Rare 1980s Maton PBS-4 Fretless Prototype Bass – 1 of 5 – Serial 001

One of the nicest rickenbacker I have ever played , all original , light weight and an absolute stunner.

The checking on the finish is something no custom shop could ever replicate.

The neck is slim and action is slow with a superb playability. Classic Ricky thunderous tone with that clarity and growl typical of these instruments.

The original electronic works perfectly and the original hard case is in very nice condition with all the latches still fully functional.

One for the players and collectors.

One of the nicest example from the first generation of the Fender Precision Bass. With a graciously aged butterscotch finish, it’s just perfection and plays beautifully as you would expect from one of these 51-54 Pbasses. Detlef Schmidt is the author of what’s considered the most accurate book about the first generation of the Precision Bass, he collected as many serial numbers as he could and this one is featured on his list. The neck has a great patina with the classic finish wear at the back, which is common to these early 40s and 50s Fender instruments. Flat head screw on tuners, neckplate and pick guard as supposed for these. Original covers still there and came with a tweed case that looks like may have been externally modified but looks all original inside, although is hard to confirm. Bass is completely original, with pots perfectly working as well as the black bobbin pickup and the original paper capacitor. It came in with a reissue pickup but the original 1954 black bobbin (which sounds amazing) was inside the tweed case and is now back with the bass and rest of the wiring is untouched. The finish has a gorgeous checking and looks like they patched a couple of extra screws holes (possibly a thumb rest) but they are barely noticeable. Bass is very light and resonant with an incredible sustain due to the string through the body. The pencil dates are unfortunately not legible anymore but the serial of this bass is present on the bridge and can be found on Detlef Schmidt’s book. These early models are becoming incredibly hard to come by and this one is a great example.