Up for sale, a 1970s Bunker Pro-Bass in excellent, 100% original condition and perfect working order. This is one of a very limited number of Bunker-Pro two pickup basses produced, and this particular example is made even more rare by the walnut body that adds significant warmth and fullness to the tone. Famous for his doubleneck "Touch Guitars" of the 1960s, and the two hand tapping method by which they were played, if Dave Bunker is one thing, its ahead of his time, and this Pro-Bass from the 70s is no exception. Employing a unique, patented headless design (the headstock is detachable) that pre-dates the Steinberger and Kramer headless instruments, Bunker's also patented a "floating neck design" which utilized a 3/8″ steel bar acting as a cantilever for both ends, and a rod which weighed about eight ounces more than a standard single truss rod. The neck attaches to the body using a screw-and-dowel assembly, the ball-end of the strings anchors in a large bracket at the end of the neck, and as was usual for the era, a brass nut was used. This bass has a very solid lower midrange acoustic tone that translates well through the stock Dimarzio "Patent Applied For" Model G humbuckers, which have a thick "P-Bass"-like grunt in the neck position and plenty of upper midrange sweetness in the bridge position. The treble response is present and sweet, and the pickups boast individual coil tap switches, adding to the versatility of this instrument. Professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar, this bass plays well with low action and solid intonation.
The maple neck has a medium C shape that feel nice and round in your hand, with a 1 9/16" nut width that's very close to Jazz Bass territory. The maple fretboard boasts multi-ply black and white double dot position markers to the 12th fret, and smaller black dots from the 12th on up, with 24 medium sized frets that show surprisingly little wear, with only faint divots in the first position (frets 1-4) and virtually no wear further up the board. The tuners are actually positioned at the bottom of the bass, and are the original Sperzel tuning machines which turn smoothly and hold pitch well.
The body is made of walnut, as opposed to the more common maple which was more typical of these Pro Line instruments, and sports a three-ply black pickguard, brass bridge saddles, and nickel tailpiece. All of the electronics work as they should, with the aforementioned Dimarzio "Patent Applied For" Model G's wired to a three-way pickup selector, master tone control, and individual volume knobs and coil tap switches for each pickup. Cosmetically, this bass is in fabulous shape, showing very little wear aside from some faint finish scratches and minor wear near the input jack, none of which affects this bass structurally or sonically.
This is a chance to own a rare instrument that was manufactured in incredibly small quantities, even more so with the walnut body, and dual pickup option (these usually came with just a bridge pickup).
A non-original vintage hardshell case is included.
The maple neck has a medium C shape that feel nice and round in your hand, with a 1 9/16" nut width that's very close to Jazz Bass territory. The maple fretboard boasts multi-ply black and white double dot position markers to the 12th fret, and smaller black dots from the 12th on up, with 24 medium sized frets that show surprisingly little wear, with only faint divots in the first position (frets 1-4) and virtually no wear further up the board. The tuners are actually positioned at the bottom of the bass, and are the original Sperzel tuning machines which turn smoothly and hold pitch well.
The body is made of walnut, as opposed to the more common maple which was more typical of these Pro Line instruments, and sports a three-ply black pickguard, brass bridge saddles, and nickel tailpiece. All of the electronics work as they should, with the aforementioned Dimarzio "Patent Applied For" Model G's wired to a three-way pickup selector, master tone control, and individual volume knobs and coil tap switches for each pickup. Cosmetically, this bass is in fabulous shape, showing very little wear aside from some faint finish scratches and minor wear near the input jack, none of which affects this bass structurally or sonically.
This is a chance to own a rare instrument that was manufactured in incredibly small quantities, even more so with the walnut body, and dual pickup option (these usually came with just a bridge pickup).
A non-original vintage hardshell case is included.
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Listed | 8 years ago |
Condition | Excellent (Used) Excellent items are almost entirely free from blemishes and other visual defects and have been played or used with the utmost care.Learn more |
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