Jackson KBX Kelly Bass Eerie Dess Swirl - About to buy an used one

[alessandroarzilli]

Hello everyone!
I'm about to buy an used KBX Kelly 4 strings bass guitar in eerie dess swirl finish. Its serial number is 9686466, meaning absolutely nothing, I know. Bolt-on neck, chrome hardware, two Duncan Designed humbuckers, 5 knobs and a selector switch. I've looked through the old archived catalogues on Jackson's website and I'm pretty sure it's from 2002/03. It's got some dings and a chipped/badly repaired horn, but the absolutely great thing is it's for sale for just 100.00 euros.

https://ibb.co/WzWV5MG

thoughts? Ideas? Thanks

[Number Of The Priest]

Good price. And it would go well with your KE3 Eerie Dess Swirl.

[pianoguyy]

other than no mention of a case... which could be hard to find and quite pricey for this
$100 seems awesome

particularly in your neck of the woods where things are typically more expensive

[alessandroarzilli]

I've actually had to re-schedule the meeting for tomorrow, hopefully. I'll keep you informed. Thanks.

[Mechayoshi]

Looks sweet!!!

[alessandroarzilli]

There it is! It needs new strings and some love.. The bigger horn is chipped... like every damn Kelly out there 😂 But I can fix it very easily, I have the right nail polish color...for 100,00 euros...quite a steal. I'm happy! Can't wait to find some free time to polish it and set it up!

https://ibb.co/mHCG5WX

more details soon

[alessandroarzilli]

Just a quick update. I'm trying to figure out its specs in detail and I think it's from 2002 looking through old official catalogues. It should feature an active Jackson BEQ3 internal preamp and two active pickups, Duncan Designed SB102 and SB102B. The knobs should be Volume, Blend, Bass, Mid, Treble and the Slap switch selector, which should act like a pre-EQ for slapping I guess. Let's see if I can find something more specific.

[Number Of The Priest]

I'm so glad you got it!

[alessandroarzilli]

Just a quick update: yesterday I polished and set it up, this thing is a true beast!! I got a message answer from Jackson's customer service and they confirmed it's a KBX made in Japan in 2002, with two Duncan Designed SB102 pickups (B and N) and active preamp BEQ3.
I recorded all the process, will publish a video very soon.
Here's a picture of it right after cleaning it

https://ibb.co/f2b8ZF7

Here's together with another member of the "family"

https://ibb.co/6wzHz42

[Number Of The Priest]

2002! You were right on the precipice of Fender almost telling you that they couldn't help you because anything prior to their 2002 acquisition of Jackson/Charvel is considered "non grata" to them. So your bass was likely produced within a very short time after the acquisition.

[alessandroarzilli]

Hello everyone! So finally I found the time to give this KBX bass some love! I'm not a pro, but I'm really happy with the result! I want to share with you all my video of the whole process! This things sounds like a beast! https://youtu.be/jBruUu9EtBY

[Number Of The Priest]

I really enjoyed this video along with your KE3 video!

Great job cleaning up both instruments. You bought both of them for great prices and the fact that they both have Eerie Dess Swirl finishes is a very nice coincidence. You interpreted the pickup date labels correctly (I like that Duncan's & Duncan Designed's date labels are straightforward) and they match the production date of the bass which indicates they're original.

Thanks for detailing the repair of the broken tip! Nice work blending the repair.

[alessandroarzilli]

Thank you!I enjoyed making these videos too and hope it will help the community!

[JJ119]

Congratulations!! You did a great job on this Bass.
Good Save, and Great Video!!

I remember you did a Thread with an Eerie Dess Guitar as well.

You did a Good Save on that guitar, also!!

Thanks For Sharing.

[alessandroarzilli]

Thank you very much JJ119! Yes, it was me and this was the video: https://youtu.be/4DnMQDhpFfU