John's ST....

[corsair]

Barry, I'm only visiting because the desktop is due to be shipped away very soon; however Lucy has purchased a netbook so we'll be able to keep a watch on what you buggers are up to, eh!! OK, as requested.....

[Barry]

Oh, she's sweet matey! And original case too! .
The only thing nicer than another Avenger is another Spectrum!!

Looks just like my black '85 ST, except for those knobs! What's the deal with them?
Also, if you recall, I made mention elsewhere that there were no markings on the pups in my '85 S just black plastic plate, but the '85 ST had metal plates stamped MMK45. Yours appear to look like my S's pups. Any idea what they are?

[corsair]

Ah, the case didn't come with the guitar; I bought it separately! However, all of my Spectrums have a OEM case, the Gen II and Clippers have flight cases because of the tilted back headstock which needs a lot of space.

Don't know what the knobs are but I'm inclined to think that they may be OEM as there is no shading underneath them on the finish from bigger knobs and they're as tight as buggery on the (correct) splines: however, I do like the look of the tapered knobs and I have a spare set on my Phoenix, which didn't have them as OEM - it had those notched speed knobs - so in the future I may do a swap.

P'ups, well, I have no idea; I suppose they could be MMK's but there's no way of telling now. I do know they are versatile and reasonably hot on bridge and neck; I used the guitar on a couple of gigs and really liked it onstage....

[Barry]

...I used the guitar on a couple of gigs and really liked it onstage....

What's not to like?
Speaking of Spectrum knobs, check this thread out if you haven't seen it already...

[MarkW]

Nice ST!

That's what my one must have looked like before it got massacred!

I just ordered some refretting tools to have a crack at sorting the neck on my ST out (scary). Will let you know how it goes.

I'll get it finished one day... one day.

[corsair]

Another wee bump here as according to David's research, my ST could very well have the genuine UBC p'ups which is why they are not marked as MMK45's, and that Uncle Matt finally got the things right in late 1985 - mine is an 87; that research into the UBC pickups is pure gold and I recommend you all should give it a read!!

http://www.westone.info/ubc.html

[Barry]

Right.
Same here with my white Spectrum S. We've been puzzling over this for awhile now.
Looks like we've finally got the mystery of the "black plastic back" solv-ed (as Inspector Clouseau would say)