BACH BASSES

[Grahambythesea]

Came across these on the web recently, appear to be from Czech Republic but are very cheap, €230 for 5 string in the style of an early precision. http://www.bachmusik.com/en/bach-bpb-60-5-abk_p1783
Anyone tried one ,got one, reviewed one? They also do something that looks like a Ricky Cheyenne and a short scale tele shape bass.

[karlfer]

Been around for a long time. Ask on Rickenfakers on Facebook, a few there have had/got BaCHs.

[Beer of the Bass]

Do they build them in the Czech Republic, or are they getting them made up elsewhere to their spec? Though they would be on the cheap side for European made instruments, which might suggest the latter.

[Bassassin]

Wasn't the T-Bird a custom order through A. N.Other forum? They got a certain number of member to commit to a purchase so Bach got them built, as far as I remember.

I'd be very confident Bachs aren't made in the Czech Republic but from what I've read the quality is very good indeed, considering the price.

Their range isn't quite as exotic as it used to be, but glad they still do the RB - one of the few modern-day Fakers I have GAS for, for the reasons Meddle states.

[Beer of the Bass]

I recall they had some nice looking SG guitars a couple of years ago, but they're not doing them any more. Did Gibson have a word with them? I've noticed that several brands of SG and Les Paul copies have moved to slightly tweaked outlines in the past year or two, which makes me wonder if Henry J has borrowed a leaf from the John Hall playbook...

Edited December 23, 2016 by Beer of the Bass

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1482515165' post='3201259']
I recall they had some nice looking SG guitars a couple of years ago, but they're not doing them any more. Did Gibson have a word with them? I've noticed that several brands of SG and Les Paul copies have moved to slightly tweaked outlines in the past year or two, which makes me wonder if Henry J has borrowed a leaf from the John Hall playbook...
[/quote]

I would have thought it was way too late for that. Gibson designs have been freely copied for so long that if it ever was a registered trademark (which I doubt) it would have long since slipped into the public domain.

The whole deal with so-called "lawsuit" copies in the 70s revolved around Gibson's then parent company challenging the use of the "open book" headstock - and nothing else, which suggests they never claimed ownership of the body designs anyway. They didn't get far challenging PRS over their singlecut, if I recall.

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1482538097' post='3201404']


I would have thought it was way too late for that. Gibson designs have been freely copied for so long that if it ever was a registered trademark (which I doubt) it would have long since slipped into the public domain.

The whole deal with so-called "lawsuit" copies in the 70s revolved around Gibson's then parent company challenging the use of the "open book" headstock - and nothing else, which suggests they never claimed ownership of the body designs anyway. They didn't get far challenging PRS over their singlecut, if I recall.
[/quote]

Doing a bit of googling, it looks like there was some legal interaction between Gibson and JHS/Vintage last year over their SG copies. I haven't waded through the details of it all, and it doesn't look like Gibson actually won, but I can see how that might encourage smaller companies to reconsider whether doing Gibson copies was really worth the bother.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1482540158' post='3201413']
Doing a bit of googling, it looks like there was some legal interaction between Gibson and JHS/Vintage last year over their SG copies. I haven't waded through the details of it all, and it doesn't look like Gibson actually won, but I can see how that might encourage smaller companies to reconsider whether doing Gibson copies was really worth the bother.
[/quote]

That's a fair point - thinking aout it, many of the "post-lawsuit" era MIJ LP derivatives tweaked the body styling, thinking about the likes of the Aria Pro PE series and Ibanez Performers. I think SGs are a bit more of a niche design than LPs, so the prospect of Gibson getting shirty might lead manufacturers to just drop those models, rather than have the hassle.

[Winny Pooh]

I used to have their 55 P style bass. Decent quality but would buy a J & D first nowadays if shopping in that price range.

[Grahambythesea]

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1482449866' post='3200776']
I would be very surprised if they were built in the Czech Republic. They may arrive as finished bodies and necks for final assembly but, as you say, they seem surprisingly cheap for a EU-built product. My Google Fu isn't strong today, but there was a bit of discussion on other forums about those Thunderbird basses at one point. BaCH were also poised to introduce EB-2D/Rivoli copies at both 30'' and 34'' scale lengths at one point, though I'm not sure if this happened. They seem to shy away from Gibson designs entirely, which is a shame as they even copied the Peter Cook Fenderbird designs at one point.
[/quote]It was the EB2 clone in a photo that first lead me to them. I might try an email to them to enquire, as long as it turned out cheaper than a 2nd hand midtown.

[Guest ixlramp]

I had not heard of Bach basses before so was interested to see something new ..
Wow, what a surprise, a line of Fender copies, just what the world is lacking. And an obvious Ibanez SR copy. I wouldn't go anywhere near a brand with this kind of cheap unimaginative lineup of copies, even if the basses are fairly good.

Edited December 27, 2016 by ixlramp

[yorks5stringer]

They do a 5 String 'Telebass' which is not available from Fender/Squier...

[Bassassin]

They also do a R*ck*nb*ck*r 4004-ish 5-string, which I'm confident is also not available from Fender/Squier. Or Rickenbacker. Or anyone else in the world.

I do quite like the fact their Ibanez SR-influenced bass has the same reversed P pickup that the early MIJ SRs had. FWIW Ibanez SRs "borrowed" fairly heavily from Tune's Bass Maniacs & Nanyo's Bass Collections, amongst others, so it's arguable what exactly the Bach could be considered a copy of...

[ahpook]

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1482446807' post='3200756']
The 'Riverboat' bass is the naughty one.
[/quote]

Cheeky name as well, sounds like it but not too much

[markstuk]

Rickenbacher ? :-)

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 22, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Bassassin]

Not seen those before - closer to the 4004 than what they do now.

[solo4652]

I've just emailed them to ask if they could do a short scale Jazz or PJ. The Telecasters look interesting, but no body contours, and you'd have to worry about neck-dive.

[Grahambythesea]

For those who were interested in the Semi Hollow they were rumoured to sell, they still have a few but have been "forbidden to sell them", their words not mine. Sounds like big bully G..son has been having a go. Not sure on what basis, G no longer makes or sells either the EB2 or the Midtown with equal length horns so what are they trying to protect? Many companies make both basses and guitars with bodies based on the 335 shape, it can't be patented. The BaCH semi hollow has long scale but a semi body with a centre block so it's like a hydrid between the EB2 and the Midtown so it's no copy and the headstock is a different shape and has their own logo on it.

However you can buy one as a "project " they don't fit a bridge, you have to do it yourself! There is an alternative, a company on the web called Number One Design Guitars ( which I think are based in Germany) will get one for you, fit the bridge and set it up, but are charging more than double the price from BaCH and loads more for shipping too.

So I've ordered one from BaCH, ordered a 3 point bridge (anyone know how to fit one?) and we'll see how it goes. I'll keep the forum posted.

[blablas]

Number One Design Guitars is the distributor for BaCH in the Netherlands, this distributor is also the author of the Gibson Bass Book. And active here on basschat under the name Basvarken.

[Vinny]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1483009657' post='3204044']
Rickenbacher ? :-)
[/quote]

Is that where Sherlock Holmes died?

[Grahambythesea]

Received a semi acoustic "EB2" lookalike today, really impressed by quality, have a look at my NBD.

[Basvarken]

Guess I'm late to the party.
The semi-acoustic bass that BaCH built was actually the second project I did with them.
The first project was the Non Reverse Thunderbird (aka BaCHbird). I initiated that project about ten years ago. The original NR Tbirds were fetching top dollar over at Ebay and Gibson was not making any moves to reïntroduce them to the market. As a Gibson fan I desperately wanted to have a Non Reverse Thunderbird. So I asked BaCH if they could make one for me. They said they could do it, but I'd have to order a small batch of 25. Now, as much as I love to buy basses, I don't need 25 of them. Let alone 25 the same ;-)
So I asked around on a few bassist discussion boards if there were any other Gibson enthousiasts who would like to join in on this project.
I gave BaCH all the information; drawings, measurements, specifications, photographs. The works. I even suggested they made the bridge a little wider than the original to allow for proper intonation.
And after several months the first prototype was ready. BaCH had f•cked it up. They gave it an Ibanez headstock! So I rejected it. It took another few weeks till they finally got it right.
And the result was stunning. The first batch went to all the friends that had signed up. And soon enough BaCH made a second series. Slightly changing the specs (thinner body, narrower neck).
I didn't make a penny with all this by the way! But my email box kept flooding with requests for a BaCHbird, which I forwarded to BaCH. So after a while, I decided to start selling them. And there came a third, fourth and fifth series. After a couple of years the market for the BaCHbird seemed to be saturated and the sales came to a halt. BaCH quit the production. This was long before Gibson sent them a cease and desist letter. And long before Gibson decided to make a reissue.

Shortly after I started my collaboration with BaCH, I asked them to do a semi acoustic bass. The EB-2 or Rivoli. Just like with the BaCHbird I gave them pictures, measurements, photographs and specifications. And [i]again[/i] BaCH managed to f•ck up! They accidentally made it long scale! And they just couldn't get the bridge right. The hardware manufacturer in Korea that was going to make the bridge went bankrupt. And the entire project came to a grinding halt. The rejected long scale prototype (without bridge) was put in a corner and it stayed there for about two years.
One day I asked them to send the rejected prototype to my address in The Netherlands anyway. I had just completed my first self built bass and I was rather confident about giving it a go to complete the long scale semi acoustic. I installed a Duesenberg two point bridge with separate tailpiece. And I was impressed with the build quality of the bass.
So I asked BaCH to pick up the project. And this time I asked them to not only make the short scale version (like the initial plan), but also to make a long scale version (like the prototype).
BaCH did make a small series of both the short scale and the long scale. But the bridge just never saw the light of day.
So this bass never showed up on their own website. They couldn't sell an incomplete product.
But I did sell quite a few via my own website. And I installed the bridge myself on all of them. On the ones that I sold, I installed a regular three point bridge. And for most of them I cut extra tall nylon bridge saddles. I did this because the angle of the body and neck on some of the semi acoustic basses was rather big. With standard saddles the bridge would have to be raised too high on the bridge posts.
They didn't quit these because Gibson told them to. They quit because they couldn't get the bridge right. All the semi acoustic basses were sold to me (except for the one that Graham bought apparently)
(by the way the center block was a normal feature on the EB-2 and Rivoli).

Another project that I initiated with BaCH was the Fenderbird. After the John Entwistle hybrid Thunderbird/Fender P.
But again BaCH managed to ruin the opportunity. They gave it the wrong colour; Ferarri Red instead of the Salmon Pink / Fiesta Red that I asked for. And more important; they gave it the wrong pickguard.
I refused to buy these basses off them because I was pissed off they had ignored the specs I sent them for the third time in a row. As a result they got stuck with those bases for years. ;-)
Eventually I did sell a few, because people kept asking for them. When the Chinabuckers hit the market I even sold a few upgraded ones.

Another project was the Telecaster bass. I suggested to do a bass with Telecaster body. They made it short scale. Which was rather nice. They still have them.


The BaCHbirds are all sold out. The semi acoustics are almost sold out, The Fenderbirds are sold out.
It was fun while it lasted.

BaCH did quit to make Gibson (guitar) models about two years ago. After they had received a cease and desist letter.
But all my projects with them had stopped way before that happened.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Basvarken

[Basvarken]

About the Riverboat Bass. Those are great bass guitars. Nothing like a Rick though!
Sounds more like an Epiphone Thunderbird.

[Grahambythesea]

Thanks for this info Bassvarken. Perhaps you can clarify where they actually got them made up, the quality seems good, perhaps too good for China.