With interest rates low I haven't bought an ISA this year. I managed to persuade Mrs Tut that a vintage bass would be a great investment and to my amazement she agreed. I'm not really a precision man but I reckon they're always going to be pretty good for resale. I've got little hands, so when this one came up reasonably local on here, with a 'B' width neck I decided to make further enquiries.
Having asked the seller (from this site) the relevant questions, I put a lockdown deposit down a couple of weeks ago and drove over to Berkhamsted yesterday for a socially distanced collection.
She's a 1974 model. All original with the only issues being some battle scars and a broken tip to the scratchplate. I got it home and gave it a thorough check over and I was immediately struck by how resonant it was. It was supplied with flats and had a bit more relief and a slightly higher action than I'd have preferred. I've already got a P with flats on so I set this one up with rounds. I've adjusted the relief, finding the truss rod to be working perfectly and pulled the action down to a more than acceptable 2mm at the 12th fret on the E string.
A couple of the tuners are a bit stiff, which I can live with. There was a pretty serious crackle on the input jack but this soon disappeared with some switch cleaner. Pushed through my Peavey VB-2 and Big Baby 2 it gives a lovely classic rock tone. Although bought as an investment, it's inevitable that I'll gig it sooner or later, so I've equipped it with some Dunlop straplocks. Happy Tut! Some pics below - enjoy!