NBD - Columbus P-Bass (and Amp)

[Daz39]

An unexpected and gratuitous NBD arrived yesterday.
Briefly: a friend of my Wife is having their attic converted and this was lurking for many years, unused (unstringed!) up there. So it was FTAGH.

What we have here is a well-worn (or is that high mojo factor?) Columbus P Bass. One of those budget brands from yesteryear.

It's moderately heavy: 9lbs 8oz, at least compared to my Peavey Millennium, and the frets have plenty of wear. The tone and volume knobs have been replaced and don't quite fit (I think the numbers go the wrong way too!, the bridge appears to be non-original, and half the pickguard screws are missing.

This also appears to be one of those with a hidden truss rod access below the neckplate. Once it's adapted to my house I might give it some bend as there is a bit of a choke at Fret 13 on a few strings and further up too.

Playing wise: I cleaned it, strung it with some Rotosound 50-110s, and tried it through the amp it came with: a 10 watt Badger Piccolo (tone and volume, curly lead too!). It sounds ok, so I'll try it through my Yamaha THX amp tonight to compare it properly. Had to lower the pickups as far as they would go as I got the bridge saddles down fairly low in the end and my resting on the pickup plucking was making it pop.

The neck is chunky, D shape, nut width is 42mm as expected, so it is more effort than my Ibanez-style Peavey's neck. Maple fretboard though does sound nice.

If I were to decide to improve it; the heavyweight clover-leaf tuners would go, get some proper P-style knobs, get screws back in the guard and that's probably it.

Overall - about what I expected from a freebie. If it works out ok, my kids can have it as a practise instrument.

[Marc S]

Well, that's a nice freebie
I think these were made in the Matsumoko factory? Someone may know better, of course
Yes, the truss-rod adjustment on these is at the heel of the neck. I think you'll find that's a replacement scratchplate - as I'm sure I've seen this model of bass with a cut-out at the heel, allowing easier adjustment without removing the neck or scratchplate...

An old mate / colleague of mine (and incidentally, the 1st person to show me how to play some bass) used to have a Columbus Jazz. He loved it, and I recall it being rather nice. He bought himself a nice US Jazz, which he also liked. However, I recall him saying that the Columbus was not bad, in comparison, and great quality, given the relatively low cost of it

I'd take a look at adapting that scratchplate (looking again, the shape of it is slightly "out" on the lower horn - so maybe it is a replacement) maybe consider giving access to the truss-rod. Perhaps get those frets dressed, and set the bass up nicely... maybe you'll want to keep it then?

Nice freebie though in any case - very nice

[project_c]

I have an 80s Columbus strat which i got in a junk shop in brighton for £20 about 15 yeas ago. It beats any US Fender by a mile.

Just kidding.. it's pretty bad. I picked it up a while ago and played a couple of chords, and the bridge just kind of collapsed and flew out of the guitar. Also one of the pickups hums so much it's not useable. i'm not much of a guitar player so i can't justify buying a 'proper' one, so i decided to fix it as much as I could, and once I put a new bridge on it and set it up with new strings, it was absolutely fine. Weirdly lots of guitar guys are commenting on how good the front pickup sounds in it, I've had offers to sell the pickup. So with a bit of tlc i'm sure these old cheap instruments can become useable.

Edited May 4, 2017 by project_c

[Cosmo Valdemar]

That takes me back... It's exactly the same as my old school's bass. A much-admired instrument, considering I was learning on an old Eros EB copy at home 😊

[Bassassin]

I've had a whole bunch of Columbuses - FWIW none of them were made by Matsumoku, Fujigen or any of the big "lawsuit" era manufacturers.

Decent, solid midrange stuff for the most part, good necks/frets & OK hardware - definitely wouldn't turn my nose up at a freebie!

[prowla]

My first bass was a Columbus Jazz, bought in an electrical retailer (Laskys?) in the Four Seasons shopping centre in Mansfield in '76; it used to be there in the window next to some fridges & suchlike.

It was a decent bass and certainly a lot better than the Kay, Top Twenty and other rubbish of the day (which seem to be going for hundreds of pounds at the moment!).

I must be having a retro half-hour, as I'm just listening to Force It, by UFO; we used to play Shoot Shoot in the band I was in at the time.

[Geek99]

Isn't the black overspray on the rear upper forearm contour supposed to be to disguise the plywood ? Looks ok to me though

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1494017799' post='3292704']
Isn't the black overspray on the rear upper forearm contour supposed to be to disguise the plywood ? Looks ok to me though
[/quote]

On an old MIJ like this it's more likely to be mahogany butcher-block with front & back veneers. That's what my Columbus Jazz was.

[Marc S]

[quote name='prowla' timestamp='1494006482' post='3292607']
My first bass was a Columbus Jazz, bought in an electrical retailer (Laskys?) in the Four Seasons shopping centre in Mansfield in '76; it used to be there in the window next to some fridges & suchlike.

It was a decent bass and certainly a lot better than the Kay, Top Twenty and other rubbish of the day (which seem to be going for hundreds of pounds at the moment!).

I must be having a retro half-hour, as I'm just listening to Force It, by UFO; we used to play Shoot Shoot in the band I was in at the time.
[/quote]

Ah, I remember Lasky's - what ever happened to them? I bought some of my old hi-fi from them. A Sansui amp, and Mission speakers, which are still both going stong after 30+ years Didn't realise they sold guitars or basses though. Don't think I ever saw such things in the Cardiff branch.

My first bass was a Kay (Rick copy) and it was truly, absolutely, utterly dreadful. My pals Columbus was certainly streets ahead of that - maybe it seemed like a Fender, when you compared it with a Kay