to the guy who had traded in this bass & he said that he also had it's sibling - a J bass w/ the same appointments. Whether or not it also had an oversized body - I dunno.
Click to expand...

Had one of the Mary Kaye RI stacker jazzes. Bought it used in '92 for $700. Mine didn't have the ashtrays tho, maybe they were optional, dunno.

No clue on the size of the body, never occurred to me to check.

It was a beautiful instrument, I could believe the Custom Shop possibility. I knew it was kinda rare at the time, and I swore I would keep it......but the thing was ungodly heavy.

Sold it to Gruhn at a guitar show for $800. Only seen one other one since. I miss it, but my shoulder doesn't.
 
#48
John K,

Thanks. Yes, it's a good one. It weighs 8.2 lbs. (lighter than some of my other Fenders) and resonates great unplugged. These are rare, and I never see them for sale, so I'm really not sure yet what a fair asking price will be. I'm also averse to shipping it. I must be 'old school'; I've never bought a bass/guitar I didn't play first. I could see buying an amp sight unseen, but guitars are too personal. Just me.
 
#49
MisterV619 said:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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dig her strap connection - not the upper body horn (even though there's a strap button there) but instead tied on to the headstock like an acoustic geetar

that just looks sooooo uncomfortable, and appears that the strap would keep sliding off her shoulder if she moved at all while playing


p.s. my SB w/Tort '65 P with a 1-11/16" nut width is exactly 12-7/8" wide across the butt curves, and weighs in at a dainty 8.0 pounds. In contrast, my '77 Stingray has the same nut width, is 13-1/2" across the butt curves, and weighs a whopping 12.25 pounds

all the best,

R
 
#50
Rodent said:
dig her strap connection - not the upper body horn (even though there's a strap button there) but instead tied on to the headstock like an acoustic geetar

that just looks sooooo uncomfortable, and appears that the strap would keep sliding off her shoulder if she moved at all while playing


p.s. my SB w/Tort '65 P with a 1-11/16" nut width is exactly 12-7/8" wide across the butt curves, and weighs in at a dainty 8.0 pounds. In contrast, my '77 Stingray has the same nut width, is 13-1/2" across the butt curves, and weighs a whopping 12.25 pounds

all the best,

R
Click to expand...


And yet she's plugged in!! I gotta try that shoe-lace to the headstock of my Jack Casady sometime! :D

Big hello to you, Rod! ;)
 
#59
Here's my new MK P-bass

stefaniw80401

Thread 'NBD Mary Kaye Precision Bass case queen'

I live in the Denver Colirado USA metro area. This week I scored this "1998 Mary Kaye P-bass" online sale from GC (Bakersfield, CA) for $1,999 sight unseen and on just two pictures in the ad. I did not know if a case or pickup cover was included.

I had been looking for a nice USA '80s era AVRI 62 or 63, and over two weeks time I had done a ton of research on Fender's production history of P-basses ... and boy was that an experience! However, after all that research, I was not aware of the short run of Mary Kaye strats, P's and J's from 1987-1989 ... that is until this ad popped up...
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