theplumber Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Just passing the time of day on Sunday evening,looking around e bay.....fell out of my chair when I seen this,at a buy now price of.....£25!!!! It has just arrived,in need of a good clean and some new strings,but I have had a wee go on it......bloody hell!! wow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Nice score. Never heard of Wilkes, but it has Schaller tuners and maybe even DiMarzio pickups in it so well worth £25! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witterth Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Genie Macoroni!! I'll give you fiddy notes for it! I thought not..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witterth Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Wilks did some nice stuff in the 80s I even saw a weird fretted fretless thin in A1 in manchester (fretted e/a string fretless d/g) it was a cool thing at the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatEric Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='theplumber' timestamp='1333544857' post='1603266'] Just passing the time of day on Sunday evening,looking around e bay.....fell out of my chair when I seen this,at a buy now price of.....£25!!!! It has just arrived,in need of a good clean and some new strings,but I have had a wee go on it......bloody hell!! wow!! [/quote] You lucky B******. I've got the fretless version, Reeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaally Nice Can't believe the price. This is Doug. [url="http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/doug-wilkes-guitar-builder.html"]http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/doug-wilkes-guitar-builder.html[/url] Would love to hear what you think of it after a good play!! Top Job!! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Tried a fretless years back and it was lovely! [url="http://www.wilkesguitars.co.uk/index.htm"]http://www.wilkesguitars.co.uk/index.htm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplumber Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 It seems Doug Wilkes turned out a fair few guitars in the 80's,I googled the brand to find out...thumbs up all round and good enough for the likes of Pink Floyd to buy some from him.He is back on the go building and repairing guitars. This is a total bargain,hard to put a price on as the brand is not well known.I think this one is late 80's early 90's,a wee bit like a Jay Dee bass....sounds a lot like my Musicman Bass,The body is mahogany,Di Marzio pick ups,Schaller machine heads,nice straight neck,electrics work find,but the pots need a tighten up.Goes to show that there are still bargains to be had on e bay,as I mentioned,buy now price,£25.......the funny thing was,someone had been before me and made an offer!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplumber Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 The seller said that it was stock from a music shop venture that was closing down...the listing will still be up on e bay,and on the neck is a bar code label and the price marked on it is £29.99......I think they might have been in the wrong business! Its very dusty and has traces of mold on it plus manky strings but thats nothing! Oh and I didn't get the usual moan from the wife when she found out I bought yet another piece of sh*t from e bay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) [quote name='witterth' timestamp='1333545312' post='1603278'] Wilks did some nice stuff in the 80s I even saw a weird fretted fretless thin in A1 in manchester (fretted e/a string fretless d/g) it was a cool thing at the time [/quote] Creator of the innovative "[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/134054-withdrawn-wilkes-4-string-fretless-with-slap-plates/"]slap-plate[/url]" if I remember correctly... a brass plate inlaid into the top of the neck so that you could slap on a fretless. Never played one, but they were pretty popular for a short time in the mid-to-late eighties. Edited April 4, 2012 by Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scojack Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) I remember these, pretty nice basses at the time. Didn't he used to put brass 'slap' plates on the end of the fingerboard when we were all trying to be MK? (Lol beat by last poster) Well done...what a bargain! Edited April 4, 2012 by scojack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witterth Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='scojack' timestamp='1333546503' post='1603306'] I remember these, pretty nice basses at the time. Didn't he used to put brass 'slap' plates on the end of the fingerboard when we were all trying to be MK? (Lol beat by last poster) Well done...what a bargain! [/quote] yeah, we did a bit of that didnt we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I had one too - a fretless with slap plates, and IIRC a little piezo pickup in the neck joint that would pick up the percussive sound of the slap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Scoop! Get a bush on that tuner though as the string tension will knacker it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scojack Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='witterth' timestamp='1333547142' post='1603315'] yeah, we did a bit of that didnt we? [/quote] Oh yes indeed !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 *faints with shock* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Jammy bastard! But well done that man I suppose! What shop was it? Maybe someone should get a van up there! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplumber Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Go to e bay and do an advanced search for completed listings or have a look for e bay member wingmusic1972 they say they have more stock to shift.....you never know!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojobass Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 jammy git!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I can't believe that bass has gone from one end of the country to the other practically! According to the sticker on the head, it was once sold by my local music shop, who's been going for over 50 years. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2012/post-8664-0-68101900-1333544806.jpg"]http://basschat.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2012/post-8664-0-68101900-1333544806.jpg[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplumber Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Not wasting any time,it's currently in wee bits at the moment,although the stealth black mat finish was ok,I noticed the body is made of mahogany........so sandpaper time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatEric Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 When you've finished sanding, should look like this with a finish on it. Please ignore the holes!! When I went to see Doug, I took this one with me as well, hoping he would say "this is the scratchplate for it" What he actually said was "dunno what the holes are for, none of the ones I made had a plate on 'em" Nuts! When you have finished you will have a very fine sounding and playing bass. Lucky man! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplumber Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1333557531' post='1603557'] When you've finished sanding, should look like this with a finish on it. Please ignore the holes!! When I went to see Doug, I took this one with me as well, hoping he would say "this is the scratchplate for it" What he actually said was "dunno what the holes are for, none of the ones I made had a plate on 'em" Nuts! When you have finished you will have a very fine sounding and playing bass. Lucky man! Cheers. [/quote]Thanks for that...yeah,the original finish was like a coat of primer..not a great finish! I have started rubbing it down,no major dinks on the bass,I may try finishing with an oil for the time being.I had a look at the pickups,there seems to be some sort of date which looks like 83...would this be right? I think I will stick with the original brass bridge,though I do have a chunky chrome one that looks similar...think it came from an old Hondo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Steve Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I had a beautiful Wilkes 'Stingray' in the '80s and it was an exceptional bass. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeCee Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I think Wilkes called both of the models shown in this thread BI Supreme basses. The BI Standard bass had one Schaller humbucker in the P position. If these are both passive, there was also an active version (B/T). Not sure if the bridge is original on the black one. The only ones I can remember picking up had Schaller 3D bridges. Schaller hardware seemed to be standard throughout. My local shop used to carry the full range of Wilkes bases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplumber Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 [quote name='GeeCee' timestamp='1333582744' post='1603999'] I think Wilkes called both of the models shown in this thread BI Supreme basses. The BI Standard bass had one Schaller humbucker in the P position. If these are both passive, there was also an active version (B/T). Not sure if the bridge is original on the black one. The only ones I can remember picking up had Schaller 3D bridges. Schaller hardware seemed to be standard throughout. My local shop used to carry the full range of Wilkes bases. [/quote]Could be an early one,it looks to be the original bridge,but not the same as any pics I have seen of the range,also I think the bass dates from 83.I removed the pic ups to sand down and the foam pads underneith had crumbled to powder! Date on pick ups indicate a date/year 1983. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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