Who made a neck-thru P bass?

[Balog]

Just occurred to me that I don't know that I've ever seen one, but I'm sure someone makes or used to make them.

 

[wheresmyric]

Suntech made some in the late 70's, early 80's. Daryl Steurmer, guitarist from Genesis and Phil Collins, played a Suntech neck through strat for a number of years back then.

 

[Balog]

Awesome looking bass, thanks for the information.

 

[got_the_bug]

The Spector Euro Ian Hill Signature is a neck through, reverse P...I had one in white. Great bass...well made, super clear and tight sounding.

 

[DWBass]

Almost sure Fodera made one.

 

[J Wilson]

Very late 70's/early 80's Yamaha BB1200. 5-ply maple/mahogany neck through, alder body wings, ebony fingerboard, with a 'reversed' P pickup.

 

[pbass2]

View attachment 7431638
Very late 70's/early 80's Yamaha BB1200. 5-ply maple/mahogany neck through, alder body wings, ebony fingerboard, with a 'reversed' P pickup.

Owned two of these. Best Pbass that wasn't a Pbass ever....

 

[Balog]

Interesting that of the ones suggested so far two are reverse P's. I wonder why that is?

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

BC Rich and later Fernandes clones (like the one in my profile pic) were neck-thru and typically dual pickup P/P's although variants abound. Neal Moser's original electronics make for an interesting sonic palette. Back then the active bass world was the wild wild west!

BBB

 

[Balog]

Good call, looks like the BC Rich Mockinbird is a PJ neck thru, and I found an old Fernandes on reverb as well.

https://reverb.com/item/84049582-fernandes-fpm-70-neck-through-precision-bass-burst-amazing-woods

 

[FatOwlBass]

Fernandes BO50

 

[SteveCS]

BC Rich Mockinbird

If the Mockingbird qualifies just for having a P pickup, then I think my old thing (early '80s) also qualifies:

Here's the back:

 

[Balog]

Fernandes BO50

View attachment 7431648View attachment 7431649

That's gorgeous!

 

[Jeff Scott]

Interesting that of the ones suggested so far two are reverse P's. I wonder why that is?

Better way to do that pickup.

 

[Balog]

Better way to do that pickup.

I've never played one, what is the advantage?

 

[ardgedee]

Ibanez used PJ pickups on the four-string Soundgears from when the model line began in '87 through the late 90s and on occasional models since the '00s. Until the 2020s Ibanez used neck-through construction on certain high-end Soundgears. So by now there should be plenty of neck-through PJs around.

They didn't all have hippy sandwich finishes, most of the models from the early 90s were painted.

 

[Jack]

I've never played one, what is the advantage?

I'm not sure it makes a massive difference but IMO Leo had it wrong. I don't want bassier low strings and treblier high strings as that accentuates the differences. I want treblier low strings and bassier high strings to glue everything together. The tele, the strat and the p are all backwards. Warwick (the reverse p on the Streamer and the reverse angled j on the Thumb) and Spector have it right, as does the Mark Hoppus signature.

 

[ardgedee]

Alembic makes, or at least used to make Precision and Jazz shaped pickups. Granted their lower-end basses are set-neck but it seems likely to me that at some time in the company's >50 year history somebody's ordered a neck-through Alembic with Precision style pickups.

PJ pickups are listed in on Alembic's old website as aftermarket parts. This pic is from an Ebay listing so I couldn't tell you if this specific bass is authentic.

 

[brianrost]

Good call, looks like the BC Rich Mockinbird is a PJ neck thru

I'd never call a Mockingbird a P bass!!! I used to own an Eagle that had two P pickups and it sounded nothing like any P bass I've owned. If all you care about is that it has a P pickup, there were a number of other neck thrus in the 80s…Pedulla, Spector, CF Martin for instance. I owned two PJ Pedullas and they didn't sound like a P either.

The Yamaha mentioned above is the first one that came to mind.

 

[kodiakblair]

Just occurred to me that I don't know that I've ever seen one

Not an uncommon sight on 70's lower tier Japanese imports.

Somebody has stuck a fake logo on this one, sold in the UK as a Kay.