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Cool 60's basses (OTHER than main-stream brands)

#181
JIO said:
Really cool :cool: - thanks for posting! I've seen a couple local bass players playing one including this 90's band -

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Persephone's Bees was a terrific band! Tom Ayers (the guitar player) has been a friend for something like 40 years. Tom was THE guitar player in the Monterey area from the late 70's through the 90's. Incredibly creative and original talent and great guy. He actually owns that Silvertone in the video. He and Angelina are in NY now.
I played mine some with Dave Workman at The Saloon in North Beach (local references...) That Bone Buzzer is amazing! Never seen one before.
 
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#184
Dynacord said:
Persephone's Bees was a terrific band! Tom Ayers (the guitar player) has been a friend for something like 40 years. Tom was THE guitar player in the Monterey area from the late 70's through the 90's. Incredibly creative and original talent and great guy. He actually owns that Silvertone in the video. He and Angelina are in NY now.
I played mine some with Dave Workman at The Saloon in North Beach (local references...) That Bone Buzzer is amazing! Never seen one before.
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I had a feeling you knew someone in that band - they have a couple of fun vids with animation on youtube. (good songs too!) I'm surprised you were unaware of the Bone Buzzer - I can imagine one must have passed through Real Guitars at some point while you were there. I saw pics and kept an eye on ones for sale until this local (Fremont) one came up for a good price. The guy I bought it from ran a (car) paint store jointly owned by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's son. It was fun talking with him when I drove to get it. It took a little work to bring it into playing condition, and I replaced the gold knobs with what I feel are much more aesthetically conducive ones. NVBD - '68 Custom Kraft Hollowbody - I also have a new retro (Teiscobird) build going in the Luthiers Corner if interested.

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#187
JIO said:
So, there may be various threads that bump up against this one but here's what I'd like to more specifically do here.

What I'd like to do is start the ball rolling to create a reference library of sorts that covers non-mainstream brands . So not Fender, Gibson, Ric, Gretsch, Guild, Vox, etc. They can be from various parts of the globe like Japan, Germany, the US, Russia, England or Italy with an emphasis on the electric guitar/bass boom that went into high gear once the Ventures and Beatles inspired young people to learn to play electric guitar. ('62-'64) Basses that were created in the late 50's can be posted but I want to avoid the 70's as many non-mainstream brands started becoming mainstream then and started making direct copies of Fenders etc moving away from more unique designs, which is what I'm hoping for here.

Here's a few examples to set the visual tone for this thread - please feel free to post basses that fit within the overview I've laid out. Pics can be of basses from your own collection or culled from an on-line/book source.

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St George - Japan
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Silvertone - Japan
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Egmond - Canada
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Coral - (Dano) US
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Framus - Germany
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Meazzi - Italy
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Teisco - Japan
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Guyatone - Japan
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Teisco (Baritone) - Japan
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JUST sold one of those Framus'es. strato de luxe I think it was called. Skinniest neck you could possibly imagine. Pine, and so soft you could nick it with your fingernail. All stock, 69' model with a weird shaped headstock. Actually kinda regret it.
 
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#188
H K said:
JUST sold one of those Framus'es. strato de luxe I think it was called. Skinniest neck you could possibly imagine. Pine, and so soft you could nick it with your fingernail. All stock, 69' model with a weird shaped headstock. Actually kinda regret it.
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Did you find the neck to be skinny in width, but actually a little rounder (“broomstick”) overall?

I notice that with my old Hagstroms and I’m a fan. Quite like the old Framus styles too but I’ve never tried one.
 
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#189
Nerve said:
Did you find the neck to be skinny in width, but actually a little rounder (“broomstick”) overall?

I notice that with my old Hagstroms and I’m a fan. Quite like the old Framus styles too but I’ve never tried one.
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Yes, extremely narrow, and round. It was allright to play. No WOW for me personally. But to each his own. Bought it drunk last summer, for about 350$. When I sobered up and saw what I had bought I felt kinda dumb. Just a scratching from it when I plugged it in.
But turned out to be a decent purchase. Sold it for 3x what I paid. Actually, now that I think about it, all the basses I have bought drunk have paid off in one way or another.. Hmm.

Anyway, I own a few hagstroms too. I like them A LOT. Re-issue first gen 8str and the swede. Swede is one of the most amazing instruments I've ever held. Can't believe they get so little love. Hands down my best shortscale. And all the options for tone, sheeeesh!
 
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#191
H K said:
Yes, extremely narrow, and round. It was allright to play. No WOW for me personally. But to each his own. Bought it drunk last summer, for about 350$. When I sobered up and saw what I had bought I felt kinda dumb. Just a scratching from it when I plugged it in.
But turned out to be a decent purchase. Sold it for 3x what I paid. Actually, now that I think about it, all the basses I have bought drunk have paid off in one way or another.. Hmm.

Anyway, I own a few hagstroms too. I like them A LOT. Re-issue first gen 8str and the swede. Swede is one of the most amazing instruments I've ever held. Can't believe they get so little love. Hands down my best shortscale. And all the options for tone, sheeeesh!
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Man, at that price you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. For the price of a good night out you got a sweet bass. Was going to make a crack about making more decisions while drinking but I should probably stay out of that realm. Not that I'm one to talk.

I absolutely love my Hagstrom HIIB. Sonic blue. Ridiculously comfortable neck. One knob. All those (dodgy) switches. Under 7lb. It's incredible. I strung it with Chromes, which I generally find too metallic sounding but work so well on this bass. My theory is Chromes are good with vintage pickups. Modern, not so much.

I've wanted to get my hands on a Swede for a long, long time. They seem to be heavy but every tone clip I hear is amazing. Is your Swede original or a reissue? I almost bought a RI but I wasn't sure if I should hold out for an original.
 
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#193
Nerve said:
Man, at that price you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. For the price of a good night out you got a sweet bass. Was going to make a crack about making more decisions while drinking but I should probably stay out of that realm. Not that I'm one to talk.

I absolutely love my Hagstrom HIIB. Sonic blue. Ridiculously comfortable neck. One knob. All those (dodgy) switches. Under 7lb. It's incredible. I strung it with Chromes, which I generally find too metallic sounding but work so well on this bass. My theory is Chromes are good with vintage pickups. Modern, not so much.

I've wanted to get my hands on a Swede for a long, long time. They seem to be heavy but every tone clip I hear is amazing. I assume you mean the original Swedes and not the reissues?
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Reissue. Still absolutely amazing tho. I know some people say they're shoddy, but I dont get that at all. Mines quality craftsmanship all the way
 
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#194
H K said:
Reissue. Still absolutely amazing tho. I know some people say they're shoddy, but I dont get that at all. Mines quality craftsmanship all the way
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I actually just edited my comment to clarify. I think the reissues unfairly get a bad wrap too. Both originals and reissues sound great. Almost pulled the trigger on a reissue but chickened out to hold out for an original.
 
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#195
All this talk of vintage basses.. I've been wanting a PROPER telecaster bass for a while. Got my hands on one of the VM squiers, but wasnt too impressed. Looking through options I came across this gem:
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Jolana Iris. USSR/Czech brand IIRC. Absolutely TERRIBLE from what I've read. Apparently you can talk into the pickups and they'll pick it up. Look pretty sweet tho. I kinda want one just to mess around with live with a shitload of distortion. And I'm a sucker for those bird-bead knobs.
 
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#196
H K said:
All this talk of vintage basses.. I've been wanting a PROPER telecaster bass for a while. Got my hands on one of the VM squiers, but wasnt too impressed. Looking through options I came across this gem:View attachment 4583226 View attachment 4583227
Jolana Iris. USSR/Czech brand IIRC. Absolutely TERRIBLE from what I've read. Apparently you can talk into the pickups and they'll pick it up. Look pretty sweet tho. I kinda want one just to mess around with live with a poopieload of distortion.
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Jolana is such a bloody tease. They look so good but I've heard the same things about their quality. If this bass was good, even just playable, I would rock that with a brassmaster any day.
 
#199
Nerve said:
Love it! Maton is Australian, isn't it? As in Maton Fyrebyrd, one of the coolest looking instruments ever?

And much like the Hagstrom Swede it has a rotary knob. Why don't we see more of those these days?
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Yep, Australian. Unfortunately they never did a bass version of the Fyrbyrd - I think the Ibis is the coolest bass they've done. It's an oddball with 35" scale and super punchy tone.
 
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