bassaussie

There's some pics of the T-Bird linked below.

[url="http://www.ebassist.com/forum/album.php?albumid=19&pictureid=106"]Full bass[/url]

[url="http://www.ebassist.com/forum/album.php?albumid=19&pictureid=105"]Body[/url]

I'd appreciate some guidance on some basses I'm thinking of selling.

I've got three, as listed.

1976 Gibson Thunderbird - really nice condition (say 9/10), has the original case and ashtrays. Walnut colour, no neck break.

1966 Jazz - Also really nice, some small wear on back of body (8.5/10). Again with original case and ashtrays. Oval tuners, block markers in sunburst.

1966 Precision - All original, but more used than the other two (7/10). Sunburst. I don't have the ashtrays or case for this one.

I'm going to get some photos up of these to help with your comments. At present I'm not 100% decided on which I'll sell, if any, so please do think of this as some sort of stealth for sale ad!! I'm genuinely interested in getting some valuations on the basses. I've had each of the basses for some time (about 10 years for the Precision, 6 or so for the T-Bird and 4 for the Jazz), and since I purchased them, I've really not kept up to date on their values. I atttempted to sell the T-Bird onhere earlier this year, but at that time I think my valuation was off the mark.

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='987964' date='Oct 14 2010, 12:48 PM']A 70's Fender maple neck would have a skunk stripe in the rear of the neck. The nut should not be stuck on the end of the fingerboard (Gibson syle) but would be in a slot with some wood behind it. Wrong machines, neckplate is not the right shape for a Fender. Truss rod adjust is by a 'wheeled' principal at the body end - not used by Fender.

Also note the distinct heel towards the body end of the neck - a Fender simply merges in at that point without showing a definite line.

I'm sure seeing the bass 'in the flesh' I would pick out more discrepancies but that's probably enough for now.[/quote]


Brilliant! You've got a good eye for these things. I'd got a few, but I missed the nut and the heel completely. I was unsure about the skunk stripe.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='987611' date='Oct 14 2010, 01:25 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/G-L-L2000-Leo-Fender-bass-PRE-BBE-1987-/300478838377?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item45f5ef3669"]G&L L2000[/url] [/quote]

"Pre-BBE"!!!! I love it!

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='987861' date='Oct 14 2010, 11:28 AM']It's a copy with a Fender decal fitted - naughty.[/quote]

Hey guys, it was me who pointed Joey over here as I knew there'd be some good knowledge to be had.

Just for the benefit of Joey (and myself), could you point out the issues with the bass that scream non-Fender.

Personally, I don't like the truss rod issue at the body, the tuners, and there's the issue with the neck plate. What else is there that's obvious?

[quote name='Nick449' post='985766' date='Oct 12 2010, 02:28 PM']what more do you need to know? I've said what its made of & where it comes from???[/quote]

Look, I'll give my take on this. If it was me, I'd want to know what brand they were, or who the maker was. No offense to you, but you're a new person on this forum, and you're expecting people to simply take your word about the origin of the parts. If you take a look on Ebay, you'll see that necks and bodies can be had very cheaply, and I'd imagine some people's concern is that the parts you've got may be similar to those. If the parts are US made, as you've said, surely you must know who the maker of them was.

But it's your call. I'm just offering an opinion.

[quote name='Nick449' post='984688' date='Oct 11 2010, 06:23 PM']*sigh*
bump again :/[/quote]

Nick, if you could somehow be more specific about the origins of the neck and the body, I think that might drastically change how people are viewing this bass. Just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

That's a great looking bass. It's nice when you see a bass like this and it's obvious the person who built it simply used the best parts available, regardless of cost. Good luck with the sale.

Believe it or not, I've actually seen the name "Shadowsky" used before. It was on Talkbass, however, I think the person using it was simply take the piss.

The most common mistake is to spell it with an "i", Sadowski. Again, on Talkbass, it was explained that this would be the way Polish people would spell it, and so a lot of people just assumed it was spelt that way without checking the actual spelling.

[quote name='kurcatovium' post='933947' date='Aug 23 2010, 05:45 PM']dub_junkie: I don't know the year to be honest and 1993 is what I was told. You are probably right. Is there any way to discover exact year/age?[/quote]

Check this site out. [url="http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/TOWN8019/"]http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/TOWN8019/[/url]

You should be able to get a good idea on there.

Quick bump in the hope that someone from the board is able to take advantage of a very good price on a great 5 string.

These are a copy of an American bass called the Fleishman. I'm not 100% sure, but I think he licensed the design to Hondo. Cool idea, but probably didn't grab people's imagination like the Steinberger did.

These are such cool basses. I remember seeing a few of them in Australia when I was growing up, and I can remember seeing the brand name "Canora" on at least one example.

Do you think the neck through design has much impact in the sound?

[quote name='Shaggy' post='884223' date='Jul 2 2010, 06:40 PM']+1 to FlatErics post above

For me;

Pros -
Funky, oddball styling
Ergonomic body; great for fingerstyle (but then I like Thunderbirds too!)
Slim fast neck (about a Fender “B” profile)
Neck rock solid; 3 carbon-fibre strips integrated
Lovely Honduras mahogany construction; real quality build / feel to it.
Built like a tank – probably the chunkiest bridge unit ever
Articulate, detailed pickups; neck p/up has micro trim-pots for balancing
Real winner is the basic tone as I said above – any amount of low end from that huge neck p/up but it’s a nice clear, growly low end like an acoustic upright, no mud / thump. Bridge p/up dials in a nice bit of cutting “honk”


Cons –
Funky, oddball styling (has been compared to a potato)
String-bending on solo neck p/up causes major output drop-off
Heavy by modern standards – I find it fine
Medium length strings won’t fit due to the long string travel over the bridge
(Noisy preamp / heavy battery drain on the active Magnum 2’s)

some pics of mine I've probably posted before;;[/quote]

Thanks for the description. I love the fingerboard on your bass, it's a lovely looking piece of wood (I'm assuming it's ebony, no?).

[quote name='Wil' post='883876' date='Jul 2 2010, 12:37 PM']They were really overengineered apparently. This thread on Finnbass about Oxblood's Magnum project is quite an interesting read, as it goes into a fair bit of detail about what made the Magnum stand out from the crowd: [url="http://www.finnbass.com/showthread.php?t=5435"]http://www.finnbass.com/showthread.php?t=5435[/url][/quote]

Thanks for the link Wil. That's a great read.

[quote name='Shaggy' post='883835' date='Jul 2 2010, 11:59 AM']V&R are usually a pretty good gauge of market price for vintage gear, they recently listed a tidy one at £900 (and probably sold for less) so I’d say this is very optimistically overpriced.

These used to be unloved and dirt cheap (mine was £300 five years ago) but are getting rarer and some bassists are appreciating what fantastic basses they are – maybe because of the recent re-discovering of “Don’t stop believing / Journey”?

I recently acquired a Wal Mk 1 Custom fretless and the only one of my fretlesses that it didn’t instantly supersede was my Magnum 1; nothing else has it’s distinctive woody / acoustic-ey tone or natural low end (listen to Barry Adamson in Magazine, Ross Vallory in Journey, and – although I personally don’t like his sound – Jah Wobble).[/quote]

Shaggy, what is it about these basses that is so good? I'm not that familiar with them, and am curious.

Personally, I can remember a local store in Sydney having one of these when I was younger (probably late 80s), and the thing sat on the wall untouched for at least 2 years. Obviously tastes were very different back then to what they are now, but I have to admit I find it amazing how expensive they've become.

That's a great finish. Have you ever tried a white pickguard on it, I reckon that would look brilliant.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='878038' date='Jun 26 2010, 11:14 AM']Unless I've missed something the neck on this is NOT a 66 fender... correct? In which case I find that stamping the neck with a date stamp is just wrong! Fair does that if you want it to look all the world like a pukka 66 Fender that you get the period correct 'visuals' but what on earth is the point of stamping the bass of the neck that will never be seen by anyone other than if you are taking it apart to verify what it is/isn't. Sorry but IMHO that smacks of con/scam to me.

As an aside; why, if the bass is put together with so many non-original/disconnected parts would you put in 40 year old pots? What's the point, there are better and potentially less troublesome/noisy alternatives and again they don't affect the aesthetics of the bass... or could they be used by a less scrupulous future seller to pass it off as a 'Vintage' Fender?

I should add that I'm not knocking the bass per se, it may well be a great playing bass but there are practices and issues here that I find dubious.[/quote]

I agree with you about the neck stamp, it does seem a step beyond normal relicing. However, if this was a bass made by the manufacturer for himself, there's always the chance that he was simply taking the relicing process to the Nth degree just as a challenge for himself, and never intended for the bass to be released for general sale. Having said that, maybe the correct thing to do would've been to remove that stamp when he did sell it on, just to ensure that there was no confusion about the instrument.

Having said all that, it's an amazing looking bass. I've got a real '66 Jazz, although mine has block markers, and it's amazing how close the builder has got this to look like the real thing.

Can I ask a really dumb question. Have you got any thoughts on why this hasn't sold? Every other Celinder I've ever seen for sale (ie. the Jazz types) have all been more than this and have usually got snapped up pretty quickly. This seems to be a great price, and it looks to be a nice bass.

Geez they were lovely basses. I still remember watching Henry Thomas on "Rock School" funking out on one.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='865045' date='Jun 12 2010, 11:41 AM']That'll be the chap out of INXS, I expect....

...


....


......at least, that's what Google tells me.

J.[/quote]


Spot on. Tim Farris, to be exact. He's the only person I can think of that I've seen using one on stage.

I don't blame you for pulling this. This is such a rarity I doubt you'd ever be able to replace, especially in the condition your's is in.

Bassassin, I know you're a bit of an expert on all things Japanese, so I've got a trivia question for you. Which guitarist with a very famous Aussie band used to use the guitar model of the Talbo as his main guitar for many years?

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='813961' date='Apr 21 2010, 05:15 PM']I'm likely to be selling my Yamaha BEX, hollowbody (also has piezo for 'that' sound) so keep your eyes on the for sale section. Not quite a £1k bass but tbh for a couple hundred it'd give a few expensive basses a run for their money!

[/quote]

I really like the look of these basses in that colour. It reminds me of a Gretsch 6120.

How would you describe the tone of these? Is it the "plunk plunk" of a 60's hollow body, or is it more modern than that?

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='805003' date='Apr 13 2010, 04:00 PM']Thanks. It's certainly an interesting historical instrument. Although the ebay community has judged it not worth the £599 starting bid.[/quote]

No probs. I think if it was a guitar it would've got a lot more interest. There's a few examples on this site.

[url="http://www.vintaxe.com/guitars_american.htm"]http://www.vintaxe.com/guitars_american.htm[/url]

Have you seen those new guitars from a brand called Eastwood? Some of those are copies of the National guitars.

[url="http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/"]http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/[/url]

Also, I forgot to mention one of the most important things about National. They make those metal guitars, like Dobros. They still make them, in fact.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='804190' date='Apr 12 2010, 09:22 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NATIONAL-VALPRO-65-RESOGLASS-BASS-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ140397239005QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item20b053dadd"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NATIONAL-VALPRO-65-R...=item20b053dadd[/url]

Doesn't say where it was made. Etc.[/quote]

National was an American brand from the 1960s. Somewhat collectible these days. I know John Entwistle had quite a few examples in his collection that was auctioned a few years back after he passed away, and you occasionally see them in music videos by bands, for example, I can recall seeing Joe Perry using one in at least one Aerosmith video. I don't think the basses are regarded in the same way as the guitars are.