Anyone got any history on Encores?

[Truckstop]

Hello all,

Bought an Encore P of Ziggydolphinboy in the week and I'm very surprised as to its quality. Quite heavy, maybe 10-12lbs? Indicates proper wood, and the maple neck has some really nice figuring and a few touches of flame. Great pickups with a strong output, tone control's a bit 2d but it's good enough.

Has the remnants of a 'Made in India' sticker underneath the strap button and has a 'Freedmans' shop sticker on the back of the headstock. The finish is a sort of pearlescent cream/Ivory colour. Maybe what some people would call metallic? With a white 3ply pickguard. Heavy duty bridge.

Can anyone date this? The lacquering on the neck and headstock seems to show some age, but it could just be a coloured lacquer. I like knowing how old my gear is, and my gut says early to mid 90's.

Really I was just wondering when Encore's started to get crap because this one certainly isnt!

Cheers

Alex

[gafbass02]

Sounds like your gut might be right. I had a black one from then, always wanted either the pearl white or the limited edition natural one. If you ever shift it on let me know.
Mine was a heavy beast too, but did sound pretty good and the build was fine

[Wil]

My first bass was a mid 90s Encore P, and it lives on in my parts bass (the body at least) - the only bass I've kept hold of in fact.

It's a plywood body as far as I can make out (a few dents in the paint over the years have shown the layers underneath), certainly fairly heavy.

[icastle]

Encore was a brand name used by Leeds based importers John Hornby Skewes back in the 1980s.
The guitars were originally marketed as an alternative to the Kay brand that was being imported by British Music Strings at the time.
They were, as has already been suggested, plywood built and were priced to undercut the Kay models by £10 - so a PB would retail at £89.00.

The rest is history really, the Kay brand disappeared (as did BMS) and Encores took over the market space for budget priced beginner basics.

Something that did happen was that Encores were then picked up by Argos and I presume that price cuts to entice Argos into a deal effectively drove a downturn in quality.

[Truckstop]

Hmm, it surprises me that it'd be plywood because I didnt think it could be that heavy!
But oh well, I love it anyway. Used it for two gigs already and it's already made me the £50 I paid for it a few times over!
I might still slip some better pickups in it though. Some SD's or DiMarzios? Not sure. I don't really have a favoured sound so to speak so it's a chance for me to experiment and discover more about what sort of sound I like.

Thanks for all your help guys

Alex

[silentbob]

If it helps, I have a pair of the Limited Edition natural bodied ones from the early/mid ninties and they are solid bodies, made from medium weight Indian ash. Theres a copy of the review in this thread.
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/54743-encore-p-bass-natural-finish/page__p__543540__hl__encore%20natural__fromsearch__1#entry543540

[waynepunkdude]

I still have my s/s black Encore P bass, great little thing.

[paul_5]

Yup, never owned one, but all the encores I've played at jam nights etc... have sounded lovely.

[thebigyin]

My first Bass was an Encore [red] Precision with proper retro precision style headstock, rosewood fretboard ect....i stripped it down and it was made of 3 pieces of solid wood not ply.....used this bass in my first band an old rock n roll outfit and it sounded great fat, punchy but warm sound played thro' an old Carlbro' Viper 90w combo wish i still had both.....Bought for £50 mid 90s and it'd been passed around a bit by then so unsure how old? I also had a 75 Columbus [natural finish] Precision made in japan wish i still had....Currently got a Squier C.V Jazz Bass....always had low end basses as i'd never been able to afford top end bass....but always coped.

[Immo]

Sorry for digging up the fossil, but I have a question for someone who might know a bit more 'bout Encores.
I found this baby:

up on an Internet auction, fairly cheap and in good condition, minus some rust and minor dings it's really nice. Is it made in India (as it has the Fender-style headstock and square string tree)? I know those MiI were the best ones.

I have an identical (Encore made as well) PU in my drawer and I wonder about buying this baby and fitting it with this second PU in the bridge position (Fender Precision Elite II / Blacktop J-Bass style) and changing the pickguard to something more lively and less boring.

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='Immo' timestamp='1384955452' post='2282730']
Sorry for digging up the fossil, but I have a question for someone who might know a bit more 'bout Encores.
I found this baby:

up on an Internet auction, fairly cheap and in good condition, minus some rust and minor dings it's really nice. Is it made in India (as it has the Fender-style headstock and square string tree)? I know those MiI were the best ones.

I have an identical (Encore made as well) PU in my drawer and I wonder about buying this baby and fitting it with this second PU in the bridge position (Fender Precision Elite II / Blacktop J-Bass style) and changing the pickguard to something more lively and less boring.
[/quote]
I had a made in India Encore like that with the same headstock and string tree. It was very heavy. Mine was black but i seem to remember they came in black, red or white and came fretted or fretless. I bought it brand new fretless one in the late 90s for £110.

[stu_g]

Ive had a few of the indian encores i believe there solid wood also the sunn p bass is the same bass made in india also
the fittings are fender size too i took neck off of one and fitted straight on a fender body as cts pots wouldnt fit in the encore control cavity
I own the strat they did the vintage standard also made in india it came standard with solid body lace pickups,wilkinson usa trem and grover vintage tuners its a really nice guitar

[Subbeh]

My first bass was a left Encore E83 Precision copy, weighs a ton and plays pretty well but the pickup was pretty poor.
Still have it and I still love it despite it's many flaws, might drop a decent pickup in and bring it out of retirement!

[Chris Sharman]

My first bass was also an Encore E83 in Black. Bought second hand in 1988-ish for £65. Solid wood (not ply) and far better quality than the 'Marlin Slammer' of the same period used by some of my contemporaries at school.

[Immo]

OK, I mailed the guy who owns this bass and he wants to sell it for equivalent of ~60 quid.
I guess that's a fair price for an India made Encore? Worst case scenario: neck's busted and I'll end up with a set of tuners, decent P-Bass body and set of nice PU's for project at a fair price, right?

[Immo]

...aaand bought it. I got a good feeling about this bass

[Greggo]

My first bass was a red Encore from 90s and I've started to miss it despite not owning it now for 13 years!

Was a great bass for tracking recordings as the tone just seemed to sit perfectly in the mix.

Been getting all nostalgic listening to tracks I recorded with it and realising despite owning "better" basses I've never had a better recorded bass tone. Even with my Yamaha BB414, can't quite get the same sound even though it has a p pickup.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Greggo

[Gust0o]

Wow, that brings back memories!

My first bass was something like that exact model - a 90s Encore P-bass; made out of dark matter or depleted uranium, it was a heavy thing!

[dlloyd]

[quote name='stu_g' timestamp='1384980130' post='2283147']
Ive had a few of the indian encores i believe there solid wood also the sunn p bass is the same bass made in india also
[/quote]

I believe they were made in the same factory. Fender bought Sunn in 1987 and discontinued the instruments within a few years, probably due to the fact they already had a line at the same price point (Squier Affinity). I've played a couple of them... weren't horrendous... a good project bass perhaps.

[Killer Kadoogan]

I have an Encore bass from the early '90's. It is P/J style (i.e. has Precision style split-coil and Jazz pick-ups) in sunburst. I have no idea what model name or number it is, as there is nothing to indicate it. Never got much use as I had the intention to learn to play, and it just never happened. I am now starting again, but am rocking a Jack Casady, which I much prefer.

I do need to get rid of it but I have no idea how much to ask for it. Had a look on the net to get an idea, but have never managed to find anything about such a bass from Encore.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='Killer Kadoogan' timestamp='1385946953' post='2294049']
I have an Encore bass from the early '90's. It is P/J style (i.e. has Precision style split-coil and Jazz pick-ups) in sunburst. I have no idea what model name or number it is, as there is nothing to indicate it. Never got much use as I had the intention to learn to play, and it just never happened. I am now starting again, but am rocking a Jack Casady, which I much prefer.

I do need to get rid of it but I have no idea how much to ask for it. Had a look on the net to get an idea, but have never managed to find anything about such a bass from Encore.
[/quote]

A photo might help, but you may not manage to pin it down to a specific model... not many people would have paid enough attention to them to be able to remember details like that. They were a budget range sold in Argos... not the sort of thing that people get that enthusiastic about. That's not to say it's a bad instrument.

In any case you're not going to get much for it. £20 to £40 is a reasonable price, depending on condition. You might get more if there's a case or an amp included. It might be worth advertising it for £50 on the for sale boards at your local supermaket.

[Immo]

Mine came through. Quite heavy. Not the best state, neck's a bit bent and strings are rusty, the same goes with all screws. But, damn, I pulled the bass apart and found beautiful wood grain in the neck cavity and overall quality of the wood (despite some streaks of darker wood on the rear of neck, maple is really nice). Tuners need better washers and pots are quite lousy and loose. But otherwise, the bass will be a great asset for a nice project I have in mind.

Not really sure what wood the body is made of. It has those tiny elongated "pores" and looks more like a mahogany or rosewood than ash.
Will start a new Project Thread about this baby.

[dlloyd]

I've read that Indian Sunn Mustangs are Black Limba/Korina. Don't know how true that is, but it would account for the weight.

[Killer Kadoogan]

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1385989410' post='2294321']
A photo might help, but you may not manage to pin it down to a specific model... not many people would have paid enough attention to them to be able to remember details like that. They were a budget range sold in Argos... not the sort of thing that people get that enthusiastic about. That's not to say it's a bad instrument.

In any case you're not going to get much for it. £20 to £40 is a reasonable price, depending on condition. You might get more if there's a case or an amp included. It might be worth advertising it for £50 on the for sale boards at your local supermaket.
[/quote]

Sorry, didn't have photos when I first posted, but have a couple now.






As I mentioned before I can't find any reference to a P/J Encore bass anywhere. I agree it is probably worth very little, given the budget brand. It was purchased from a proper music shop rather than somewhere like Argos. Can't recall exactly what I paid, but around £130-150 I believe. Given some new strings and a clean-up it's probably not the worst instrument around, but it's not something I'm ever going to play these days. Might just end up dropping it into Cash Converters just to get rid of it. No amp to bundle with it, and only a very basic soft case.

[Immo]

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1386002650' post='2294503']
I've read that Indian Sunn Mustangs are Black Limba/Korina. Don't know how true that is, but it would account for the weight.
[/quote]
Here's the wood grain in neck cavity of my Encore P-Bass, not sure what is it: