The boss (wife) was hitting yard sales yesterday. She came home with this find to surprise me. Why because it looked good & was $20! (She has no clue what my basses cost.)
Carlos Robelli Short Scale natural finish bass.
Yeah, I know Sam Ash special, my question is what can I do with it?
Go fretless? Mod it? Make a lamp out of it? Let the ideas flow!
Cool! Looks to be in great shape! How is the neck, fretwork, playability, etc? My very first guitar is a Carlo Robelli and I have a soft spot for the brand. I'm sure they've been made in different factories all over the world, and at all different quality/price points.
If its plays great and sounds great... rock it as is! If it plays great but you find the pickups/electronics lacking, I'd drop a Delano MM bucker or something in it, along with a fancy pants preamp just for poops 'n giggles. If it doesn't play great, I'd figure out why and decide if it's something I think is worth addressing or not. If it's not worth it, I'd sell/trade it on for something else. Bet it could get $50 on FB marketplace to someone who has a fetish for fixing up junkers.
I'm of the opinion that I actually WOULDN'T donate a poorly-playing instrument to a school or beginning player. I feel like a bad instrument actually puts beginners off from engaging with it. If something had mile-high action or can't produce clean notes, it's no fun to play and not rewarding... even painful to play if it's extreme. Anyone else ever been cut to bleeding by sharp fret ends? (I have!) If it ends up being a fair player but just not inspiring to you personally, then in that case absolutely yes, I'd donate. My wife is actually a music teacher, and we have given instruments to kids whose families could not otherwise afford to do so. It's so awesome!
Just for fun, Carlo - my first guitar:
As I got more guitars and basses and got into modding/learning, etc, I used it to learn soldering pickups, coil taps, etc. Yea, it's a total beater, but I love it. It actually has a GREAT neck and has been just fantastic for over 20 years now. That's an Anderson high output humbucker in the bridge that I got on clearance at Mars Music (remember that place?!) in North Miami Beach for $17 in maybe 1998. Absolute screamer, haha!
. It's got 3 knobs, is it active? Lots of project options, refinish/paint/vinyl wrap, add a pickup in the neck position, add a preamp, cut the head off and add headless tuners, add a MIDI pickup...
