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

[pklima]

In Poland, we didn't make a lot of bass guitars in the 60s. The Defil factory did make three models introduced prior to 1970, though. The first was the Lotos, a sort of Hagstrom Kent copy. That headstock says it was made in the accordion factory in the town of Bydgoszcz.

Then came the Mambo. I might soon be in the market for one - I'm making a virtual version of its 12-string electric guitar equivalent, and if there's interest in that I'll make a virtual version of the matching bass as well. Maybe the weirdest little feature are the green felt spacers under the pickups. This one's from the 1970s but the model was introduced in 1968.

Finally, the Rytm was introduced in 1969. Gibson ES-ish, with an odd headstock.

 

[Dynacord]

In Poland, we didn't make a lot of bass guitars in the 60s. The Defil factory did make three models introduced prior to 1970, though. The first was the Lotos, a sort of Hagstrom Kent copy. That headstock says it was made in the accordion factory in the town of Bydgoszcz.

I know many of the Defils were also made in Lubin (not to be confused with Lublin). I played one of the hollowbody "Mambo" basses and it sounded pretty good - looked good in red, too. Total baseball bat neck much like the old Kay electric basses. With a refret, it could be quite useful, if niche like most hollybodies.

Pozdrawiam!

 

[Mark76]

Sound clips.



[/MEDIA]

Does anyone else think that Warwick might have picked up a few design cues from those old Teisco tulip guitars?

 

[Root 5]

I dig the Harmony H-27. They sound great and have fat, baseball bat necks.

 

[Dynacord]

PS a Defil Mambo in the movie IDA

 

[pklima]

Ha, yeah! Their necks were always like that, all the way through the end - not the best fret jobs, and big chunks of wood. The Mambo basses usually go for a bit under $150 around here if they're in good playable shape - not as cheap as the Defil acoustic guitars, but still a low price compared to what other oddball 60s basses go for globally.

 

[Dynacord]

Ha, yeah! Their necks were always like that, all the way through the end - not the best fret jobs, and big chunks of wood. The Mambo basses usually go for a bit under $150 around here if they're in good playable shape - not as cheap as the Defil acoustic guitars, but still a low price compared to what other oddball 60s basses go for globally.

If you see one in decent shape for around that price, please let me know (I'm in Poland). The guitars were more adventurous - I have two friends who have the Gibson Moderne knock off. Looks really great but horrible necks (the frets on one can easily cut you). But with refret and new electronics could be really cool.

 

[pklima]

Sure, I'll keep you in mind - like I said, I might start looking for one soon, but it would be just to record several gigabytes' worth of samples, and then I'd probably resell the bass. I'd be looking for that specific model to match the guitar I recorded.

The Moderne knockoffs (Kosmos?) were from the 80s, and I've seen 80s Defils with really atrocious fret ends. Great look, though!

Another nice thing about the 60s-70s ones, especially the hollowbodies, was that the nitro lacquer was maybe not quite up to capitalist nitro lacquer application standards, and has checked like crazy on a lot of those instruments. For fans of lacquer checking, these have tons of mojo.

Here's a Defil Lotos in action. Very twangy!

 

[Dynacord]

Yes, the Kosmos. Still PRL era but, yes, 80s.

That could be ideal with a Mambo if you find a good one. I'm in no hurry. I saw one at the local gelda/flea market but it was in too rough shape and someone took a can of silver spray paint to the whole thing (hardware and all).

I was impressed with the tone of the one I tried; on a gig at Free Blue Club in Szczecin. It was just a wall hanger behind the bar but I used it on a couple songs and it sounded really good. Granted, the house amp was great: an Ampeg 8x10 cab and one of the Trace Elliot all tube V8 amp heads - so that likely colored the experience.

 

[pklima]

Yeah, lemme see what I can do on the Mambo front.

In the meantime in another hemisphere, has anybody here gotten their hands on those sci-fi looking Brazilian basses from that era? I remember a pic in the weird basses thread...

 

[JIO]

In Poland, we didn't make a lot of bass guitars in the 60s. The Defil factory did make three models introduced prior to 1970, though. The first was the Lotos, a sort of Hagstrom Kent copy. That headstock says it was made in the accordion factory in the town of Bydgoszcz.
View attachment 3044446 View attachment 3044447 View attachment 3044448 View attachment 3044449

Then came the Mambo. I might soon be in the market for one - I'm making a virtual version of its 12-string electric guitar equivalent, and if there's interest in that I'll make a virtual version of the matching bass as well. Maybe the weirdest little feature are the green felt spacers under the pickups. This one's from the 1970s but the model was introduced in 1968.

View attachment 3044451 View attachment 3044452 View attachment 3044453 View attachment 3044454

Finally, the Rytm was introduced in 1969. Gibson ES-ish, with an odd headstock.

View attachment 3044455

Thanks for weighing in from Poland! (where my gramma was from) The Lotos is pretty cool - and a visual cousin to Hagstrom's. I like the green felt under the pu idea for the connection between the pu on a hollow-body which makes perfect sense. It's more odd that no one else did this.

 

[JIO]

Yeah, lemme see what I can do on the Mambo front.

In the meantime in another hemisphere, has anybody here gotten their hands on those sci-fi looking Brazilian basses from that era? I remember a pic in the weird basses thread...

Oh yes - please do post basses from all corners of the world made in the 60's - I love seeing each countries take on the advent of electric guitars/basses.

 

[JIO]

I almost bought a Yamaha SB several years ago, but chickened out at the eleventh hour.

View attachment 3043390

I had a jones for a later RI like this one and also nearly bought one but as cool as I think they are, I just really didn't need it. It's in my "admire from afar" category. (with the Ibanez Black Eagle and a number of other cool basses I don't really need)

 

[Mark76]

Luthiers in Communist Poland obviously found it easier to obtain photos of actual guitars than their Soviet counterparts

 

[JIO]

Does anyone else think that Warwick might have picked up a few design cues from those old Teisco tulip guitars?

No question -

 

[Mark76]

Here's the Mambo in action

 

[JIO]

This is the bass I based my Gilaxis on - one of my favorite designs of all time -

 

[cdef]

This is the bass I based my Gilaxis on - one of my favorite designs of all time - ...

That design was also re-used in 1963 by Roger, a guitar manufacturer in Neumarkt, GDR. But only one bass seems to have been found:

The headstock was a different style:

 

[JIO]

That design was also re-used in 1963 by Roger, a guitar manufacurer in Neumarkt, GDR. But only one bass seems to have been found:

View attachment 3044742

The headstock was a different style:

View attachment 3044743

Wow! And it looks like the original bridge went missing somewhere along the line.

 

[GretschWretch]

Okay; so what's this one (34 secs. in)? The mix reeks, but there is a good shot of the bass -- early sixties at the latest.