Long story short, had some gig money and wanted a new bass. I wrote about it here: The Waiting is the Hardest Part.
It finally arrived today, after a lot of impatience by me. And even then, I had to wait a few hours to get home to check it out. Luckily it was sunny and warm out, and the front entry wasn't in full sun. Nevertheless, I got home and brought it in and opened it up.
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| Shipping delayed one day because seller had to find a box |
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| Original Fender case from 1997 |
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| Inca Silver straight out of the case |
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| Back side looking great! |
After dinner and watching the Seahawks look crappy until halftime, I took the bass downstairs to give it a closer look. I did play it and it sounded like a P bass. The seller had some zingy roundwounds on it and they sounded fine. Volume and tone knobs turned smoothly and without issue.
The body is pretty spectacular. There is a little mark just under the neck plate, there's a finish scratch right under where my right arm would rest when playing, and that's about it. No major dings or blemishes. The headstock has a little marking on it and maybe a few nicks, but for a nearly 30 year old bass? It is in excellent shape, very happy with its condition.
I did take it apart to look it over more in depth, let's take a look.
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| Neck pocket date, June 25, 1997! |
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| Can't really make it out, but maybe June 11, 1997? |
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| It was a little furry under the bridge, so I took it off |
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| Backside of the bridge |
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| Used some guitar cleaner to get off the gunk |
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| The cavity wasn't shielded at all, but the bass is quiet so I left it |
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| My apprentice was blocking my workbench |
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| After cleaning it up and playing a bit |
First impression of the bass when I picked it up was how heavy it was! Weirdly so! But when I picked up the buttercream P, it felt the same in my hand. However, when I strapped up the new P, it definitely neck dived. Just hanging it on my shoulder and releasing my hands, that guy wants to point at the floor like a divining rod. But once I played it, it wasn't a big deal.
Speaking of playing it, the action was pretty low. For a heavy-handed player like me, I think it was a little *too low. I raised the saddles a half-turn on each allen screw and that seemed to make it better. I didn't touch the truss rod yet as the neck appears pretty straight via the eye test. Just playing through the Orange amp, it sounded great. All notes seemed to ring true and the string-through bridge offered nice sustain.
I do like the red tort pickguard but I might have to pick up a matte black pickguard to swap out down the road. We'll see. Looking forward to playing it with Embers tomorrow night and possibly at the gig. Let's see how it does!
