'73 With Checkerboard On The 'Bay

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:25 am

Andrew, that's really nice !!!! I'd settle for a fretless just like that, what month is she ??

wints · Post by **wints** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 1:48 pm

Jim, it's an April, so it has the checkered binding even though it's hard to see in that pic. It's strung with D'addario Chromes at present and they give a nice bright sound but I am a rounds guy for sound and am looking towards an Alembic fretless so I can get back to that growl I really want without worrying about chewing up a beautiful old fretboard.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 1:50 pm

January, February, March or April '73 (notice gap on bridge)... I say it was made in February '73.

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 2:42 pm

Mine was January 1973 very close !!! Lovely bass Andrew.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:22 pm

That fretless on E-bay didn't leave the factory as a fretless, I know we only used M.O.P. dots on the fretless models. I drilled the holes and set the dots in with yellow glue. No Tri-Angle inlays were used for fretless, the resin inlays were deemed to soft in relation to the hardness of the Bubinga/Rosewood fretboards, there was concern that the string would cause damage to the inlays.
The frets on that Bass were ground and filed down
leaving the fret tang to fill the slot, then it was relacquered.