IDENTIFICATION on secondhand bass (Pictures included)

[Smollfaces]

Picked up a banged up old bass. Seller had a note saying vintage on the post, not sure if he meant the brand or if its an old bass. It has no branding on it other than a serial number (K3656) which I have searched for but nothing has come up. Any ideas? 

[AndyTravis]

Vintage (JHS) est96

earlier model. Possibly 90’s:

[Deedee]

I concur. Body and bridge certainly Vintage brand, it's only the pickup that I'm not familiar with as the later Vintage models more closely resembled the MM pole pieces etc.

[AndyTravis]

2 minutes ago, Deedee said:

I concur. Body and bridge certainly Vintage brand, it's only the pickup that I'm not familiar with as the later Vintage models more closely resembled the MM pole pieces etc.

That dual J is often seen on Tanglewood MM copies of a similar era too.

The Tanglewoods had a fuller body shape and more MM headstock, but were very similar.

[jrixn1]

Funny, I was just browsing the Gardiner Houlgate auction (https://guitar-auctions.co.uk/catalogue-preview-10th-11th-june-2020/), which is tomorrow morning, and they have one in there, lot 85:

 

[AndyTravis]

For reference - Tanglewood or similar age.

[Deedee]

9 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

Funny, I was just browsing the Gardiner Houlgate auction (https://guitar-auctions.co.uk/catalogue-preview-10th-11th-june-2020/), which is tomorrow morning, and they have one in there, lot 85:

 

That's another half hour of my life I'll spend looking at things I don't need but want, in this case a Hofner Commitee and a MIJ 51 P 🙄

[Smollfaces]

Thanks for replies. Any opinions on what the build quality is like? I bought it to replace an old encore p bass which might be nicer I don't know 

[Geek99]

5 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

Vintage (JHS) est96

earlier model. Possibly 90’s:

Very early - mine is 2004 and this looks “primitive” compared to mine and the modern version - mine has the MM pickup and is fatter at the body and headstock 

good bass though 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Geek99

[hooky_lowdown]

1 hour ago, Smollfaces said:

Thanks for replies. Any opinions on what the build quality is like? I bought it to replace an old encore p bass which might be nicer I don't know 

The bass is a "Vintage" brand from the 90s. The Vintage brand is a subsidiary of Encore, same brand, made in same factories, just different logo on the headstock, so quality-wise is identical to an old Encore. I had an old Encore which had the same style serial number at the bottom of the neck, like yours.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I've had a few bits of Vintage gear over the years and I've always found them to be superb. They punch well above their weight in terms of quality / cost. Especially the stuff with Wilkinson hardware. Which imho is 95 percent as good as anything out there, at a tenth of the cost. 

I'm currently having massive sellers remorse over selling my Vintage Les Paul guitar. I shouldn't have let it go, but I figured as I was never going to be a guitarist I may as well put the money into bass gear. Now I'm getting into recording and I need a guitar again. 😩

[AndyTravis]

With a good clean and a setup, that will be a nice bass.

I was always impressed by the EST96, wasn’t as big fan when they changed the headstock to the shape of a trampled donut.

[hooky_lowdown]

Something of note with the Vintage MM's is that if it has three knobs it's passive, if it has four knobs it's active. The OPs is passive. 👍

[Smollfaces]

9 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

Something of note with the Vintage MM's is that if it has three knobs it's passive, if it has four knobs it's active. The OPs is passive. 👍

Nicely noticed, what does that mean to me? 

[Smollfaces]

14 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I've had a few bits of Vintage gear over the years and I've always found them to be superb. They punch well above their weight in terms of quality / cost. Especially the stuff with Wilkinson hardware. Which imho is 95 percent as good as anything out there, at a tenth of the cost. 

I'm currently having massive sellers remorse over selling my Vintage Les Paul guitar. I shouldn't have let it go, but I figured as I was never going to be a guitarist I may as well put the money into bass gear. Now I'm getting into recording and I need a guitar again. 😩

Reckon it was a pretty good purchase afir £30 then? 

[Newfoundfreedom]

6 hours ago, Smollfaces said:

Reckon it was a pretty good purchase afir £30 then? 

An absolute steal. 

[hooky_lowdown]

9 hours ago, Smollfaces said:

Nicely noticed, what does that mean to me? 

An active bass you need to add a small battery in order for the bass to make a sound through an amp. A passive bass (like yours) you just plug into an amp (no battery) and it plays.