He adds, “I've used the bass a lot gigging etc and not really knowing its history tried looking it up. This has been without success.
1) Chris Holcroft of Cambridgeshire, UK sends in these photos of his Aria bass.
At first glance this looks like some modern derivative of the SB series, but Chris says he bought the bass new in 1982.
He adds, “I've used the bass a lot gigging etc and not really knowing its history tried looking it up. This has been without success.
“It seems to be like an RSB, but the pickup configuration is not the same (double humbuckers mounted as opposed to 1 x humbucker, or 2 x 'jazz' type, or 1x humbucker with 1 x 'jazz' type)”
This bass has a bolt-on neck...
... and a modern-looking headstock.
Chris adds that the bass still plays fine, although it is not his main bass any more.
2) Joe Carey from Anrtim, N. Ireland, has recently acquired an SB Special II.
He likes the lighthness of the instrument. “An injury has forced me to use a lighter bass and this, at 3 kilos, is a useful backup to my Ibanez eda900 ergodyne (which is ultra-light).”
Joe's Musicman is now a sit down and practice thing only!
Joe tells us, “The specs are pretty much standard. 34in scale length, nut width 41mm, 56mm at the 12th fret. Neck circumference at nut 107mm, 134mm at the 12th fret.”
What does Joe like about this bass? “It has the wooden soul that the luthite ergodyne lacks. And it's black!”
He also likes the headstock shape. “It's the headstock which got me,” says Joe, “but I'm told they were originally used for a while before the bat's-ear and then reintroduced in modern Aria instruments. This is a 1984 model though, according to the plate at the bolt-on neck.”
3) Irish SB fan Mikey O'Donohoe tells me, “I just thought you might be interested in the latest addition to my SB collection. Its a fretless SB Special II from 1984. It is very similar to the bass owned by Chris Holcroft on your web site. There are helpful fret markers on the upper edge of the fretboard. ”
“The bass is much lighter than my other two SBs (smaller headstock but also a narrower body). The controls are pick-up selector, two stacked tone pots and two series/parallel pick up switches. The bass is active and is powered by a single 9V battery. However, unlike the SB 1000 there is no LED to tell when the battery runs out.”
“I was looking to try my hand with a fretless and I saw this for sale in a local small ads paper. Knowing the quality of SB basses I decided to purchase it and was not disappointed. It's a very nice bass but I still prefer the through-neck with the open book headstock. The SB Special II seems to be like an early version of the RSB Deluxe (with a different pick-up arrangement) but I haven't seen the SB Special on any old catalogues on the Guitar Gallery so I assume it was a relatively short-lived model.”