Cowpoke P-bass in the house!

[Denis]

Thanks!
I have to admit I shocked when I pulled it out of the box and the bag in which he shipped it. Even this pic doesn't do the bass justice. The wood grain is really beautiful. From the numbers it appears to be a '95 or '96 and seems to have been pretty well taken care of. So, the bursts are less common than the other versions? This pleases me!

[SKATE RAT]

very nice,but is it me or does the headstock look small.

[Denis]

Yeah, it's definitely a smaller headstock than those on other P-basses. I was sneaking around on that "other" bass forum and saw some pics of various Cowpokes and they all have this same headstock (although some are painted). Someone made the comment that they have necks and headstocks closer in design to those of '51 reissues than of usual P-basses, although I'm certain no authority on that stuff. It's almost like a larger Tele headstock than a bass headstock.

[Dave W]

I always thought it was patterned more after the original (Telecaster style) pre-'57 P headstock than the later P headstock. After all, it has the '51-style pickguard. A nice tribute to the earlier style without being exact, like a reissue.

[Denis]

Tonight I'm going to run it up to the shop for a setup and probably new strings. The guy from whom I bought it owned it for a couple of years, never played it and it wouldn't surprise me if it hasn't been set up since it was new. The E definitely makes the E sound but sounds terrible.

Now I need a spotted cow guitar strap...

[Denis]

Picked up the Cowpoke from the shop last night and what a difference! Everything was out of whack but due to some in-store strife the guitar tech set it up super cheaply. 

I'm surprised how different this thing is from the two other basses I have. The neck seems wider than the T-birds, but also seems shorter because of the smaller body on these. It's harder to play farther down the scale than on either the T-bird on the Dano, in spite of the fact that there's a generous cutaway. Since I don't have nearly the experience switching back and forth between basses that you guys have, getting used to it will take a little time.

She sounds FANTASTIC though!

[Dave W]

Good. I'm glad it was a simple setup and not a serious issue.

[Denis]

Thanks, Dave. Nothing serious fortunately, just typical bridge and truss rod adjustments, tuning, etc. I don't know how old the strings were but they didn't need to be replaced. I think she's going to turn out to be a nice bass.