Identify That Bass!!

[GaryTheBassMan]

Hey guys,
So I was walking around a carboot yesterday and got this for £3! lol Its a Kay I believe!! (what it says on the scratch plate!!) Its the thinnest bass in the world though!! literall about an inch thick, just like a plank of wood!! lol

Its pretty screwed and needs all the wiring re-done and a new nut!! but Im really fancying de-fretting it as I think it may make a nice fretless (if a little odd)!! But due to it being so screwed I dont have a clue on its tone so I was wondering if anyone knew on here?

Just wanted to make sure Im not destroying something someone might want before I do anything!! lol

Cheers!!

[waynepunkdude]

Give you £6 for it 100% profit!!!!

[GaryTheBassMan]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='874036' date='Jun 21 2010, 11:36 PM']Give you £6 for it 100% profit!!!![/quote]

haha its pretty "vintage" to say the least!! lol I dont even know if I would feel right selling it for that much!! lol

[Bassassin]

Cheapo Kay starter thing from the early 70s, probably made in Korea or Taiwan or somewhere they hadn't invented the wheel or discovered fire.

Probably has accrued a degree of retroid kitschyness conferred upon it by the passage of time but it's still highly likely that any resemblance to a functioning musical instrument is entirely accidental.

Jon.

[GaryTheBassMan]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='874050' date='Jun 22 2010, 12:04 AM']Cheapo Kay starter thing from the early 70s, probably made in Korea or Taiwan or somewhere they hadn't invented the wheel or discovered fire.

Probably has accrued a degree of retroid kitschyness conferred upon it by the passage of time but it's still highly likely that any resemblance to a functioning musical instrument is entirely accidental.

Jon.[/quote]

Haha I wasn't far off of the actual value of this bass when I bought it then?

Aslong as Its safe to butcher Im all good with it! Im sorta starting like how retro it looks though.....which is odd!!

Never know I may be able to give it some type of function as an instrument again!!

[Bassassin]

[quote name='GaryTheBassMan' post='874053' date='Jun 22 2010, 12:13 AM']Haha I wasn't far off of the actual value of this bass when I bought it then?[/quote]
Well, funnily enough if you were to give it a scrub up & fix the bits & pieces wrong with it, if you bunged it on Ebay claiming it was a Teisco (which I'm fairly sure it's not), chances are someone would cough up £70 - odd quid for it.

Although six quid's a more realistic price!

J.

[Annoying Twit]

There's something fairly similar looking in a "Cash Generator" near me. Except that it's a double pickup six string with a trem. No brand name, but a "Made in Taiwan" sticker on it. Initially I was interested to see something historic in a pawn shop. But, the closer I looked, the more it looked like utter cr*p.

[hillbilly deluxe]

I had one of these in about 1975 ? bought from Woolworths.The tone.........like dropping pebbles into a biscuit tin.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='874144' date='Jun 22 2010, 09:11 AM']The tone.........like dropping pebbles into a biscuit tin.[/quote]
That is poetry. Painting with words.

Unlike the bass.

I'd certainly pay a tenner or thereabouts for something like this, purely to do what I said earlier. Easy money. In fact I have some thing similar (don't get excited, it's just a guitar) in bits in the lab at the moment. All I'm lacking is the intestinal fortitude to actually touch the bloody thing. Guess I just don't need £70 badly enough.

J.

[Dom in Dorset]

The K Tablecaster, cut from an old table top, some still have Formica on them.

[BigRedX]

The owner should have paid you £3.00 to take it off his hands. Unfortunately the cost of disposing of it safely so it can never damage an aspiring bassist again would be considerably more than that...

[Bassassin]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='874206' date='Jun 22 2010, 10:18 AM']The owner should have paid you £3.00 to take it off his hands. Unfortunately the cost of disposing of it safely so it can never damage an aspiring bassist again would be considerably more than that...[/quote]
If push comes to shove I'll take it off his hands & dispose of it - for a small consideration.

I have a lot of experience in handling such hazardous waste and have so far only lost two limbs. It's a small price to pay for the benefit to future generations and society as a whole.

J.

[BigRedX]

You sir, are a true gentleman!

[cheddatom]

My ex had a Kay guitar that was just as thin. I quite liked it really.

[aznbass]

Bargain!

Well done

[GaryTheBassMan]

Hahaha after all this abuse Im starting to feel sorry for the little thing!!

I sorted out the electronics last night, your not wrong about the tone!! For some reason it overdrives through everything if you have it on full tone!! lol The Body really could be cut from the top of the table and the neck......maybe a table leg? lol Im pretty sure the fretboard is painted on too!! lol but I guess thats just....character?

Oh well It will be worth the £3 just to piss around on!! lol

[cetera]

Ah! That's the first bass I ever owned!!! Didn't have it for long as it wasn't great - got an Aria CSB360 which was a lot better

[Dom in Dorset]

At some point in the 80s K made some P bass coppies that were .....good! My first bass was one , they had a Dimarzio Pick up (if memory serves) ,they were set up nicely , fit and finish was good.They weighed a tun! Obviosly made in a different factory and just badged K.I can't remember what happened to mine , but I've met others who've owned them and they have agreed , yes , they were good!

[Bassassin]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='874216' date='Jun 22 2010, 10:29 AM']You sir, are a true gentleman![/quote]
Well, one does what one can. And I should point out they weren't actually [i]my[/i] limbs.

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='874278' date='Jun 22 2010, 11:18 AM']At some point in the 80s K made some P bass coppies that were .....good! My first bass was one , they had a Dimarzio Pick up (if memory serves) ,they were set up nicely , fit and finish was good.They weighed a tun! Obviosly made in a different factory and just badged K.I can't remember what happened to mine , but I've met others who've owned them and they have agreed , yes , they were good![/quote]

Kay was originally a US - made brand & "original" Kays are well-respected now & many can fetch a lot of money. At some point in the 60s/70s it just became a generic low-end importer brand, and the name appeared on stuff like the bass in this thread as well as some halfway-accurate Taiwanese copies. I've had a couple of Taiwanese P copies and they were really solid (literally - like you say they weighed a ton!) and good-sounding basses. The necks were a the only letdown - really thick, made from strip-ply and with pretty rough & ready fret jobs. Still OK though considering the budget build (and Taiwan really wasn't respected for guitar-making in the 70s) and easy enough to make playable. Pups on mine weren't DiMarzios but were punchy & powerful anyway. Here's one I had:

[attachment=52790:body_f.jpg]

A bit later on Kays started being made by Cort in Korea - these were really nice-looking through-neck designs with brass hardware & detailing, & clearly an attempt to move the brand upmarket. There were a few different designs around the same concept but the most common bass was like this:

[attachment=52789:fullfrontal.jpg]

These are really nice basses if you get a good 'un - the main problem with these is an unadjustably high action due to the low fretboard height & fairly chunky bridge. Again, mine was a really great-sounding bass.

J.

[GaryTheBassMan]

Oh man, I wish I had picked up one of those babies for £3!!!! lol

Maybe the next time!!

Edited June 22, 2010 by GaryTheBassMan

[Bassassin]

[quote name='GaryTheBassMan' post='874311' date='Jun 22 2010, 11:54 AM']Oh man, I wish I had picked up one of those babies for £3!!!! lol

Maybe the next time!! [/quote]

Just be patient. I've had a Westone Thunder 1 (guitar) for £9, a 1963 Watkins Rapier for about £12, a Tokai-built Hondo Tele & an early 70s MIJ Gibson 335 copy for £30 for both, and plenty more. Car boots are brilliant.

J.

[GaryTheBassMan]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='874350' date='Jun 22 2010, 12:38 PM']Just be patient. I've had a Westone Thunder 1 (guitar) for £9, a 1963 Watkins Rapier for about £12, a Tokai-built Hondo Tele & an early 70s MIJ Gibson 335 copy for £30 for both, and plenty more. Car boots are brilliant.

J.[/quote]

That is a steal!! Im definitely spending more time in the carboots!!

All I really wanted this for was to practice de-fretting before doing it on the bass I actually want to do it on!! So I think it will hold as it can hurt it if its already that bad!! lol

[LukeFRC]

i pulled the guitar version of this out the skip, identical i bet but they just fit two less tuners!
I tried to give it away to bassassain but he wasn't daft enough to have it!

[spinynorman]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='874350' date='Jun 22 2010, 12:38 PM']Just be patient. I've had a Westone Thunder 1 (guitar) for £9, a 1963 Watkins Rapier for about £12, a Tokai-built Hondo Tele & an early 70s MIJ Gibson 335 copy for £30 for both, and plenty more. Car boots are brilliant.

J.[/quote]

When I was 14 I really wanted a Watkins Rapier, having seen a picture of one in the Selmer catalogue, rather than any informed choice.

I had one of those nice through-neck Korean Kays. Changed the bridge, which would take the skin off your hand in the course of an evening, and the pickups, and then it was a decent bass. It cost me a lot more money indirectly, as it was trying to find out what it was that brought me to bass forums, where I also found out what else I could have.

[stingrayPete1977]

There is a basschatter who reckons he bought a pre EB stingray at a carboot for £60 after knocking the guy down from £100! But seeing some of his other comments this could all be lies.......(Im not going to name names as it will get him going on all sorts of crap again)But if it is true thats a bargain of the century.