(Sold) Vox Escort bass 1960’s

[Blalpher]

Just is this repairable? 

Would also consider selling. But would need to post on basses for sale. Pm me if anyone would be interested in repairing for me/buying as a project. 

Twisted neck

none working electronics

pickup selector knob come off (stored somewhere)

neck very bowed in the way

pickup screws missing

Edited April 11, 2020 by Blalpher
No longer own this

[Christine]

One way or another it's repairable, can you post a picture looking down the neck to show the bow and twist?

[3below]

29 minutes ago, Christine said:

One way or another it's repairable, can you post a picture looking down the neck to show the bow and twist?

This has to be worth repairing, or in the worst possible case scenario, a new neck has to be constructed (made easier with bolt on construction).

Edited August 8, 2019 by 3below

[Stub Mandrel]

Fit only for the bin.

Post it to me and I will recycle it for you 👿

[HowieBass]

I can't see having only two strings on it helping any with a twisted neck problem; if it was mine I'd remove the remaining strings and see how it responds. 

[KiOgon]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Fit only for the bin.

Post it to me and I will recycle it for you 👿

If Stub changes his mind I'll give it a good home 😎

It looks in very good nick apart from the neck, as @HowieBass says take the 2 strings off, take the neck off, leave it maybe weighted on a flat surface and see what happens.

Electrics = no problem 😊

(Did I mention I worked for VOX late 60s/early 70s), them goodoldays 😆

Edited August 8, 2019 by KiOgon
smellin pi55take

[Christine]

7 hours ago, KiOgon said:

(Did I mention I worked for VOX late 60s/early 70s), them goodoldays 😆

Wow, how cool, our singer has a VOX teardrop guitar from those days, I forget the year but it's a nice little thing

[Blalpher]

I actually received this bass without any strings on it. And the neck was twisted to begin with. The strings are detuned to not give tension. @KiOgon thats cool that you worked for Vox, you know more about this bass than I do then 😛 whats its story? Is it worth repairing?

[Christine]

4 minutes ago, Blalpher said:

I actually received this bass without any strings on it. And the neck was twisted to begin with. The strings are detuned to not give tension. @KiOgon thats cool that you worked for Vox, you know more about this bass than I do then 😛 whats its story? Is it worth repairing?

You've got a bunch of drooling bassists here, is it worth repairing? Yes, definitely, look at it, it's gorgeous and a piece of history. I want that bass 🤩

It might be worth putting a set of cheap strings on it and tensioning them, it may well pull the neck straight after a week or two. The twist although not ideal might not be the end of the world as long as the truss rod can still set the neck and there is sufficient bridge adjustment to set the action. Put some strings on it and tune it, then leave it and see what happens, it's lasted 55 years, a few more weeks won't make much of a dent

[KiOgon]

50 minutes ago, Blalpher said:

 @KiOgon thats cool that you worked for Vox, you know more about this bass than I do then 😛 whats its story? Is it worth repairing?

I worked in the Hastings factory, wiring and assembling mostly AC30s with cabs, organs and disco decks. The guitars came in from Erith and were soon out the door again so I'm afraid I can't tell you much about them.

All the guys there were in bands, we had a lot of fun, everything had to be played/tested, amazing how much stuff 'left via the back door' all the bamds were never short of kit 😎

Definitely worth repairing it's a lovely piece of bass history.

@Christine My first bass was a home made copy of the teardrop bass, made by my Dad and me when I was 13/14, after seeing the Rolling Stones using them, long before working at VOX.

[Blalpher]

@Christine @KiOgon

its not going to get repaired where I am, or at least not done well. (Highlands Scotland). Part of me wants to keep it (if it was playable because then I’d actually use it) but if I can’t get it repaired I’d rather sell it to someone who will give it life. 

What you guys thinking? 

[Christine]

1 hour ago, Blalpher said:

@Christine @KiOgon

its not going to get repaired where I am, or at least not done well. (Highlands Scotland). Part of me wants to keep it (if it was playable because then I’d actually use it) but if I can’t get it repaired I’d rather sell it to someone who will give it life. 

What you guys thinking? 

Put a set of strings on it and tune it, then put it away in the case for a month, it may well be fine after that.

Failing that well, there could be a lot of work involved, it's a classic instrument so you don't want to make a new neck unless you absolutely had no choice. Maybe the fretboard could be lifted off and a couple of carbon rods set in with it dead straight, then refit the fretboard. Whether or not it's worth that expense is another thing, VOX basses don't hold the same value as their AC30s which is a shame, they are lovely instruments, especially in that condition.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Blalpher said:

@Christine @KiOgon

its not going to get repaired where I am, or at least not done well. (Highlands Scotland). Part of me wants to keep it (if it was playable because then I’d actually use it) but if I can’t get it repaired I’d rather sell it to someone who will give it life. 

What you guys thinking? 

I may well be interested, I'll be in Dunblane several times between late September-November.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 3, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Dan Dare]

I reckon it might need modification before stringing up to be safe, unless you use VERY light strings. That tail-piece looks to be thin sheet metal, secured by just 2 screws into the face of the body. Even if they're into a block, it doesn't appear very secure. String tension could easily pull them up/out. The tail-piece ought ideally to run over the edge of the instrument and pull against the end of the body. Or am I being too fussy?

Yes, I know bridges on Fenders, etc are screwed into the face of the body, but they use 5 screws.

[3below]

1 hour ago, Dan Dare said:

I reckon it might need modification before stringing up to be safe, unless you use VERY light strings. That tail-piece looks to be thin sheet metal, secured by just 2 screws into the face of the body. Even if they're into a block, it doesn't appear very secure. String tension could easily pull them up/out. The tail-piece ought ideally to run over the edge of the instrument and pull against the end of the body. Or am I being too fussy?

Yes, I know bridges on Fenders, etc are screwed into the face of the body, but they use 5 screws.

You might be worrying unnecessarily  Quick back of 'fag packet' estimations.  Treating the screws as 3mm steel (pretty small?), each one can take about 2000 N in shear (2 Tonnes). So for two screws say 4000 N.  A heavy gauge E string is about 188N tension, say 200N. Four E strings (unlikely) would be 800N. First failure mode: Screw shear.  We have a shear reserve of about 3200N so no danger of shear failure in the screws.  Second failure mode: screws pull out of wood. In the worst case this would be on the same longitudinal axis as the screw.  A 3mm screw with 16mm of thread in the wood has a characteristic pull strength of  370N, two giving 740N. The string pull over the bridge can be estimated (worst case) at 45 degrees, so we have the normal loading (pulling the screws out) at Load Force = 800sin(45) = 622N.  This is well below the 740N (and it is unlikely that a bass is strung with 4 x E strings).  Third failure mode:  direct  shear of the metal pressing / string anchor. Assume the worst case, the string anchor is made from 1mm thick steel plate and the 3mm screws have a contact area of only 1mm2 . Mild steel shear strength is about 345 N / mm2, thus we have about 700N shear force as a possible maximum at 90 degrees (worst case).  At 45 degrees, as calculated previously we have a potential maximum shear force of 622N, this is below the 700N maximum.  All calculations are worst case scenarios, the real situation gives much greater reserves.  The security of the screw / wood interface remains unknown without direct investigation (i.e. the holes are not damaged).  If these are in good condition, I think we are safe, however a tidy non visible upgrade would be insert nuts for the tailpiece screws/bolts.  All in all no need to worry. My G&L L1505 5 stringer (as does everyone's unless they have made the upgrade) had the bridge held on with two puny wood screws. It worked, it terrified me and I thought / think it was a very poor build feature lol.  Guess what I did until recently  If there are mistakes in this analysis I can only apologise and state that the 2015 St Emillion was rather good.

Edited August 9, 2019 by 3below

[Stub Mandrel]

11 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

I reckon it might need modification before stringing up to be safe, unless you use VERY light strings. That tail-piece looks to be thin sheet metal, secured by just 2 screws into the face of the body. Even if they're into a block, it doesn't appear very secure. String tension could easily pull them up/out. The tail-piece ought ideally to run over the edge of the instrument and pull against the end of the body. Or am I being too fussy?

Yes, I know bridges on Fenders, etc are screwed into the face of the body, but they use 5 screws.

I would definitely not modify it - if it worked when new, it will work now. Changing it will just spoil its period appeal.

[Manton Customs]

Regarding the twist -  it wouldn't be game over as it could be removed by a luthier without surgery, but it'd be a reasonable expenditure on a bass which isn't worth that much in the first place (I'm not saying it's not a lovely bass, just not particularly valuable). Selling it with the twist could be difficult, or it would at least bring the price right down. So bit of a catch 22.... but it depends on what your expectations of value are.

 Can we see some pics of the twist looking down the neck?

[Andyjr1515]

It's certainly a very pretty bass.  Difficult to know what kind of value because they clearly don't come up for sale often.  Also, as always, price is what the market will bear. 

From what I can gather, it's the V216 model and it was made in the mid to late 60's for Vox by the Italian makers Crucianelli.  There some info on these two sites

http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/vox/bass/Escort.php

http://www.voxshowroom.com/equipment/guitars.html

Older Vox semi acoustic basses in excellent condition selling in the States seem to be advertised in the $1000 to $2000 range.  However, a serious issue such as a twisted neck would bring that down to $00's and not $000's.  I can't find any recent sales in UK but there maybe some if you spend a few hours on Google.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The electronics & hardware should be straighforward to repair, however the twisty neck could be more challenging. Its a bolt-on so it would probably be more cost effective to swap out the neck if the existing one can't be sorted out and a replacement is available.

Brandoni guitars in Wembley bought up a load of stock including necks when the Eko factory which made Vox guitars in Italy closed down. It would probably be worth getting in touch with them (if they're still around) to ask whether they have anything suitable.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I can't find any recent sales in UK but there maybe some if you spend a few hours on Google.

A  Crucianelli  branded one went recently  sorry it was August 2015 not 2018!, on ebay, first time no bids, second time it went for £215,

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/131570629247?ViewItem=&item=131570629247

Sorry if that's not what you want to hear...

Edited August 10, 2019 by Stub Mandrel

[Manton Customs]

^ yes I sold a similar bass made by EKO (built at the same factory I believe) had the same finish and a lot of the parts as this bass. I got £350 after a long wait and that had no issues. Actually having Vox rather than EKO on the headstock might add a bit (not that it did on the above) and there are a few old reverb ads where people have tried to get £600, but looks like they never managed to. 

[Christine]

I think you're missing the point of it's value, it's not worth much financially but it's value historically is more. It's an Italian made bass that is 55 years old, the fact it is still here is a small miracle let alone in such good condition. It's not an AC30, it's a lesser bass from a time when the buzz was for American instruments. What it might be worth in this condition with a good neck and what someone will pay for it may well be two different numbers, with a bad neck, not a huge amount but still more than with a replacement neck. Just a shame Paul McCartney didn't play one instead of that Hofner.

Remember the neck on this is thin, it has two strings on it, old Gibsons get a twist in them that's caused by the tension in the truss rod, it could well be this. We have no idea what has been done to the truss rod over the years, it may well have been wound up tight.  Until @Blalpher posts a picture down the neck to show the magnitude of the twist/bend then it's all guesswork at best

[Manton Customs]

9 minutes ago, Christine said:

I think you're missing the point of it's value, it's not worth much financially but it's value historically is more. It's an Italian made bass that is 55 years old, the fact it is still here is a small miracle let alone in such good condition. It's not an AC30, it's a lesser bass from a time when the buzz was for American instruments. What it might be worth in this condition with a good neck and what someone will pay for it may well be two different numbers, with a bad neck, not a huge amount but still more than with a replacement neck. Just a shame Paul McCartney didn't play one instead of that Hofner.

Remember the neck on this is thin, it has two strings on it, old Gibsons get a twist in them that's caused by the tension in the truss rod, it could well be this. We have no idea what has been done to the truss rod over the years, it may well have been wound up tight.  Until @Blalpher posts a picture down the neck to show the magnitude of the twist/bend then it's all guesswork at best

Sorry I’m not sure who you’re referring to about missing the point? The OP was talking about selling it, so people were posting potentially useful information regarding that in an effort to help.

I totally agree that it’s a cool bass, well worth preserving and keeping as original as possible. It’d need to be put right in a sensitive way, which is perfectly doable. But the conversation looked like it had moved onto selling it.

[Christine]

2 minutes ago, Manton Customs said:

Sorry I’m not sure who you’re referring to about missing the point? The OP was talking about selling it, so people were posting potentially useful information regarding that in an effort to help.

I totally agree that it’s a cool bass, well worth preserving and keeping as original as possible. It’d need to be put right in a sensitive way, which is perfectly doable. But the conversation looked like it had moved onto selling it.

No one in particular, there seemed to be an idea that it might be a monetary valuable thing, which I think it should be. I think your post hints at it's real value if the neck is good

I have a sneaking suspicion it needs no more than a set of strings, a bit of time and a good set up but that is just a guess