1979 Odyssey bass (left handed)

[andrew]

I'm cleaning out the closet a bit to raise funds for another bass. This is a very rare lefty bass made by Odyssey, a defunct company from Vancouver BC (not to be confused with the Italian company using the name these days). I've never seen another lefty Odyssey of this type.

Passive bass (controls are vol/vol/tone/tone/pickup selector), neck thru, (I believe) mahogany and maple construction, ebony fingerboard, brass bridge, Bartolini pickups (I think they're called Hi A pickups?).

The good:
This bass sounds huge, with a very clear, piano like tone. Resonant and loud unplugged sound.
This is the closest you'll get to a passive Gibson bass sound in a lefty package.
The bass is a tank. You could chop a man in half with it and it'll still play fine. But don't.

The bad:
The bass is well played and has lots of finish wear, scratches, dings and checking. The pics don't do a good enough job showing the wear, I'll take more picky pictures of the wear asap.
The bass was (of course) played by a righty, so it has the obligatory bottom horn hole for another strap button, and the nut (which is brass) had the G string groove widened to accommodate the E string. i put a bit of paper under the string and it plays without buzzing for me, but obviously it was a quick (lazy) fix on my part and you should get a new nut if you want it 100%, but it plays fine as is.
I don't know the exact weight of the bass, but it is heavy. I'd guess around 10 lbs.
It has a fat neck profile that you'll be fine with if you play P basses, but for guys who regularly play a 1.5" nut width neck (like me) it feels big.
It was not made with side dots, so it has had them dotted on with white paint, on both sides of the neck.

Ultimately this is a very nice bass that has been well played. Not a pristine collector's piece by any means.

I'm asking $950 plus shipping for this bass. The only other two examples of the same model I could find were righty ones, one fretted for $1500 and one fretless for $1400.

More pics here:
http://www.leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1887

[LM Bass]

Nice bass! "Good luck with the sale" bump.

[andrew]

Thanks.

Halloween weekend bump.

[andrew]

I'm open to certain trades plus cash deals for this bass too. I'm mostly interested in effects pedals.

[El Tookay]

For those who don't know, Odyssey Guitars were built in Vancouver (and later in North Vancouver) from 1977 to 1982 by Atilla Balogh and Don Shortt. The basses were very much in the Rickenbacker/ Alembic construction methods of neck-thru construction with body wings laminated. Brass hardware, including a brass block under the bridge, Bartolini Hi-A pickups, Grover Titan tuners and ebony fingerboards were standard. A few rare examples featured carved ash tops and herringbone binding, and even more rare were examples featuring all of the above, but with abalone inlay around the perimeter of the binding.

At one point, Odysseys were all built in the basement of Iron Music (RIP) on Granville St., then later on East 1st in North Vancouver, which became the factory for Larrivee's electrics. In a sad twist of fate, Atilla opened a small shop in the same old Iron Music basement (then a drum store called Drums Only!), and passed away there of an apparent heart attack in the late 1980's.

If somebody is looking for a serious high-end bass that plays great and sounds great, but without the 'mortgage the kids and dog' price tag, Odyssey basses are a steal. Good luck with the sale, Andrew!

[Winston TK]

Bump for a fantastic bass. Odysseys were real practical pieces of art and tone. And, a bump for a fellow Vancouverite!

[andrew]

I'll take reasonable offers on this bass.

[GeneralElectric]

That bass is beautiful. Too bad I'm a righty.

[Mental Octopus]

^same. if it was a right hander we'd be talking. free bump.

[andrew]

Thanks guys.

Last bump of 2010!

[anonymous122511]

Originally Posted by El Tookay

For those who don't know, Odyssey Guitars were built in Vancouver (and later in North Vancouver) from 1977 to 1982 by Atilla Balogh and Don Shortt. The basses were very much in the Rickenbacker/ Alembic construction methods of neck-thru construction with body wings laminated. Brass hardware, including a brass block under the bridge, Bartolini Hi-A pickups, Grover Titan tuners and ebony fingerboards were standard. A few rare examples featured carved ash tops and herringbone binding, and even more rare were examples featuring all of the above, but with abalone inlay around the perimeter of the binding.

At one point, Odysseys were all built in the basement of Iron Music (RIP) on Granville St., then later on East 1st in North Vancouver, which became the factory for Larrivee's electrics. In a sad twist of fate, Atilla opened a small shop in the same old Iron Music basement (then a drum store called Drums Only!), and passed away there of an apparent heart attack in the late 1980's.

If somebody is looking for a serious high-end bass that plays great and sounds great, but without the 'mortgage the kids and dog' price tag, Odyssey basses are a steal. Good luck with the sale, Andrew!

Nice history, thanks. I dated Atilla's niece around 1980 and used to hang out in his shop as much as he'd let me....gave me a couple of HI-A p.ups (kinda to get rid of me i think) I wish I still had. I owned a fretless hollow body of his that is definitely on the "wish I still had" list.

Just to reiterate this is a beautiful hand built instrument that I'm sure sounds great and $950 is an EXTREMELY fair price. If only I were sinister....

[andrew]

Trades I'm interested in:

-Fender Sub-Lime fuzz pedal
-Maxon AD999 delay pedal
-MXR Stereo Chorus pedal
-Juggernaut Rat pedal
-XO Bass Microsynth pedal
-Way Huge Pork Loin pedal

Aguilar AG500
EBS Fafner
Fender Twin Reverb
Roland Jazz Chorus 120H amp head
Tech 21 Landmark 600

Hofner Club Bass (lefty)

+/- cash for the right trade deal of course.
I'll add other trades as I can think of them, I know I'm forgetting something.

[stacker]

FWIW, I had one of these from '79 to around '86. It had the carved top and herringbone binding. It passed through my hands again about ten years back for an appraisal and somebody had hacked the electrics to bits. Shame.

Great basses and have a weekend bump on me.

[andrew]

Bump.

[stacker]

Try sticking her on UK Ebay or Basschat.co.uk - the UK bass guitar players' forum You're bound to get some interest.

[andrew]

Bump.