1985 SB-1: Nitro or Poly?

At the end of April, I picked up this lovely piece of equipment:





It's a maple body SB-1, serial number within the realm of 1985 models. (I don't have the serial handy, but I've registered the bass.)

I don't have a lot of experience with these older fellas - can anyone help me figure out whether this instrument has a nitro or a poly finish? There isn't a lot of wear, but a lot of that stems from the fact that it sat unused for quite some time. I know that the finish looks very different than the one on my 2015 model, but I don't know whether to attribute all of that to age.

I tried searching around the forum and the internet, but I wasn't able to find what I needed.

Hi, Nice Score!
According to our own Fred Finisher who worked at G&L back in the day, G&L definitely shot Nitro thru the end of 1985. I believe that is when he left the company. I've seen some '86 models that appear to have nitro finishes but the bodies may have been shot earlier…. its fairly easy to tell on worn or relic looking models but like yours its clean as so its hard to say… I can tell the neck is nitro but I'm thinking the body finish may be poly… this may sound weird but sniff it (the body) nitro finishes have an odour whereas Poly finishes don't.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
KF

Ah, okay.

Does anyone have a link to a good 'care and feeding' guide for nitro instruments? I'm not a big 'distressed' finish guy - I'd like this finish to stay intact.

Some guitar stands have certain types of rubber that have an adverse affect on nitro. Other than that I can't help you.

My SB-1 from early 1986 has a poly sunburst finish. It is extremely thin, and does not appear to have been sanded at the factory. It is matte to the point that the only reflections are blurry shapes. Hanging next to several Leo-era basses that definitely have nitro sunburst finishes (an '83 SB-2, an '82 L-2KE and an '80 L-1K), it is obvious that the finish is different. I would just wipe it down with a clean cotton rag occasionally, and try to avoid dings and belt buckles as much as possible.

From the photos you posted, your bass looks like an early example of the second version of the SB-1. The "by Leo Fender" decals first appeared on headstocks about the time this model came out in 1985, and continued beyond the change to metal pickguards around 1987 or 1988. It looks like yours has the Schaller pickups that were used in 1985 and early 1986, before the split MFDs were being wound in-house. If you post a close-up of the pickup it will be easy to tell for sure.

It does appear that the control knobs were switched from the original black and silver plastic to chrome.

Ken

My SB-1 from early 1986 has a poly sunburst finish. It is extremely thin, and does not appear to have been sanded at the factory. It is matte to the point that the only reflections are blurry shapes. Hanging next to several Leo-era basses that definitely have nitro sunburst finishes (an '83 SB-2, an '82 L-2KE and an '80 L-1K), it is obvious that the finish is different. I would just wipe it down with a clean cotton rag occasionally, and try to avoid dings and belt buckles as much as possible.

From the photos you posted, your bass looks like an early example of the second version of the SB-1. The "by Leo Fender" decals first appeared on headstocks about the time this model came out in 1985, and continued beyond the change to metal pickguards around 1987 or 1988. It looks like yours has the Schaller pickups that were used in 1985 and early 1986, before the split MFDs were being wound in-house. If you post a close-up of the pickup it will be easy to tell for sure.

It does appear that the control knobs were switched from the original black and silver plastic to chrome.

Ken

Ken, I was really hoping that you'd weigh in on this!

The finish on my bass is definitely matte - I'm sort of new to this whole game, so I wasn't sure what that meant. Does this fact indicate either way which type of finish I have?

As far as the parts/components you referenced, here goes:
-Serial: B016445

-There is definitely a "by Leo Fender" decal on the headstock.

-When I received the bass, the pickguard was comprised of two separate pieces. The bulk of the guard was one-ply matte plastic - however, a previous owner chose (for reasons unknown to me) to replace the portion of the guard that sits over the control cavity with a new piece - it is one-ply black plastic, the same thickness as the original guard, but with a gloss finish. Other SB-1's (based on a GIS search) from that era seem to have a pickguard that more closely resembles the matte plastic than the gloss.

If you look really hard at the photos of the bass, you can see the split between the guards; the edge of the piece is radius'ed, and there are two screws holding it in place on the neck side of the volume knob. The bulk of the pickguard was significantly warped, so I had it replaced - I didn't think to ask for the original piece back from my luthier.

-Somewhere along the line, the pickup in the bass was replaced with a Bartolini. I'm not sure which model, but the output seems to be (by ear) a hair less hot than that of my 2015 LB-100.

-The knobs, when I received the bass, were chrome - I have since replaced them, but kept the originals.

Is any of this information helpful?

A lot of the clues went away with the original components. It would originally have had a black plastic guard, which would have been one piece. My SB-1 also came to me with a replacement pickguard. I have been trying to find an original example to confirm the thickness and amount of gloss.

You could tell the approximate production date by removing the neck and checking the date stamps. Yours could be an early one ('85/'86), as I suggested before, or a slightly later example. I was guessing early by the shape of the pickup, thinking it was a Schaller. In any case, it's Leo-era and sometime after 1985.

How does the Bart sound in it?

Ken

A lot of the clues went away with the original components. It would originally have had a black plastic guard, which would have been one piece. My SB-1 also came to me with a replacement pickguard. I have been trying to find an original example to confirm the thickness and amount of gloss.

You could tell the approximate production date by removing the neck and checking the date stamps. Yours could be an early one ('85/'86), as I suggested before, or a slightly later example. I was guessing early by the shape of the pickup, thinking it was a Schaller. In any case, it's Leo-era and sometime after 1985.

How does the Bart sound in it?

Ken

For starters, I've found an image that I believe may be helpful. The section of pickguard I believe to be original looked like this:

[image]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bsFIRuiu85s/maxresdefault.jpg[/image]

Flat black plastic, no gloss whatsoever.

As far as thickness goes, I can actually measure that for you. When I received the bass, the two pieces of the pickguard were of an identical thickness. My luthier convinced me to keep the split pickguard (much easier access to the control cavity) and replaced the larger piece with a piece of three-ply in the same thickness as the original/the control cavity cover. If you'd like, I can measure the thickness tomorrow and report back.

The pickup sounds FANTASTIC in the bass. It allows the maple/maple/maple to be punchy and a little bit bright, but without sounding all weird and pingy. I wish that the output was 5-10% stronger, but the sound that it creates is gorgeous. This bass is strung up with a BEAD set of half-wounds and tuned to C-Standard, and it sounds like the devil had a baby with a freight train.

Just to give that opinion some context, I have an ash/maple/rosewood LB-100 that I adore, and I recently sold an Ash/Maple/Maple ESP P-Bass with a Duncan SPB-2 because (among other reasons) I hated the tone.

I'm a huge fan of maple bodies for guitars and basses. Over half of my current herd are maple, and when you add in the 'hogs the total is over 2/3 of the collection.

Flat black plastic, no gloss whatsoever.

That picture is very helpful. It's the first clear shot I've seen of an original SB-1 pickguard. That definitely looks like the same matte black single-ply that G&L was using for Broadcasters and ASATs at the time.

If you'd like, I can measure the thickness tomorrow and report back.

Thanks! I would really appreciate that!

On an unrelated topic, I could get serious GAS over the Kay archtop in that picture!

Ken

It looks like the pickguard I've got is 3/32" thick. I measured both the new three-ply piece and the older gloss black control plate piece - they both measure 3/32". Sorry for the delay!

It's a shame that G&L doesn't offer maple bass bodies anymore. It's heavy, but it's damn nice sounding.

Also, a quick registry search shows that you've got the bass with the serial directly after mine. Eerie!