The white PG has since been swapped for a black/gray raised pile of skulls PG... why? I have no idea....
I think the white p/g looks great on that bass.
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Memphis Bass Club
- Thread starter Rushlover13
- Start date
I think the white p/g looks great on that bass.
I just won one on Ebay for $60 but it is all in pieces. How do you like it with those rotosound flats? Those are the exact strings I was thinking of putting on it when I actually get it. I'm also thinking of switching out all the electronics and putting in some 80's era Fender MIJ pots and p/u etc.
These were made on the same assembly line as Ibanez by the same people; you definitely can't go wrong with one.
So, I received my Memphis P in the mail last week and took it down to my luthier! He is excited for the project. So far, he has just been working on the neck and has reglued the fret board(it was coming up by the headstock) and messed with the truss rod, which still worked(yay!) and shaved down the width a bit mainly to get the neck perfectly straight. It should be interesting as it now feels a little thinner than a J neck. I believe at this moment he is waiting on the lacquer to cure. I'm having him put some 80's MIJ Fender pups and pots in it. I'm excited! It should be a fun bass! I'll post up some pics when it's all done.
Guess I'm joining the club! Picked one of these up yesterday that looks exactly like the one in the above pic, except it still has the original pickup and bridge covers.
Very resonant body, beautiful piece of wood. I dropped it straight off at a repair shop to get the jack replaced and have a set-up done. I was really impressed with it when I played it. Definitely MIJ.
Got it super-cheap. The guy said he knew it was made no later than 1975 because his brother bought it that year. He wasn't sure if it was used when his brother bought it though.
Looking forward to playing the heck out of it.
I just bought one from Justin up in troy,ohio. He told me the story... Some band back in the day, 1970's, had a big gig and the bass player said that a fight broke out, The fight was broken up, the band went home.. the club owner told them, no more music at the bar , the band decided to break up...the bass player handed the bass to justin and said keep it i'll never need it again..., he had it in his bed room for the past 32 years... he decided to sell it to me for $50. I drove 30 miles, met in the parking lot of TROY, OHIO ,McDonalds, we looked it over. Sold.,I drove away thinking what the hell is this bass, it has the law suit headstock and the most beutiful maple neck i've ever sceen. The action was a mile high. Justin said it need the input jack re-soldered. I could see the original chrome pickup cover screw holes,and chrome cover hole for the bridge.I could see the original holes for the thumb rest. their were no knobs, The body was bare wood. no finish, no paint, lacquer, no nothing but bare dryed out wood.
Here is the latest about the P-bass copy made by Memphis. I got it home and took it all apart. The neck was solid quarter sawn maple. I realized at that moment that my Memphis bass was the real deal. Only the finest Japanese companys would take the time and skill to quarter saw the neck pieces out of solid maple.The body was bare wood, in layers of solid Mahogany. I got out my Old English furniture oil, and the body soaked it in. All of a sudden the grain was beautiful! I buffed the lemon oil with a hand rubbed finish then got out the Brazilian carnauba wax, after 2 coats, the body now shines with the grain locked in. It is so incredible. Next, I took the truss rod and noticed the nut was about to fall off. So for the 35 years,Justin's action on the bass was a mile high. I oiled the threads and began to tighten the truss. At first the truss rod just spun around. thinking to myself, this is not good, then all of a sudden, it caught on , and began to get tighter.Yes!! I watched the bow in the neck flatten out perfectly. Here I was with a perfectly straight neck so I added a tiny bit of neck relief, and then reattached the neck to the body. Got some new strings, Fender Pure Nickel 7150's, with .100' on the low E , and med lite gauge. I measured the scale, it's a full 34 Inch just like fender. This bass looks like it was made by fender Japan. I tuned it up and then plugged it in....nothing...
That's awesome about the neck! I have had two memphis basses and have loved them both even thou I just sold one off. However the one I kept is pretty amazing. String throught the body bridge and a great neck. I did replace the pickups, pots etc with some old 80's MIJ Fender P stuff. Sounds great!
I took the strings off, then took the pick guard off, the wire on the input jack was not connected. The wire to the bridge was the ground wire and it was fine. One of the pick up wires needed to be reconnected, I took the Memphis P- bass to my electronic soldering gun friend and fellow musician guitarist, Gary, who fixed all the wiring problems, and we kept the original p-bass split pick-up. I went to get the bass 2 days later, and Gary was jamming in his garage, with it cranked up full blast. The tone sounded just like Seinfeld, he was saying how nice it played. The action was perfect, but he said he had to adjust the intonation at the bridge. It was now dialed in. I've used the bass now on 8 pay gigs, and every one asks what is it? I tell them it's a lawsuit model made in Japan. Manufacturing switched to Korea after the fire in 1987, and this bass is from around 1976-78 era. It has no serial number and the metal plate is blank but exactly like all my other Japanese basses. I have 11 basses total, but one is made in Germany, so I have 10 Japanese basses. This one is fat and funky and sounds so loud. The pickups are so hot. Perfect for funk, jazz country, and hard rock. This bass would work fine for metal but it has no 5th string. Metal players love to down tune, and this bass is better staying right at A=440. For metal, the Dean bass I have is better..But this Memphis bass has that real R&B tone, for Soul Man, and "Doing The Twist". When you pop it and slap it, it's unreal!!!!Not bad for a Craigslist deal..Justin would be proud, up in TROY...
Just bought this Memphis ealier in the week even though I don't like the "P" style feel the guy was practically giving it away - I couldn't resist!!!
This bad boy is HEAVY/SOLID ...seriously the heaviest bass I've ever had...very true to the P sound as well!!! Set up is spot on - after I play w/it for a bit, I'm going to clean it up a lil and attempt to trade for a J bass (MIM/MIJ or Squire J)...I simply couldn't pass up the cheap deal I landed this thing for!!!
I'll have better pics up soon!
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ps. side note - this is my first Talkbass post...oddly enough I used Talkbass as a research tool when contemplating my Memphis purchase...(prior to joining talkbass) - therefore I thought it very fitting to post to this thread my new purchase!
This bad boy is HEAVY/SOLID ...seriously the heaviest bass I've ever had...very true to the P sound as well!!! Set up is spot on - after I play w/it for a bit, I'm going to clean it up a lil and attempt to trade for a J bass (MIM/MIJ or Squire J)...I simply couldn't pass up the cheap deal I landed this thing for!!!
I'll have better pics up soon!
____
ps. side note - this is my first Talkbass post...oddly enough I used Talkbass as a research tool when contemplating my Memphis purchase...(prior to joining talkbass) - therefore I thought it very fitting to post to this thread my new purchase!
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here is the finished (for now?) project with new pickguard, new knobs, new tuners & Mighty Mite neck with custom waterslide decal
Hey Man, I saw your Bass and here is mine. Yes it is about 1979 0r 1980 that is when I got the one I have. Make no mistake these are a nice sounding bass. Mine could use a new nut.With some med/light nickel wounds on it I love the springiness of it. Had mine a long time and still love it. Used to play it thru a MM HD150 but now I have a smaller amp.Enjoy it and keep it it is worth it
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Hey all. I recently picked up a Memphis P bass on the local CL.
Nice chunky maple neck, F-style peghead, ply body, original bridge and PU covers, sunburst, with a definitely, uh, beauty challenged "tort" pickguard. P style split PU. Apparently, I am the second owner, and all appears original. It weighs a little over 9 lbs. Model # is PB 100-3, based on the attached label on the neck plate.
Overall physically, it's a 9 out of 10, a few nicks and some wear marks, but nothing really to worry about.
Mechanically, it needed a bit of work. Filed the frets, adjusted the truss rod, reset the nut, set the action. The action was really high, but is pretty nice now. Newer strings didn't hurt, I think the strings on there were new when the bass was new. Real work was cleaning the dust and grime from it just sitting for some time.
Intonation is the best I have ever heard, completely right across the neck. The tone is amazing! Unplugged, very loud, and clear as a bell. Plug it in, and it's probably the loudest passive bass I have ever heard. Punchy and very aggressive, with a good range of sounds, the tone knob actually does it's job. It'd be great for metal, except for only having 4 strings.
I think I did ok for $75.
Don't sleep on these things, people. Cheap, pretty common, not bad to look at, decently made, and a great test bed for "ideas" with out messing up a "better" bass.
Don't know if anyone is still doing the "handing out numbers" thing on this club, just had to chime in anyway.
Pics to come...
wraub
Nice chunky maple neck, F-style peghead, ply body, original bridge and PU covers, sunburst, with a definitely, uh, beauty challenged "tort" pickguard. P style split PU. Apparently, I am the second owner, and all appears original. It weighs a little over 9 lbs. Model # is PB 100-3, based on the attached label on the neck plate.
Overall physically, it's a 9 out of 10, a few nicks and some wear marks, but nothing really to worry about.
Mechanically, it needed a bit of work. Filed the frets, adjusted the truss rod, reset the nut, set the action. The action was really high, but is pretty nice now. Newer strings didn't hurt, I think the strings on there were new when the bass was new. Real work was cleaning the dust and grime from it just sitting for some time.
Intonation is the best I have ever heard, completely right across the neck. The tone is amazing! Unplugged, very loud, and clear as a bell. Plug it in, and it's probably the loudest passive bass I have ever heard. Punchy and very aggressive, with a good range of sounds, the tone knob actually does it's job. It'd be great for metal, except for only having 4 strings.
I think I did ok for $75.
Don't sleep on these things, people. Cheap, pretty common, not bad to look at, decently made, and a great test bed for "ideas" with out messing up a "better" bass.
Don't know if anyone is still doing the "handing out numbers" thing on this club, just had to chime in anyway.
Pics to come...
wraub
I just got this Memphis p bass today, and I'm loving it so far. It appears to be an early 70's model which coincides with what the po told me. I've been wanting a vintage Japanese bass for some time. I have heard lots of great things about them. Plus I have always been drawn to odd non popular things so why would basses be any different. I picked this awesome bass up on craigslist for only $125.!!! I was very surprised at its condition and very pleased with it's tone! I have a MIM Fender P with active seymore duncans in it, and I love it , but this Memphis sounds so much better I was floored. Tomorrow is band practice so I'm gonna put it to the real test then. Here are some pics. Let me know what you think, and if you have any info about it. Thanks
