Memphis Bass Club

[king koeller]

I'm incredibly stoked that this thread exists. Newly registered member here, I happened upon this site by coincidence after buying a used Memphis p-bass from Guitar Center on the cheap. Trying to find out more about the brand, I ran across this little fan club, and had to speak up and post some photos!

The bass has been pretty frankensteined, and I'm really not sure what is stock and what has been changed. Some joker broke off an allen key inside the truss rod, which makes adjusting the neck complicated but not impossible. I know the bridge is looking particularly sad - is it essential to replace this, or is it possible to clean it up and have it be okay?

The bass sounds really cool though, despite some beatings it appears to have taken. I'd like to get it back to as close to stock as possible, but would like to keep the single pickup as well as the black pickguard. Current ideas are replacing all the rusted pickgaurd screws, replacing the knobs with Fender p-bass knobs, and getting some ash tray covers for the pickup and bridge. Does anyone know if aftermarket ash tray covers fit the pickup and the bridge on these old basses?

Also, if you guys could give me any more information about this bass by taking a look at it, I'd love to know more about the particular monster I've acquired. The metal plate on the back simply says pb-100, but there's no other info on it indicating anything about this bass.

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Your Bass is beautiful!!! Welcome to the Memphis Bass club.They were made in Japan... The body looks like an ASH body I love those Knobs,that look to be from an old Panasonic radio.... King Koeller

 

[Brother Goose]

My first bass was a black Memphis P.

Good times

 

[Chris Rhoades]

I just joined the club! Played this bass last night in Pheonix, this bass is so good! The neck has the vintage chunk and the dimazio pickups are pure vintage balls. It's got the wrong pickguard, bridge and nobs but it sure sounds rad. Better sounding than any USA P you could get at GC and at $250, why not?

 

[jessestern]

Here's my '77 Memphis with a few upgrades/mods. Amazing bass.

 

[ATLbassist]

Just saw this old Memphis P-bass on eBay. Terrible pictures, but it has the larger tuners and MIJ-era logo. Could be something decent; wonder if it's a 3-piece or plywood body?

Memphis electric bass guitar black and brown used in good condition | eBay

Bonus points: It's in Memphis!

 

[AGH]

Just saw this old Memphis P-bass on eBay. Terrible pictures, but it has the larger tuners and MIJ-era logo. Could be something decent; wonder if it's a 3-piece or plywood body?

Memphis electric bass guitar black and brown used in good condition | eBay

Bonus points: It's in Memphis!

Geez the pictures are no better than a Bigfoot sighting.

 

[jessestern]

Just saw this old Memphis P-bass on eBay. Terrible pictures, but it has the larger tuners and MIJ-era logo. Could be something decent; wonder if it's a 3-piece or plywood body?

Memphis electric bass guitar black and brown used in good condition | eBay

Bonus points: It's in Memphis!

Scroll up and check my Memphis P bass posted a few days ago, very similar to this one. Mine has a plywood body. I just played a session with it yesterday, and it sounds amazing - really a kick ass P bass. (Mine - can't vouch for this one.)

 

[AGH]

Scroll up and check my Memphis P bass posted a few days ago, very similar to this one. Mine has a plywood body. I just played a session with it yesterday, and it sounds amazing - really a kick ass P bass. (Mine - can't vouch for this one.)

Nice bass!

 

[AGH]

I never posted mine. Through years of posing as a Fender with a phony decal my Memphis lost it's identity, so it became The Blender Indecision Bass!

 

[ATLbassist]

Scroll up and check my Memphis P bass posted a few days ago, very similar to this one. Mine has a plywood body.

For fun, I asked the seller if he had more pictures, which he added to the page. Yep, it's plywood.

 

[GreaserMatt]

dont know much about it i think it is a 1978 but not sure i want to sale it but i dont know what its worth also it has rotosound flat wound strings. i've never seen a body like this in all of my searching so any info about it would be nice

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This is probably a little late; I was just bored and researching a $75 memphis bass on craigs list, LOL...

 

[BuffaloBill]

Was given this gift for x-mass LOL!!! Totally boogered up by somebody.
Am rebuilding it; keeping neck pups, adding bridge pup for P-J conversion. Neck restored to Fender radius and all new frets. Body; has the original natural Ash finish under the spray job, decided to redo it with an amber butterscotch semi transparent finish. Hardware; black Wilkinson bridge & black Schaller tuning machines, black 3 ply Fender pickguard.

 

[ATLbassist]

Am rebuilding it; keeping neck pups, adding bridge pup for P-J conversion. Neck restored to Fender radius and all new frets. Body; has the original natural Ash finish under the spray job, decided to redo it with an amber butterscotch semi transparent finish. Hardware; black Wilkinson bridge & black Schaller tuning machines, black 3 ply Fender pickguard.

Sounds like a great project. Are you going to start a thread to document the progress? I'd love to see this come back to life.

 

[BuffaloBill]

Sounds like a great project. Are you going to start a thread to document the progress? I'd love to see this come back to life.

Thanks but mostly don't like to take the extra time documenting my projects.
Almost finished already and have been playing it. Put a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder in the bridge position, because it's the best match for the original HOT P pups.
Will be spraying amber varnish over the yellow butterscotch semi transparent I've done. I think this will give it a aged look.
FYI: I found this Memphis bass posted for sale on Reverb, and I think this is very close to what mine looked like originally.

 

[JoshuaTSP]

$650 for that thing? If that's what they're going for, I should sell!

 

[AGH]

$650 for that thing? If that's what they're going for, I should sell!

Up to $750 now. Soon it's gonna be more expensive than a Fodera

 

[BuffaloBill]

Up to $750 now. Soon it's gonna be more expensive than a Fodera

LOL!!! I thought the price was WAY UP IN THE CLOUDS, but didn't wanna kill the possibility of a price leap.

 

[JoshuaTSP]

LOL!!! I thought the price was WAY UP IN THE CLOUDS, but didn't wanna kill the possibility of a price leap.

I think I paid $90 for mine. shipped! :-\

I would say it's well worth the $650 price......in terms of it basically feeling like a vintage Fender.

 

[kitfinger]

Since someone posted about that one on reverb-Any thoughts or observations on this piece? Looking to be $100-$200 at most...

 

[BuffaloBill]

Since someone posted about that one on reverb-Any thoughts or observations on this piece? Looking to be $100-$200 at most...
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I saw that listing. Looks very clean, complete and original. If you want to sell it, put strings on it and take the time to adjust it as best you can. Most musicians don't know how to adjust their own instrument, so they're looking for a bass they can play out of the box.