OMG What did she buy!

[coy garcia]

Take it to @Freekmagnet with a blank zerote fingerboard, grind off original, make it fretless with ebony zero fret, new side markers, horn extention if it's neck heavy...like I did with this 50$ unplayable bass i had stashed for 20yrs. Make it into the bass it always wanted to be . Or donate it

 

[snappy1]

...A student should not have to fight that bass forever.

Noted.

 

[TTPbass1]

I would keep it and treasure it. BTW those are nice basses, give it a chance.

 

[neil|lien]

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!

I love it!!! It looks sweet!
I'll take it!! Can i have it? Pliz??

 

[groooooove]

i don't think that's as bad of a bass as you think.

 

[GKon]

I’d keep it. Looks like a nice bass in nice shape. Try some better pups that drop in.
More than likely made at the same factory a lot of other basses are made with different names on the headstock that get oodles of praise. Give it an honest try after an honest setup. Don’t fall into the headstock snob trap. $20 is pretty incredible regardless of who its made by.

Some peeps here might be able to tell you about it?
Carlo Robelli Club!

@GKon seems to be a real CR enthusiast. Maybe he can fill you in on details of the bass and offer some worthwhile suggestions.

Hey there! Congrats on the new bass.

Don't knock the Carlo Robelli basses till you've set it up and played it! Also, don't be surprised if you're surprised that it has really good electronics!

I've been playing a Carlo Robelli live, and recording with it too, for quite a few years. Sounded great live, has held up to the rigors of years of use, and the sound guys I've recorded with were happily surprised with just how good it sounded through the board. The active electronics on mine (the stock electronics that came with the bass) are exceptionally good.

I now have 5 Robellis (4 string active, 8 string active, 5 string active, 4 string fretless passive, and 4 string acoustic electric). I would be hard pressed to tell you of any flaws I've found, other than the neck of the acoustic electric is a bit thin, so I sometimes pull the G-string down off of the fretboard while playing if I'm not careful.

The electronics and pickups all sound good. After a good clean and setup, I am quite happy with them.

Come on by and check out the Carlo Robelli club.

 

[GreyBeard]

Tell her it is great and do your best to make it playable.

 

[GKon]

And I forgot to mention, Joe Dart did, in fact, play a Carlo Robelli.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Take it to @Freekmagnet with a blank zerote fingerboard, grind off original, make it fretless with ebony zero fret, new side markers, horn extention if it's neck heavy...like I did with this 50$ unplayable bass i had stashed for 20yrs. Make it into the bass it always wanted to be . Or donate itView attachment 5184459

Nice!

 

[BAG]

I like the look.
I'd say live with it for a bit and see if the neck is stable. If so, do some tinkering to make it better than it is.
I bought a dirt cheap Ray copy to learn a few things like routing for a pickup, home refinish etc. The neck turned out to be very stable so I got a fret level done.
I did a refinish, bought cheap Wilkinson tuners and bridge and an even cheaper MM style pickup and I've gotten more compliments on the sound of this than any other bass I've got..... which is a bit sad really.
But it plays really well, sounds great, holds tune forever, and looks decent as long as you don't get to close to it.

 

[B-Mac]

Hey there! Congrats on the new bass.

Don't knock the Carlo Robelli basses till you've set it up and played it! Also, don't be surprised if you're surprised that it has really good electronics!

I've been playing a Carlo Robelli live, and recording with it too, for quite a few years. Sounded great live, has held up to the rigors of years of use, and the sound guys I've recorded with were happily surprised with just how good it sounded through the board. The active electronics on mine (the stock electronics that came with the bass) are exceptionally good.

I now have 5 Robellis (4 string active, 8 string active, 5 string active, 4 string fretless passive, and 4 string acoustic electric). I would be hard pressed to tell you of any flaws I've found, other than the neck of the acoustic electric is a bit thin, so I sometimes pull the G-string down off of the fretboard while playing if I'm not careful.

The electronics and pickups all sound good. After a good clean and setup, I am quite happy with them.

Come on by and check out the Carlo Robelli club.

This should be directed @The Ancient One

 

[kmon]

I like the pickup placement. I’d start by figuring out whether it’s a keeper. Why assume that it’s junk?

 

[Strung_Low]

Its a nice piece of ash Id set it up and put it in rotation

 

[wildman2]

I really like the look of it

 

[Kubicki Fan]

What are you getting your wonderful mate?

 

[The Ancient One]

I forgot to ask the all important question: does your wife have a sister that is single or divorced that is available?

Yeah she does, but I got the pick of the litter and I couldn't stick a fellow TB'er with her sister.

 

[B-Mac]

Yeah she does, but I got the pick of the litter and I couldn't stick a fellow TB'er with her sister.

 

[ebo]

Stick an EBMM decal on the headstock and sell it as an authentic Joe Dart. Oops, I forgot I’m on TB. I thought for a minute I was on reverb.com. TB logic would say add it to the herd, get the wifey something nice, and give her daughter my number.

 

[The Ancient One]

I knew I could count on ya'll. I haven't plugged it in yet. Definitely passive, terrible strings, needs fretwork, sprouts could be razor blades. The strings actually are resting on the first fret.

Guess it's time to learn a lil about doing my own setups.

Rest assured if I donate it or give it to a future bassist it will be playable.

 

[Leigh Semmens]

For $20 she could have done Waaaaaaay worse! You've now got a lovely new toy to play with, if you break it, no real big loss. You wife sounds like a keeper. If you don't want her, send her my way.