KenC wrote: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?
