OwMuch?

[NickA]

I understand this is a very rare bass .... but it does look like a really awful bass too.  And being single pickup, why does it have a pickup cover where there is no pickup?  £9000 ?  Really?  Why?

 

Anyone here tempted?

 

https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/epiphone-newport-ebs-6-1962-pre-owned/

[Pea Turgh]

Pretty sure that’s a Basschatters’ bass.  Seen one like it on these pages before.

 

edit

 

Here it is;

 

 

Edited November 10, 2024 by Pea Turgh

[Pea Turgh]

Doh - double post

Edited November 10, 2024 by Pea Turgh

[NickA]

Hmm didn't sell at £8.5k a year ago and now has the bass direct markup. 

 

But that for sale post explains things.  The not-a-pickup-cover is somewhere to stuff some foam ( no-one having invented floating thumb in 1962 😉 ).  Very vintage ( it's as old as me!) and very rare.  Not to my taste is all.

[ajkula66]

2 minutes ago, NickA said:

The not-a-pickup-cover is somewhere to stuff some foam ( no-one having invented floating thumb in 1962 😉 ).  

That's actually a handrest. For folks playing with a pick, or so Gibson/Epiphone thought at the time. It finally disappeared from Kalamazoo-built basses somewhere around 1968 but was an integral part of their bass design for quite some time. 

[NancyJohnson]

I know I have some expensive kit/each to their own etc but you have to wonder who this appeals to as well...it can't be on many people's radar.  Just because it's rare doesn't make it any good.  £9k? 

 

Maybe they're just hoping some deep pocketed punter with a love of vintage kit (ie Noel Gallagher or Joe Bananamassive) might just pop in for it.

[OliverBlackman]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

I know I have some expensive kit/each to their own etc but you have to wonder who this appeals to as well...it can't be on many people's radar.  Just because it's rare doesn't make it any good.  £9k? 

 

Maybe they're just hoping some deep pocketed punter with a love of vintage kit (ie Noel Gallagher or Joe Bananamassive) might just pop in for it.

Collectors like Geddy Lee I guess

[Grahambythesea]

It is a 6 string bass, presumably made to compete with the FenderVI. Never heard of one before and if as it says one of only 17 it is as rare as hens teeth.  There are collectors who like oddities and have deep pockets.

[BigRedX]

If had a spare £9k I'd probably go and try it.

[NickA]

4 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

Just because it's rare doesn't make it any good

Indeed. Many things are rare simply because they aren't any good...ie no-one wanted one.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

"the symmetrical double-cutaway body ensures excellent access to every fret"

 

Not with my hands it wouldn't!

[ajkula66]

1 hour ago, Grahambythesea said:

It is a 6 string bass, presumably made to compete with the FenderVI. Never heard of one before and if as it says one of only 17 it is as rare as hens teeth.  There are collectors who like oddities and have deep pockets.

 

Actually, Gibson was in the 6 string (baritone ?) bass game before Fender, with its EB6 - based on EB-2 - out in 1959, full two years before the Fender Bass VI. The re-design of '61 moved the concept to SG-bodied series of instruments while retaining the same name. Having said that, I never knew that there was a matching Epiphone version, so yeah, these things must be very rare.

[BigRedX]

18 hours ago, ajkula66 said:

Actually, Gibson was in the 6 string (baritone ?) bass game before Fender, with its EB6 - based on EB-2 - out in 1959, full two years before the Fender Bass VI. The re-design of '61 moved the concept to SG-bodied series of instruments while retaining the same name. Having said that, I never knew that there was a matching Epiphone version, so yeah, these things must be very rare.

 

The pickup positioning of both the Gibson EB6 and the Epiphone from the OP suggests they were designed as 6-string basses rather than baritone guitars. There were also similar instruments from Danelectro and Horner around the same time. 

[ajkula66]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

The pickup positioning of both the Gibson EB6 and the Epiphone from the OP suggests they were designed as 6-string basses rather than baritone guitars. There were also similar instruments from Danelectro and Horner around the same time. 

 

Having played Gibson guitars since 1980 and basses since '83 I'm well aware of the design intentions. Some people - not myself - do refer to these as "baritone basses", though. I haven't used the term "guitar" associated with the instrument(s) discussed.

 

My point was that the Gibson/Epiphone concept being discussed here was not an answer to Fender VI, but actually preceded it. No more, no less.