Post a pic of your axe

My own personal pride and joy is 1988 Yngwie Malmsteen edition Fender Stratocaster with requisite scalloped fretboard, brass nut and Di Marzio pickups which sound incredible. There's also a story regarding previous ownership but I can't be bothered to get into that this morning.

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I'd love a gan of a scalloped fretboard like, just to see what it's like.

Can't remember how to upload on here so here's a link to my new lady

Butterscotch offset telecaster

https://instagram.com/p/BRieFXmAHoC/
Nice.
 
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I'm not sure how to express what just happened but there is a story to this and you'll have to bear with me whilst I explain.

A couple of years ago I tried to buy a Gibson Double Cut Les Paul off a guy and I'd asked for some additional photographs from him. Anyhow, he was overseas so he got his wife to text me the photographs locally here in Kuwait. His wife told me on the texts that she wanted rid of the guitars from the house. Anyway, he was trying to rip somebody off as the guitar had had it's electrics completely ripped out and the pickups etc were replaced with very very cheap (I'm talking the cheapest crap that you can buy). He was wanting top dollar for the guitar and I backed out gracefully.

His wife kept sending me messages saying that make her an offer for the guitar and she would persuade him. I declined as I thought that it was all a bit odd.

Anyway, I live in Kuwait and guitars albeit are popular, the choices are limited with high end guitars often changing hands amongst the expat community for inflated prices as they are not readily available here. As you probably know I've got a collection of about 40 guitars including only one bass.

Roll forward a couple of years and I have received the odd random message from this woman stating that her husband is still going to sell his guitars. Now it turns out that this couple are a friend of a friend and they know that I have a significant collection.

At about 11-00pm on last Wednesday night, my phone rings and it is that woman. Now she has never rang me before, just occasional messages, anyway, I was on my way to bed so I thought that I would message her to say that I'm in bed and what was she after as I didn't want to wake my family.

It turns out that her husband had left her earlier in the month and has buggered off leaving her penniless and she wanted to sell his guitars. She said that she didn't have a clue what they were but she wanted rid of them immediately and would take any offer for them, if I knew anyone who wanted them.

I was a little wary as scorned women / men can do some batshit crazy stuff when ditched and messing with someones guitars is a bit mindblowing.

I spoke to her and said "look send me some photos, I'm not looking to buy anything at the moment but I'll tell you what they are worth and what you should look for for them."

I was then taken aback, the first photo to arrive was this one:

http://s589.photobucket.com/user/ReaL_Madras/media/67107B7C-9924-4D1B-8D0E-7E379D9E916C.jpg.html

Now that photo got my attention, as they looked like a Fender 51 Precision Bass, a Fender Deluxe Precision Bass and Fender Jazz Bass. Now I was sucked in.

She sent me numerous photos and got some of them mixed up. I was immediately drawn to the Jazz Bass . It turns out that those photos were a mixture of the Jazz and another Precision Bass that she hadn't actually sent a photo of yet.

The photographs showed a neckplate with a 1969 serial number on it, soI informed her that I thought that that Jazz Bass was potentially a 1969 Fender Jazz Bass and it could be worth anywhere between $2,500 and $5,500 dependent on condition etc. I was basing this on the limited photos supplied some of which were in fact a different guitar altogether.

I said to her that I didn't want to build up any false hopes as they would really need to be viewed and if I thought that they or any one guitar was so valuable I would tell her and let her decide what she wanted to do with them. I also offered to help her as she really didn't have a clue, all she could think was that she wanted rid of them immediately.

After loads and loads of mixed up messages and confusion, I thought about the guitars over the weekend and I decided to make her an offer for the Fender Deluxe Precision Bass as I had established that this one was new, I had serial numbers, details, case etc. I thought that I'll stay away from what I thought would be potentially higher cost ones and just help by giving some advice when I had actually seen the guitars.

I agreed a pretty low price for the above Bass but I told her it is worth much more if you try to sell it but it may take a while to shift in Kuwait. I wasn't really looking to buy it became an impulse thing. She said " thank you for helping and being honest with the numbers, so come on over and see them."

I noticed that she had advertised all the guitars locally looking for offers.....any offers. These were going to sell and she was just going to offload them cheaply.

I arranged to go and see the guitars on Sunday but then it turned out that she was ill so I went yesterday instead.


When I got there there were 5 basses. She said to me "I want rid of them, I've had a few offers but if you give me 350kd ($1,150) you can have the three above plus the one that had the 69 Serial number neckplate which wasn't on the original photo and I thought was on the Jazz! Confused? I was. She said that she had sold one other already.

I said look without taking these guitars apart I don't really know whether they are of high value, partscasters, fakes or whatever. She said "Please just take them, I want rid of them and I know if they are of a very high value you aren't going to buy them, so if you take them and they are crazy high just let me know but I won't ask for them back or the money. I'm pissed off with my husband who has left me in the lurch and left the country. I don't even know what country he is in. He just has had his entry into Kuwait refused and done a bunk. He told me that we were over and for to sell his car and guitars. Since initial contact I cannot even track him down and I just want rid of them and the 350kd will help immediately."

So I came home with these four basses.

I have taken them apart and had a look and they are as follows:

Now starting at the back that is a copy of a Fender Precision Bass 51. What beautiful bass. It is a partscaster made up of the following:
1) slab body from Guitarbuild.co.uk
2) the neck is a licensed Fender neck from Allparts
3) The Tuners are Schallers
4) The bridge is a Badass III

Next in line is the straight forward one, it is Fender Amber Deluxe Precision Bass.

After that the fun starts. That is a Fender Precision Bass that has been through lots of battles. The front of the headstock was covered in what appeared to be a brown creosote type covering. You could still see the decal but I've got the crap off the face now. The decal was obviously not new as I scrubbed the shit off and it is down below the original covering. The guitar has the vintage Fender Bass tuners.

I don't really know it's origin or much more but it is battered, bruised and beautiful all at the same time. There is a 1969 serial number on the neck plate but there ( I thought that this was in the Jazz on her previous photos) very little in the way of other markings and no dates on the neck. I have taken photos of all the parts. It appears to have been a sunburst originally as there are some black and red patches. It also appears to be one piece of wood.

Then we get to the Jazz Bass which was the one that caught my eye initially:

1) It has no markings on the tuners
2) The neck has binding and block inlays. It has some markings on the neck heel which I don't know if they have any significance.
3) It has Fender Custom Shop pickups
it has a Badass Bass II Bridge
5) it has brass plates underneath the pickups
6) the pots / electrics are connected primarily by cloth covered wiring

To add to the confusion there was bag also with some old pots.

I feel a bit odd and have mixed emotions as I have got these for absolutely no cost whatsover (The Deluxe alone is worth what I paid for all four), but then I thought she was going to do it anyway regardless if it was me or someone else.

@JAZZMANB any thoughts?







To add to the above, I also got this in a trade last week........

http://s589.photobucket.com/user/ReaL_Madras/media/FF53DDBD-2B44-4192-9EB1-743FF3B8AA60.jpg.html
Nice story and lovely basses,the two front ones are my thing.I only know what i've come across,despite everyone elses old basses having nice clear neck dates on etc,my two 75 and 76 basses didn't ,just scribbles etc but they were legit.Some really good fake stuff about but i think they're probably genuine and have been changed down the years as you did before they became an investment and not something you played.I take it the jazz is 4 bolt,judging by big logo both will be late 60s to 74 (thumb rest holes in body below the g string ?).Think the logo'd tuners was 70s . Both possibly been stripped to natural at some point ?..Not sure when they stopped putting strap button on the back of the headstock? that may be another pointer on age.
 
Nice story and lovely basses,the two front ones are my thing.I only know what i've come across,despite everyone elses old basses having nice clear neck dates on etc,my two 75 and 76 basses didn't ,just scribbles etc but they were legit.Some really good fake stuff about but i think they're probably genuine and have been changed down the years as you did before they became an investment and not something you played.I take it the jazz is 4 bolt,judging by big logo both will be late 60s to 74 (thumb rest holes in body below the g string ?).Think the logo'd tuners was 70s . Both possibly been stripped to natural at some point ?..Not sure when they stopped putting strap button on the back of the headstock? that may be another pointer on age.


The Jazz is a 4 bolt and it also has the the thumb rest holes as well as holes where the pick up and bridge covers once were. There is a pencil scribbles and a stamp on the neck bot no date on the end. They both look like they were once sunburst. There is no strap button or hole on the back of the headstock but I thought that I read somewhere that they had stopped doing that in 68 (Mind my memory may have gotten that wrong).
 
I tried to see if I could get a cheap neck to stick on on a Squire a year ago but couldn't find one cheap enough for me experiment. :lol:
:lol: scalloped necks go for quite a bit. Custom dictates that you also have to purchase the brass nut, and spend a few grand on gaudy jewellery. Obviously there's also a requirement for investing a considerable amount of time in learning ascending and descending harmonic minor scales, but that's of lesser consideration.

Remember before I got mine I saw a Japanese Ibanez or something with the scalloped neck and thought it'd work out cheaper to just buy the guitar and take it apart if the guitar sounds a bit shit. In the end I stumbled upon that Strat though which fortunately for me was previously owned by someone who was quite rich, didn't need the money and just wanted to clear out his collection. It'd been previously owned by some Canadian shredder who'd used it to record an album and had toured with it, so it came with the CD which I have no absolutely no intention of listening to at any point.
 
The Jazz is a 4 bolt and it also has the the thumb rest holes as well as holes where the pick up and bridge covers once were. There is a pencil scribbles and a stamp on the neck bot no date on the end. They both look like they were once sunburst. There is no strap button or hole on the back of the headstock but I thought that I read somewhere that they had stopped doing that in 68 (Mind my memory may have gotten that wrong).
Yeah thats the sort of stuff what narrows your years down,are the thumb rest holes below the strings ? pre 74 or above 75ish on ?..the Jazz looks like Stings early Police bass:cool:..matching .serial numbers on the underside of pickguard was common as well
 
Aye fender are only doing them at 25 at a time, to keep the price at a premium ya nar :lol:
I had been in two minds whether to getta Olympic white 65 reissue jm or an elite butterscotch tele. Then this appeared :lol:

I think that Fender have been surprised by the success of the JM Jaguar as they keep bringing out new colours.
 


I realise that 59 Les Paul's and 57 Strats are the alleged holy grails but honestly, no guitar in the world is worth that sort of money. The world has gone nuts.

Apparently that's a lot of fuss over nothing. Journalist made an article and it spread like wild fire

It's happened.....

https://blog.andertons.co.uk/guitars/cites
 
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I realise that 59 Les Paul's and 57 Strats are the alleged holy grails but honestly, no guitar in the world is worth that sort of money. The world has gone nuts.



It's happened.....

https://blog.andertons.co.uk/guitars/cites
Personally I think the 59's aren't even close to being the best sounding Les Paul's either.

I reckon if I played one of these without knowing what it was my first thought would be, "It's cool and sounds decent but I really want to change the pick-ups." Then, "I'll probably just save the best part of a million quid and get myself a Studio with P90's instead."

 

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