I just bought this '85 Distillate and would like to know more about it.  The previous owner says the top is Bubinga, but I have my doubts.
 
It's out getting re-fretted right now, but I'll post some pictures in the showcase when I get it back.

Hi Bill,
By the serial number, your bass was completed in 1984 rather than '85. Enjoy it when it gets back!
Mike

D'uh, I knew better than that.
I just repeated the sellers ad copy without thinking.
 
Here is an old pic:
 

Congratulations !                        I think I saw this  on ebay  or craigslist a while back , is that correct ? It has that RCA jack by the 1/4 output jack. Is the RCA jack wired for an external power source?    I like Distillates , I have an '81 single pickup export model. ( Cyclops)  I just took it to a recording gig with great results. Alembic (the mother ship) did a great job improving mine .   Enjoy !

Wolf,
I believe that is a power LED. It goes on when the bass is plugged in. I don't recall the years but they were standard equipment for awhile. Due to the extra drain on the battery a number of folks disconnected them.  
 
Keith

Keith; looks to me like there's something else going on there.
 

 
The LED is on the left.  My guess is that the thing on the right is not original.

I have a power LED on mine as well . I see what looks like an RCA jack (aka phono jack)  next to the 1/4 output jack.  I  think I remember another thing about this Bass; the higher register frets had been pulled and were filled in to make the instrument half fretless;  does my memory serve me right ? Perhaps that Ginkgo Biloba that I have been taking really works for my memory. LOL___
 
Sonic Regards !

I faintly recall talk about that being a way to feed 9V to the bass instead of the internal battery.
 
Duh, that may have been Wolf's post above where I heard it. Ha!
 
(Message edited by artswork99 on July 25, 2010)

That extra jack was for an external power pack.  
It's now a hole waiting for a 3-way battery switch.
 
It was half-fretless.  
My Jedi luthier will have that fixed by next week.
 
 
Any ideas on the top wood?
 
 
 
(Message edited by longhorncat on July 25, 2010)

It is hard to tell on my monitor as it looks like a red dot in the style of housing I used to use for indicator lights on test equipment. I happily  retract my previous statement.  
 
Keith

Here's the details from the instrument file:
 
top: Bubinga
accent: none
body: Mahogany
neck: 5-piece Maple and Purpleheart
scale: 32 medium
fingerboard: Ebony
inlays: Pearloid (plastic) ovals
controls: volume, filter, Q switch, bass cut/flat/boost, treble cut/flat/boost, pickup selector switch, LED power indicator, mono output
originally made for: not recorded
birthday: April 12, 1984