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Should I? (Cheap Lefty P-bass copy on e-bay)

nerkoids

nerkoids

Jan 3, 2014
3,144
3,216
Montreal
#1
Anyone here ever took one of these apart?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/S101-VINTAGE-STYLE-LEFT-HANDED-P-BASS-A-PRECISION-LEFTY-JET-BLACK-PRO-QUALITY/161472426034?_trksid=p4069.c100039.m2059&_trkparms=aid=111001&algo=REC.SEED&ao=1&asc=20140107094819&meid=51f9f0cd2e2243829f3c1fb665c2c601&pid=100039&prg=20140107094819&rk=1&rkt=4&sd=161472426034

I'm very tempted to buy one of these. Not too many inexpensive lefty P-basses out there. I bought an S101 lefty strat from this guy, and it actually was a decent guitar. The pups were a bit weak, and they were made by Belcat.

Anyone here try one of these lately? I did a search on here a few days ago, but the ones mentioned seemed to have a different decal, so maybe a different year/factory.

Might be a good modding platform. The headstock isn't ugly like an SX...

Thoughts, suggestions?
 
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#3
Not a fan of the Ibanez stuff. And I keep looking, but so far, that seems to be a good deal, and if it's anything like the Strat I bought, more than good enough stock, it would kick major butt once slightly modded with new pups and knobs. Maybe even a tortie pickguard.
 
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#4
For $110 brand new shipped it's worth taking the chance. If it's no good you just have some expensive firewood is all. If you could find a lefty Squier Vintage Modified Jazz for $150 I'd romp on that instead. Lefty Squier P's were discontinued a few years ago due to poor sales, and used examples are few and far inbetween.
 
#12
And here it is. Doesn't have a name yet...

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More later...
 
#13
So... the plans I have for this baby...

Putting a jet-black headstock cap and silk-screening somewhat the decals.
Ripping out the pickup. Really anemic-sounding pup (doesn't even look potted when I pulled it off to resettle the foam one of the pups was resting upon)... Could also be the stock strings on it. I ordered myself some GHS Brite flats from BSO, but picked up some D'Addario flex-steels for fits and giggles in the meantime. I'm replacing it with a Calig Alnico pup -- their traditional one. Should be interesting.

Having been looking at this bass on e-bay for the longest time, checking out the price (80 dollars) thinking, those tuners are the same as on my Spock VB bass... they're competent (there's a word for ya) but probably not sturdy enough for a full scale with flats. Well, tried them out and although they cosmetically look the same, they seem to feel a lot more sturdy. I suspect instead of the typical Taiwanese budget tuners, they might be Jin-Hos, which are actually quite decent tuners in their own right. Then again, Fender now gets their replacement tuners from Taiwan, so it hardly matters.

I originally ordered myself a set of generic Korean open-geared, elephant eared bass tuners, but I figured... instead of swiss-cheesing my headstock, what I could do to give the thing a bit more swank would be to find all-black versions of the tunes and use the top buttons. Should go well with the black capped headstock. If not, then I have the original nickel coloured ones. Keep the open-tuners for my Jazz if something ever went wrong.

Also, the pickguard is going to get swapped for a nice Tortie I found on e-bay from a British store. Looks like real swirl and it's supposed to fit Squiers and MiM Fenders. We shall see. The pots and the jack seem pretty solid. Everything else is pretty decent itself.

Will keep those of you interested posted.
 

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