I Finally paid for the Escort

[ac100X]

1964 VOX Crucianelli made Escort Bass -
I have owned this bass for about 8 years but I finally bit the bullet and got it fixed. The neck was bowed and adjusting the truss rod could not take it out. So my luthier took off the fret board and installed a new truss rod and two graphite rods to stiffen the neck. When I purchased this bass from a guy in England it was missing the scratch plate and pick up selector switch. After years of looking I found both on E Bay (or Reverb I forget which). Note: All of these basses that I have ever seen have had bowed necks, so I assume the neck design was weak. It sounds surprisingly good kind of like a Hofner.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

That's the only escort you can invest in once and enjoy forever!

 

[JRA]

per the OP: congrats on a neck that works!

 

[ac100X]

That's the only escort you can invest in once and enjoy forever!

It's the only Escort my wife will let me invest in.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Very nice. I have the Japanese Conrad guitar version and the Kay “Red Devil” guitar. I’ve had one of the Japanese made basses that look like that. Should have kept it. I’ve intermittently looked for another bass but they’re more than I usually want to spend.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

I’ve never seen one of these before. What a great looking bass!

 

[Flatwound]

I like it.

 

[ac100X]

Some more photos -
The back story is, back around 1966 my friend and I used go see a movie (that's where the girls are) and we had to wait in line for the Fox Theater. The storefront next to the theater was an athletic supply / music store call Goetz Brothers. I would stand in line waiting for the line to move and in the storefront was a VOX Escort bass same details as this one. I had just started playing bass so I was drooling after this this one. It was there week after week. After about a year it finally sold......... Fast forward to 2016, I see this bass for sale in England on E Bay and the rest is history.

 

[vvvmmm]

Some of the other comments ...s/m/h

I thought the thread would be about a car, me.

Cool bass.

 

[ahbradot]

Clickbait.... I was expecting penthouse forum to help me get a restful night sleep. Oh well....

 

[Heiwa]

Some of the other comments ...s/m/h

I thought the thread would be about a car, me.

Cool bass.

I love the MK.1

 

[Michedelic]

I’ve never had to pay…

 

[Thumpin6string]

So you sent it to an Escort Service?

 

[ac100X]

I’ve never had to pay…

Well maybe yours didn't have a bow in it. Sometimes to fix things, you do what you gotta do.

 

[MarshallAC50Stack]

I thought it was going to be a Vox combo amp, the Escort 50 was the Rose-Morris bass amp.

 

[vistacruiser]

Interesting bass and cool story of acquiring it so many years later! I'm glad it's playable a sounds good too.
What is of particular interest to me is that the hardware on your VOX are the same pieces found on my first bass, which looks nothing like your VOX.
My first is a Tonemaster short scale Bass made in Italy, which was old in '74 when I picked it up. It's not attractive like your Vox but it shares many details and I still have it so pictures are definitely possible.
The pickups, bridge and tailpiece are very similar, if not the same. The way the neck is fitted, the binding, the Amber nut with a zero fret and the black finish on the head stock also. Until now I hadn't seen another bass with all these characteristics. Aside from that the overall style is quite different but I'd expect there is some connection between the two.
Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[Matthijs]

Just saw this on an european auction site. Apparently they were made by Crucianelli, an Italian factory well known for their accordions and also sold as Vox, Imperial and Hagstrom. This one is the Cruciannelli elite.

 

[akukulich]

Very cool. I'm glad it's back in playing condition.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

Escorts Bescorts

 

[Rolling Thunder]