Ashley Pangborn

Ashley Pangborn was an English manufacturer of bass guitars in the 1980s. Pangborn ceased production of his basses sometime in the late 1980s.
Pangborn produced three bass guitar models:
*the top-of-the-line 'Warlord', which featured a neck-through design.
*the cheaper 'Chieftain', which featured a bolt-on neck design.
*the budget-priced 'Warrior', which was a Fender Precision copy.
Pangborn also produced a fretless bass which featured an aluminium fingerboard, designed for playing slap bass using roundwound strings without damaging the neck. Pangborn took out a patent for this idea in 1980.
Pangborn's basses were heavily influenced by Alembic and JayDee designs; the body shape, pick-ups, and control layout share considerable similarities.
Initially selling his basses independently, Pangborn signed an exclusive deal with the Bass Centre in London, which he eventually became unhappy with. Subsequently, it was rumoured he had become seriously ill on
various occasions, and eventually fled the UK due to financial difficulties.
Perhaps Pangborn's most well-known customer and endorsee was Mark King, who owned and played several Warlord-series basses in the 1980s. King later gave these basses away to a charity auction.
Pangborn's current whereabouts are unknown. He was believed to have worked at the Gibson Guitars Custom Shop in Hamburg in the 1990s.

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