NBD: Schecter USA telecaster body 5 string. What is this thing?

[bassporter]

Hi guys, been lurking here a while. This bass finally made me feel like I had something to contribute and ask.

Received this in a trade a couple weeks ago. It was SUPER crusty and neglected. I cleaned it up and put a fresh set of D'Addario chromes on. According to the serial # it was made in 1996. Has a very nice J-bass style birds-eye maple neck. Passive only Basslines pickup up. Plays and sounds incredible, but I can't find any info on it.

Couple questions if there's any Schecter experts out there:
What is the body wood on these? What does the 5 position switch do? It's obviously series/parallel/single, but what are the other 2 positions? And I hope this isn't against the rules, what is the value range for these? I've found one 4 string on ebay, but I doubt that's truly representative.

Thanks for any help, and here's some bad cell phone pics. Hope you enjoy!

 

[bholder]

No clue, but nice bass! Love that birdseye figuring on the neck!

 

[pickles]

Pretty sure its called a "Baron". They had one in the bass player 5 string shootout from that era.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Sexy! Love the body binding; don't love the headstock but it's not unsightly by any means.

 

[bassporter]

I agree about the head stock. It would look better with a 4+1 like fender does on most of their 5s. It's a reach to tune the g while standing.

 

[ScarfFace]

That looks really neat! Any chance we could convince you to do some sound clips?

 

[bassporter]

I don't have good recording gear at home, but it's going to my gig this Saturday. Maybe I'll get something there.

 

[Maxdusty]

Pretty sure its called a "Baron". They had one in the bass player 5 string shootout from that era.

Yes.. it's the Baron. There's still a current Schecter Baron "Vintage" produced by the Schecter USA Custom shop but it has that f hole.
This is the original, very nice bass. Worth? Not too sure, these don't show up very often.