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Axis 30th Anniversary

Rare Pre_EB???!!!

Yow!

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(Hm... I wonder where my thread went... ;p)
 
The serial is # B05674 I wonder if that can shed any light on it's history. Very nice and dare I say... rare? I also wonder where the other thread went.
 
If it were "pre Ernie Ball" than wouldn't it have the strings thru body feature?

Regardless, it is a beauty. Not sure I would dish out that many clams though.
 
Four bolt neck attachment.

That B05674 serial number is not pre-EB either. Ernie Ball built that bass. Probably a mid-to-late eighties artist or one-off.

Nice looking bass.
 
The "pre-EB" features are that it looks to be a slab body and the string retainer is between the D & G strings. On the EB basses of this era ('85 and later) they have body contours and the retainer is between the A & D strings.

However, I've never seen a pre-EB with a neck or body that had wood that nice.

It seems like the s/n is missing a digit, no?

It seems like there are exceptions to almost every 'rule' right around the transistion time.

Cool bass, though!!
 
I'm with Todd on the serial.

I think the seller has omitted the digit "1" from the serial number and should read "B015674" rather than B05674.

The "B" serial with 5 digits (not 6) was used by Ernie Ball around 1996/1997. On early EB Basses, the headstock logos made no mention of Ernie Ball, but that was only for a short period in 1985. However, they can be distinguished from the Pre-EB necks as the string retainer moved from the D and G strings to the A and D. The neck plate also has "Made In USA" which is a Pre-EB feature. After a very short time, Ernie Ball deleted that from the plates.

If "B015674" is the correct serial, that would place it around 1980 which is also in keeping with the 4 bolt neck that was introduced around that time.

The body is also a slab. Ernie Ball introduced the contoured body for the Sting Ray.

I know Pre-EB did do special orders for their retailers. I recently spoke to a dealer whose husband would get specially made Basses for himself. Perhaps this Bass is one of those or perhaps it was made for an "Artist". Perhaps even an after-market body. I'd love to see the body pocket markings.

I don't think the clear pickguard is original as it allows the old style pickup routing to be visible. When the clears were introduced, they changed the routing to the shape of the pickup. The clear was probably used to show the finish a little better.

Don't know about the case either. The Pre-EBs I've seen have a clear plastic tag to open the strap compartment. This one appears to have a leather tag?
 
I thought the seller's name looked familiar. I recently won an auction for a Sabre from the same seller.
 
Hey Randy,
I am shipping the white pickguard out to you today.

Also, thanks to Gav for enlightening us all on the nuts and bolts regarding this one.
 
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