NBD '75 Univox Hi-Flyer

[godofthunder59]

I had a phase II Hi-flyer briefly in 1973-1974, my first solid body bass following my Klira and Hofner. By 73 it became clear to me my hollow violin basses weren't cutting it and I needed a solid body bass, trouble was I had zero dollars. I scrapped up 30 bucks and road my bike up to The House of Guitars and bought a used Hi-Flyer, I returned home on my bike with it slung over my shoulder. I
I thought very highly of it then, it sounded good and played fantastic. I didn't have it long but I always remembered it fondly. More importantly it was my first step that would lead me to Thunderbirds. Interestingly I would briefly own a 60s Mosrite in '75 and the Univox compared very favorably.
I've wanted a Hi-Flyer for my early years collection for a long time but other priorities seemed to always pop up. As a present for my recent Bday my dear wife got me this '75 phase III in Sunburst. I always thought these were the best version with the humbucking pickups and upgraded tuners.
I gotta tell you I am really pleased with this bass build quality is very high and it plays and sounds great! I was a bit surprised that my memory of the bass was exceeded by having one in my hands today. Video review coming soon!

 

[P. Aaron]

Very cool. Congrats.

 

[RSBBass]

Nice!
Congratulations

 

[godofthunder59]

As a side note the Wishbone Ash T shirt was in my possession till about 2000 at that point I gave it to my brother in law who wore it into oblivion.

 

[msb]

Those Fliers are surprisingly great.

 

[CletusMarley]

Congrats! Very cool story!

 

[dalkowski]

As a side note the Wishbone Ash T shirt was in my possession till about 2000 at that point I gave it to my brother in law who wore it into oblivion.

My kid does that to the rock tees I bequeath him.
Univox FTW!

 

[covermego]

As a side note the Wishbone Ash T shirt was in my possession till about 2000 at that point I gave it to my brother in law who wore it into oblivion.

Now THAT'S "Front Page News" if I ever read it!!!!
I have a friend that recorded all his Wishbone Ash albums onto cassette...... except they always turned out crappy, the way he did it. We'd cruise all over, listening to these tapes. Only several years later did I purchase the "Front Page News" record....... So that's what it's supposed to sound like! Good times, nonetheless.
Beautiful bass, too !!

 

[Stewie]

My first real bass too. Sold it in 76 for$35. Wish I still had it. Do you have the cheezy cardboard case that came with it?

 

[No Malarky]

Cool Basses. Good post!

 

[Slevage]

Brings back memories.
My first bass was a Hyflier like the OP's black one, except in sunburst.
Those black pickups were in the earlier models. Somewhere in time (I think before 1971),
the headstock logo was a medal, raised badge. My bass had a transfer decal.

I considered buying an old Univox about 10 years ago for $300, for nostalgic reasons.
I couldn't justify the price. My bass was $115 new, with fiber case and state sales tax.

Having owned one, I don't play into the Matsumoku hype.

Entry level basses are so superior these days.
My Squier P5 ($200 used) gets as much play time as my Elrick NJS5.

 

[Bikeguy57]

Where do you guys find these cool old basses?

 

[kobass]

This brings back lots of memories! I had one back in the early 70's (white w/white pg). It was my first "nice" bass.

 

[Mastermold]

Looks like you scored a good one -- congratulations! Looking forward to the video!

 

[tepperware]

A friend of mine has one of these. It's a great instrument!

 

[Engle]

That's great! And cool that you have that pic!

 

[Pauly 4001]

My first real bass too. Sold it in 76 for$35. Wish I still had it. Do you have the cheezy cardboard case that came with it?

It was also my first playable bass and I recall it fondly though not enough to go out and buy another at current prices. Mine was like the original poster's but in black.

 

[Guitalia]

Many years ago I read an Guitar Player magazine interview with Beck (Hansen) and whoever his guitarist was then. The interviewer asked about their guitars, probably expecting namechecks of rare vintage instruments, and was told by Beck, "We play copy guitars!" The other guitarist corrected him: "We play copies of copies!"

I immediately pictured humbucker-equipped Aria and Guyatone copies of Univox Hi-Fliers.

 

[bcbassman]

That's a great story and give your wife credit for finding one in today's marketplace.
Your original looks like it had single coil PUs while the sunburst has humbuckers. Very cool instruments.
Have fun playing it.
I also notice the Univox bass amp in the picture. Those came with Jensen speakers in them and didn't sound bad but really sounded good if you hooked up a Bassman amp to the cabinet. I have one of those cabs in my garage.

 

[Pilgrim]

I had variant of that bass, but it was a third party copy. I've always wanted on e of the Hi-Flyers. I have a 70's Univox hollowbody ("Coily") that's a copy and it's a good bass.