Long time player, first time poster.....has a question

[harvey milk]

Greetings, maybe one of you can help me here.

I've had this bass for 20 years. I'm thinking about selling it (still undecided), but would like to know why this might have a Stingray labeled neck on it when it is clearly a Sabre body. That's the way it was when I bought it used.

The serial # on the bridge dates it to around summer of '79. The logo has a circled 'R'. I haven't bothered with taking the neck off yet. Any ideas as to why a Sabre might have a Stingray neck on it? Would this have been done at the factory or did some dude just swap necks somewhere down the line?

Thanks.

Pics:

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

I don't believe it would have left the factory like that. The neck has either been swapped with a Sting Ray or the logo has been changed .

 

[DTG]

I would say it started out as a fretted bass and someone bought a fretless ray neck and swapped them out.

 

[Basspro]

+1

I would say it started out as a fretted bass and someone bought a fretless ray neck and swapped them out.

 

[Caca de Kick]

The necks are an easy swap, and this isn't the first time someone has put a neck from one on the body of another.

 

[harvey milk]

Thank you gents. I took off the neck this morning and this neck is indeed stamped 'Jun 4 1979', but the neck pocket stamp looks like 'Oct 01 1978'....? The bridge serial # dates it to around July-Aug '79. Would a body sit around for 8 months before final assembly, etc.?

Getting closer to selling it....

 

[Golem]

I would say it started out as a fretted bass and someone
bought a fretless ray neck and swapped them out.

Sounds like like something I would do ... 'cept it weren't me
this time. Therefore, I'll be watching to see how much you
ask for it ! There's some variables, such as it being "All MM"
yet being NOT "All original". IOW, I don't know if it's worth
less or more than its current cousin, which would be an "HH"
PU config on a fretless Ray or Sterling. It's a "mutt" but it's
"all in the family". Welcome to Kentucky, I spoze

 

[Aussie Mark]

Would a body sit around for 8 months before final assembly, etc.?

It was not unusual in that era. There are a lot of basses on serial number Gav's database with neck and body dates several months apart.

That said, I'm in the "Sabre with a fretless Stingray neck swapped by owner" camp on your bass.

 

[bovinehost]

I don't believe it would have left the factory like that. The neck has either been swapped with a Sting Ray or the logo has been changed .

How many Pre-Ernie Ball fretless rosewood boards have you seen, Gav?

 

[Basspro]

Better yet, how many fretless Sabres have you seen?

 

[Aussie Mark]

How many Pre-Ernie Ball fretless rosewood boards have you seen, Gav?

There's a handful on the database. I owned one of them - '76 rosewood board fretless neck on '77 body.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

How many Pre-Ernie Ball fretless rosewood boards have you seen, Gav?

Jack...I have quite a few files on Pre-EB fretless. Here's a rundown.

Sabre Basses: 6 Rosewood and 2 Ebony.

Sting Ray Basses: 19 Rosewood (that includes Mark's 1976), 1 Maple (very rare), 6 Ebony and 1 Lefty Ebony.

(Fretless Sabres and Rays went from Rosewood to Ebony in 1980).

 

[harvey milk]

Thanks for the info!

It's indeed for sale, can I do that on these forums? Don't want to break any rules...

 

[bovinehost]

Harv, you have to have 25 posts to do a For Sale thing. Original or not, that's a really interesting bass you have there.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

They started making the Sabre Bass late 1978 so it has to be a very early one.

 

[harvey milk]

Harv, you have to have 25 posts to do a For Sale thing. Original or not, that's a really interesting bass you have there.

Well.......I am pretty burnt out with talking on forums, and don't post much anywhere, period. But there is another popular bass player forum where I've posted it for sale. I hope I don't offend anyone or break the rules by typing that.