My bass collection - G&L
This is a later version of the Interceptor base matching the Tan/Gold Sparkle 3rd style Interceptor w/Leo Fender Vibrato. Everything is pretty much the same compared to the Interceptor Bass on the previous page with only a couple of changes. The body is soft maple instead of swamp ash. The wiring harness now has chromed toggles which are rear-loaded, as are the volume control and PTB circuit. The peghead is the sleeker version of the (matching) sickle headstock, commensurate with was was used on other instruments of that era. The bass is still equipped with 2 HB-2 Bi-Pole™ Magnetic Field Design humbuckers and the 34” scale hard-rock maple neck again has a 7½” rosewood fingerboard and 1¹¹⁄₁₆” nut. Go to its page in the Rarebird section of the Guitars by Leo (GbL) Registry to find more information.
Interceptor bass (rear-loaded controls)
The story behind this bass
Year:
Serial number:
Neck date:
Body date:
Strings:
I got this bass from Bruce Fowler, but in researching the S/N I found that once upon a time this bass was owned by (old) GbL forum member West Side Duck. This bass as well as the matching 3rd style Interceptor just happened to be offered at the same time but on different auction platforms. It took some delicate timing and finagling to make sure both would come this way. And a nice end-of-year bonus from work. The pocket is void of any markings or date stamps which causes you to be totally thrown off when you read the date stamp on the heel: March 25, 1985?! That one is exactly the same as for the neck of this Red-over-Black Interceptor Bass with S/N B015528, which still has its wiring harness on a control panel and, more importantly, the old sickle headstock. The year 1987 quoted above is based on information coming from (one of) the previous owners. Given S/N B015528, it is unlikely for an Interceptor Bass from March 1985 to already have the Ray Ransdell redesigned sickle headstock and/or rear-loaded controls which were allegedly introduced on basses only a couple of months later. Still, in chronology some slop should be allowed if documentation is absent. So did somebody forget to set the wheel correctly? If this neck is indeed from 1985, was the G&L hook removed after the fact? Lots of questions. What is certain though, is that these Interceptor basses sound fantastic. It is puzzling why they were not more popular. An inversion of “form over function”? Who knows? The sound I like the most (so far) is passive, using both pickups, and playing with a palm-mute technique. Deep and soulful!
The story behind this guitar
1987
B019510
MAR 25 1985
none
