I love the horns on them horses. And are those matching headstocks on them cheapies?? Don't understand why more manufacturers can't do that ... especially the ones you pay a lot for *cough*
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$100 Saddle on a $10 Horse? Sure!
- Thread starter dukeorock
- Start date
I love the horns on them horses. And are those matching headstocks on them cheapies?? Don't understand why more manufacturers can't do that ... especially the ones you pay a lot for *cough*
Why not live? I see basses like this on Nashville Roots all the time. And the stock pickup is a copy of a German Hofner. If the bass intonates and stays in tune, I say leave it be.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
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- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
It is a matching headstock...to get that 'upgrade' on many basses soars triple what I paid for my cheapy
I bought a Teisco Tulip bass a while back for my daughter. Like many of them, the neck is just off center, but it's still entirely playable, even possibly gigable. If you're willing to play those 50 year old flat frets (I've never seen one with a crown on the frets), you should stick with the stock tuners and bridge.
Luckily, you have the Better of the bridges found on these basses, this one often is found on them
To make things worse, they were often mis-installed on the basses, you can see this one has been moved back so it could be setup properly.
Your pickup is the humbucker of that time that was often in Hofner copies. The Teisco bass offerings were more often regular foil (gold and regular foils pups both used aluminum screen), as you can see on my daughters bass:
The only thing I did on this bass besides new strings and a setup, was to copper sheild it, and it is now the most hum-free Teisco I've ever played. It did darken the tone a bit, but in with this bass... that is a good thing.
You see crazy prices on eBay and Reverb on these things (one recently sold for over $300), but they're not worth it (even to scavenge the pup). You got yours for a proper price.
If you're really going to gig it, the tuner key tabs are the single biggest point of failure, not tuning problems so much, but I've seen many of the tabs just fall off the shaft (over the years).
Enjoy your cheap horse.
Luckily, you have the Better of the bridges found on these basses, this one often is found on them
To make things worse, they were often mis-installed on the basses, you can see this one has been moved back so it could be setup properly.
Your pickup is the humbucker of that time that was often in Hofner copies. The Teisco bass offerings were more often regular foil (gold and regular foils pups both used aluminum screen), as you can see on my daughters bass:
The only thing I did on this bass besides new strings and a setup, was to copper sheild it, and it is now the most hum-free Teisco I've ever played. It did darken the tone a bit, but in with this bass... that is a good thing.
You see crazy prices on eBay and Reverb on these things (one recently sold for over $300), but they're not worth it (even to scavenge the pup). You got yours for a proper price.
If you're really going to gig it, the tuner key tabs are the single biggest point of failure, not tuning problems so much, but I've seen many of the tabs just fall off the shaft (over the years).
Enjoy your cheap horse.
I would leave it untouched. Unconventional cheap old basses have a cool vibe.
I say go for it..it's all about a good time.
If the truss rod works and if it makes a noise when you play it...then anything is possible.
I'd be all over it.
Have fun and keep us posted.
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I bought my Jet King for £100 as a last stock item. Still, I'm going to soon be spending that much again for new pickups, and I'm intending to upgrade the cheap tuners and possibly get a high mass bridge, so yeah why not.
You love the instrument is all that matters, if you want to spend some money to make it better go for it.
You love the instrument is all that matters, if you want to spend some money to make it better go for it.
If it were mine and as I've done on quite a few older all original instruments, I'd leave it as it is unless there was something wrong. I've used 2 saddle bridges for decades with no serious intonation issues. If the bass sounds decent I'd leave the pickup alone and if the tuners function properly I'd also leave them be.
I guess I fall into the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." and enjoy it for what it is category.
I guess I fall into the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." and enjoy it for what it is category.
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Curtis Novak offers rewinds and replacements for that "Hofner staple" pickup type, haven't tried one (yet), but I'd guess it's as great as everything else he offers. You could give that as much muscle as you want and still keep that vintage vibe.
Mine looks quite similar, I like it - it has a certain something.
That thing is industrial grade from the waist down! Sweet!
That bridge cover is the coolest ever!
yeah!
My mom bought me a Montoya Strat back in like '87 or '88...after I begged and pleaded. It was pretty cool - cream color with pearl blue EVH-style stripes. The biggest Problem was keeping it in tune and the term saddles broke strings like mad...I traded it towards a Cort guitar a couple years later.
No. But I've turned a $300 bass into a $59 bass before.
How about $400+ worth of pickups in a sub-$200 bass?
It did turn out well...
It did turn out well...
How about $400+ worth of pickups in a sub-$200 bass?
It did turn out well...
Does your "T-Jag" sound like a T-Bird?
It did! I had fun remembering the Thunderbird sound when I played it. I used to have a '63 Series II (single pickup) back in the day. I ended up selling this one to Mr. Cataldo, as it was too 'rock' for what I do these days (praise music) and I was wanting to fund another Dingwall bass.
