Estate Auction Basses

[lucyfur]

These 2 basses are coming up at an estate auction near me. I have no idea what brand the semi-hollow is. As for the Jazz bass, does it look like it could be ‘65 or ‘66? It appears it has the bound fretboard with dots, and lollipop tuners. It’s not available to inspect until the day of the auction. The photos aren’t the best but any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Lo-E]

I think the dots/binding combination was only around from late ‘65 to early ’66 but I could be off by a few months. I can’t remember exactly.

The hollow bass appears to be a very heavily modified Guild.

 

[Blues Bass 2]

60's Guild Starfire II . Great pickups and great bass if in decent shape . Yes , heavily modified .

 

[mikeswals]

There was NO binding in 65. It showed up by Feb 66. And with dots its an early 66. It looks complete....I would highly recommend being interested in this.

The brown bass, is an old modded one, not the least bit interesting.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I’ll dissent on the hollowbody. The headstock looks like a Musima from East Germany however that appears to be a Guild bridge and possibly some version of Darkstar pickups which, if correct, makes the pickups worth something.

Musima Hollow Body Bass | Reverb

 

[lucyfur]

Thanks for all of the comments. After looking at the picture of the Jazz body it looks like it’s missing the tugbar, and the screws holding the control plate look larger than they should, at least the one closest to the pickup.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

I’d guess ‘66 on the Jazz. I think the butter bean tuners tie it to that year. I don’t know if there was an early start or spill over that would have those tuners show up on a ‘65 or ‘67. There’s always a chance the tuners were changed, but I can’t see any evidence of that.

 

[Dust2Dust]

That Jazz is pretty sweet looking

Good luck!

 

[2F/2F]

I’d guess ‘66 on the Jazz. I think the butter bean tuners tie it to that year. I don’t know if there was an early start or spill over that would have those tuners show up on a ‘65 or ‘67. There’s always a chance the tuners were changed, but I can’t see any evidence of that.

Lollipop tuners. Butterbeans are thicker, ovoid guitar tuners.

 

[Dynacord]

There was NO binding in 65. It showed up by Feb 66. And with dots its an early 66. It looks complete....I would highly recommend being interested in this.

The brown bass, is an old modded one, not the least bit interesting.

I've seen JAN 66 neck stamps both bound and unbound.

 

[Dynacord]

Lollipop tuners. Butterbeans are thicker, ovoid guitar tuners.

I have heard them called that in the past as well. "Lollipops" has become the standard - when I worked in a repair shop and vintage shop in the early 90's it seemed most common to call them egg keys or oval tuners. Perhaps regional in that pre-internet time.

Anyway, they showed up in later '65 on Jazz Basses and could be seen as late as '68. The later ones often being on Tele or P basses.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

With limited opportunity to examine instruments at auctions I’m personally a little gun shy bidding on them.

I once dropped out of play at an estate sale on a 1953 Martin 000-18 when George Gruhn raised me. I wanted the guitar to keep, he to resell & could easily fetch top dollar in his store even if he drove the bid up.

 

[Kal-El]

The hollow body is almost surely a Guild. The tatty Guild label is a strong clue. The Hagstrom Bisonic pickups and and bridge further support this. This may be a sleeper worth looking at. Good luck at the auction

 

[SulzerType2]

That Starfire might be a cheap way to land two original Hagstrom Bisonics, so keep an eye on it!

I'm not sure why you would reshape the headstock. The veneers shrank on Starfire headstocks over time, but this appears to be reshaped, refinished and with a new trussrod cover.

 

[Leigh Semmens]

GO to the Auction, set yourself a limit on what you are prepared to pay and don't exceed it. You may end up with the bargain of the century, or someone might end up with an overpriced piece of history.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

Please be sure to report back on how it went and if you win, is it what you expected. I'm sure I'm not the only one interested. Good luck.

 

[Eilif]

That Starfire might be a cheap way to land two original Hagstrom Bisonics, so keep an eye on it!

I'm not sure why you would reshape the headstock. The veneers shrank on Starfire headstocks over time, but this appears to be reshaped, refinished and with a new trussrod cover.

Looks like someone tried to "Alembic-ize" their Guild. The headstock shape, lighting bolt decal (on Alembic it would be rotated 90 and a pearl inlay, I've only seen this in a couple instruments in this case it's probably a grateful Dead tribute), big plate with added electronics, etc. are all Alembic elements that might have been done to the early Starfire's they'd mod. Except Alembic would do a better job.

I'd still be very interested to see what the electronics package is. I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain this is not Alembic work.

 

[Wilmingtonian]

Bring a mini amp or something, "inspect" won't mean they'll have anything to plug in and hear that it at least makes a sound. I say good luck to our TB comrade, but word about these things tend to get out and draw buyers who always seem to have more money and more stomach than most in the world of no-guarantee, no-return estate sales. Bargains are hard to make real anymore.

 

[BobKos]

I will share a couple thoughts.

I have been to car auctions where the general public was allowed in. In those auctions the people who knew only a little bit about cars drove prices through the roof. I literally laughed at what some of the junk was selling for. So - my advice there is to echo Leigh's advice above and don't get caught up in the bidding.

I have been to many estate sales. Many sale companies really push the vintage / collectable angle. Remember that the basses in question may have been total dogs in the previous owner's possession. That didn't magically change when that person died. Judge each bass carefully and set real limits on what you will spend. You will not likely have the opportunity to thoroughly examine the vintage integrity of the Jazz Bass (pot codes / neck markings / etc) in the auction environment. As such it is a HUGE gamble whether it is authentic or not. I think there are more 1965 & 1966 Jazz basses in circulation now than were actually built during those years.

Good luck on your adventure.

 

[Luther]

It would be helpful if you could provide the date, time and address of the sale.