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Identify this!

E

EvilVOG

Dec 21, 2011
92
0
Brownstown - Detroit
#1
About 15 years ago when my Grandfather passed, we immediately moved my Grandmother out of the Detroit neighborhood they lived in. In clearing out the house my Uncle gave his guitar collection to me. It included 2 guitars and a bass. One of the guitars was a Silvertone 1457, the other took a long time to figure out. I only recently fully nailed it down as a Zim Gar.

And that brings us to the bass, that i have been unable to completely identify. It's stamped Japan on the Neck gasket, i'm not sure if the finish is original, but i have seen other ones (also unidentified) in similar 60's era colors. Measures 23" from Nut to bridge, and has 19 frets. I was told it was sold by Sears.

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#5
Sears sold at least 6 different brands. Most were the same actual manufacturer, but many different brands none the less. The only thing i'm sure of is it's not a Silvertone or Danelectro. They were better at marking their stuff, and alot more prolific. If it were a Silvertone it wouldn't be this hard to ID.

I've been thinking Teisco too, but that's the brand with a dozen different sub-brands like Zim gar, kay, kimberly, Guyatone... Which one? And then trying to put a value on something like this.

Actually sounds pretty good considering. Just wish i could find an E string that works better. Regular E's are just too fat for the tail.
 
#8
It was definitely made in the Tiesco factory. There were a ton of "brands" made their. The fact that it is completely painted makes it hard to ID because most of the Tiesco made basses were in a tobacco or natural stain.

Either way, super short scale bass. I'd love it for sure...
 
#12
You know, this brings up an interesting question. Why can't we get a source in Japan that can identify these manufacturing histories? We have all the information that we need on Gibson and Fender. Someone who is alive in Japan must have some pretty good knowledge on this. Is there anyone still alive over there who worked in any of those Japanese companies? They could probably make a killing on a book deal. Maybe the documentation does not exist, but at least some insider opinions on these things could work as an authoritative resource.
 
#13
I had this bass as a teenager. It was a Zim-Gar. Mine was red, but the bridge, the tail piece and the tuning pegs are unmistakable. Being so short, it had poor sustain, but it also sounded kind of tuba-like. I used it for many years before passing it on to someone else. -Kevin
 

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