When I was the bassist for Oozin' Blues I had been trying out various basses to find which suited the material and the band the best. This is mostly about sound, but any musician will also admit the look also matters.

I had the opportunity to import a couple of basses made in USA by bass guitar builder (and player) Mike 'Rocko' Occhiato, formerly of Fender® and of Jackson-Charvel. He is based in Glendora, California, USA, and makes basses on a very low volume basis under the 777 brand name. I specifically wanted 2 basses - the first a traditional split-pickup P-bass® but with a vintage Tele-bass® type body, and the second a traditional single-pickup single-coil bass in the style of Leo Fender's original Precision Bass® of 1951-56, a design I love so much.

This is the latter - a brand new custom-built 777 bass in the style of the 1954 Precision Bass®, where the original '51 design was updated with some new 'sculpted' areas to the previously 'block' body. This, of course, mirrored the new Stratocaster®, which was introduced the same year. Serial number is 0013. The other bass can be seen here.

Mike's attention to detail is amazing. Neck fit, neck angle, overall finish, quality of components used, everything...it is so obvious he is a bass PLAYER and knows what is important! (he plays bass for Stan West)

This bass features;

• '54 P bass body style
• Lightweight Pine body (some of Leo Fender's original instruments were in Pine, chosen for its weight and resonance)
• Beautiful vintage Butterscotch satin finish
• Single-ply faux Bakelite pickguard
• Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard
• Satin amber finish to the neck
• Vintage style chrome bridge
• Cool Bakelite-style knobs with pointer
• Seymour Duncan SCPB-3 pickup

I really love the look of most Fender® basses with their pickup and bridge covers in place, and I actually tend to like them fitted from a playing point of view as well, exactly the opposite to my preference with guitars. I have ordered genuine Fender® covers (both pickup and bridge) for this bass, and they will either be fitted when they arrive, or I will leave it up to the eventual purchaser to decide, as there are no screw holes drilled at present, giving a really clean 'custom' look.

Weight is 3.8kg, or 8 pounds 6 ounces, really nice for a bass. Case is a brand new, high-quality G&G made-in-USA plush lined black Tolex item.

not for sale

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