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Pawn shop find: Is it worth $110?
- Thread starter tubatodd
- Start date
I had a bass with that bridge on it, it was an Epiphone Power Bass, but this isn't one of those for sure. It's a string-thru body bridge, and while that bridge looks pretty good, they do tend to tarnish and rust very quickly. But, for 100 bucks, I would buy it if the neck isn't hosed.
The way the contours are painted I would guess it's got a plywood body. I might still take a chance on it.
I agree, but if the pawn shop is clever like the ones in my area, when they advertise something on Craigslist, they'll often list it for their rock bottom price and leave the much higher price tag on the item. When you go in and make an offer on the Craig's price, they'll say "we're already giving you 50% off the original price."
My opinion on the bass: it may be an obscure boutique luthier's work, but more likely an inexpensive import that's been rebranded somewhere over the years. I like obscure brands though, I'd be happy to have that for $110 if it's serviceable.
- Jan 28, 2009
- 2,929
- 4,152
- Disclosures
- Owner: Moonshine Custom Guitars
I don't mean to be Johnny Raincloud but is it really worth $100? Chances are it's a plywood body (standard on low end basses in the 80's). That style of bridge could be found on several low end basses; Epiphone, Hondo, Cort, Arbor to name a few. When I see that bridge, I immediately think "cheap" (just my opinion, I'm sure others will disagree). The tuners look okay in a Squier kind of way; at least they don't have chrome covers. The pickup looks cool and if it was made in the 80's it may actually be a Schaller, I've seen some of those with four coils under the cover (those had adjustable polepieces, I didn't look at all of the pics), but most likely it's two cheap jazz pickups put together under one cover (not a totally bad thing). the controls & wiring will be junk. That leaves the neck and being a low end bass new, that means the truss rod and the overall construction of the neck will be low end... There's a huge difference between low end instruments made in the 80's & today. I do like the finish though.
That being said, If you like the way it feels, looks & plays... Go for it. If you like it that's all that matters. I still have a St.George T-Bird copy... Plywood, sounds like crap, but I won't ever get rid of it.
Moonshine
That being said, If you like the way it feels, looks & plays... Go for it. If you like it that's all that matters. I still have a St.George T-Bird copy... Plywood, sounds like crap, but I won't ever get rid of it.
Moonshine
That looks pretty sweet [junky old basses are a guilty pleasure of mine]. As others have said - play it. If you like how it plays and sounds - haggle and buy it!
I have a very similar bridge on a really old Encore bass I picked up from eBay, although I swapped the chunky box shaped saddles for barrel types as the edjustment legs on the D and G kept slipping to their lowest point, so the strings just sat flat on the 12th fret. I can still string through the body, though, so it's not a total bust.
Edit - this one:[url]http://www.talkbass.com/threads/keeping-myself-occupied-custom-guard.1048695/[/URL]
The pup really dows look like the Humbuckers Fender have in the Blacktop P-bass and the Modern Player Jazz.
I have a very similar bridge on a really old Encore bass I picked up from eBay, although I swapped the chunky box shaped saddles for barrel types as the edjustment legs on the D and G kept slipping to their lowest point, so the strings just sat flat on the 12th fret. I can still string through the body, though, so it's not a total bust.
Edit - this one:[url]http://www.talkbass.com/threads/keeping-myself-occupied-custom-guard.1048695/[/URL]
The pup really dows look like the Humbuckers Fender have in the Blacktop P-bass and the Modern Player Jazz.
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Rendano appears to be a small wholesale distributor in Cleveland, the kind of place that small mom-and-pop stores work with if they can't get or don't want a deal with one of the bigger distributors.
If the Craigslist ad is correct about the age of the instrument, it might be a house-brand instrument built in Korea by one the manufacturers that were selling into that market back then.
My dad had a teaching studio back in the early 80's, and we used to buy low-end electrics from a couple of similar distributors up here in Canada. There were a few dogs, but there were a lot of great deals, as well. Companies like Samick were trying to establish their own presence separate from the contract work they had been doing for the Japanese manufacturers, and they were loading up cheap guitars and basses with nice hardware, like that bridge. Quality wasn't far off the better Japanese instruments of the time.
The fact that no-one recognizes this brand or model so far, doesn't mean much. The Korean factories used to send a half-dozen prototypes to a prospective buyer back then, so that they could see the quality and negotiate the feature sets that they wanted. Once the details were settled, a batch of instruments would be built, and given the buyer's house brand. Smaller warehouses could buy fairly short runs, and the prototypes would often be sold off at bargain prices, as well.
The only thing, is that I don't remember anyone doing a double-wide Jazz pickup like that back in the 1980's. I think that it's likely that the instrument is much newer than that. Lacquered brass bridge saddles and pickup screws can pit and corrode pretty quickly if the player has acidic perspiration, so the "beauty marks" aren't an accurate indicator of the age of the instrument.
If it's Indonesian out of Cortech, it could still be a nice bass, but if it's Chinese, I'd probably steer clear of it. I see that VJ Rendano is currently selling Galveston and Morgan Monroe, which suggests that they are purchasing out of China these days.
If the Craigslist ad is correct about the age of the instrument, it might be a house-brand instrument built in Korea by one the manufacturers that were selling into that market back then.
My dad had a teaching studio back in the early 80's, and we used to buy low-end electrics from a couple of similar distributors up here in Canada. There were a few dogs, but there were a lot of great deals, as well. Companies like Samick were trying to establish their own presence separate from the contract work they had been doing for the Japanese manufacturers, and they were loading up cheap guitars and basses with nice hardware, like that bridge. Quality wasn't far off the better Japanese instruments of the time.
The fact that no-one recognizes this brand or model so far, doesn't mean much. The Korean factories used to send a half-dozen prototypes to a prospective buyer back then, so that they could see the quality and negotiate the feature sets that they wanted. Once the details were settled, a batch of instruments would be built, and given the buyer's house brand. Smaller warehouses could buy fairly short runs, and the prototypes would often be sold off at bargain prices, as well.
The only thing, is that I don't remember anyone doing a double-wide Jazz pickup like that back in the 1980's. I think that it's likely that the instrument is much newer than that. Lacquered brass bridge saddles and pickup screws can pit and corrode pretty quickly if the player has acidic perspiration, so the "beauty marks" aren't an accurate indicator of the age of the instrument.
If it's Indonesian out of Cortech, it could still be a nice bass, but if it's Chinese, I'd probably steer clear of it. I see that VJ Rendano is currently selling Galveston and Morgan Monroe, which suggests that they are purchasing out of China these days.
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On second thoughts, it could be a Frankenstein bass, in which case the pickup could be out of almost anything, maybe even a Precision Deluxe or one of the other Humbucker-equipped Fenders.
The string tree does not look cheap. The tuners do not look cheap. String through body with ferrules does not suggest cheap. And that same bridge comes on Daion basses, which are some VERY well made top-shelf instruments.
Try to be the first customer through the door. Many pawn shops operate under a superstition that it's a good omen if they sell to the first customer of the day. Make a reasonable offer and see what happens. It's worked for me.
I agree with others, barring any deal-breaker issues that would require heroic measures to correct, I'd scoop it up. It looks like one of those low-price-point basses that just happen to be well-made from good stuff. That skunk stripe maple FB neck looks solid in the pictures, but only one way to tell. Good luck.
I will stop by and see what shape it is in. I will only get it if I think I can make it playable with minimal investment of $$. But don't mind spending some time setting it up and getting it clean. My main goal for this thread was to see if anyone has seen one of these before and if so to gauge whether this is a "OMG GET IT NOW" or a "OMG STAY AWAY" or "looks like fun." Looks like this is a "looks like fun" type of find.
Looks like a solid color burst, which wouldn't make sense that they would paint the contours to cover plywood lams. Just a not-so-purdy burst job...maybe the finishers were just used to doing them that way. Not to say it's not plywood, just making an observation. The dead giveaway for plywood would be the weight, plywood bodies are usually bricks.
Buy it. I have a 1980 VJ Rendano Fretless that I love (pic attached). These are essentially Hondos, made in Japan. The neck on it is fantastic, on the bridge saddles are big brass blocks. Unless they used inferior brass (LOL), I wouldn't cosider it cheap. It's quite good, and the tuners are, too. replaced the crappy original pickup with a NOS Schaller/DiMarzio from the original Kramer factory I picked up on Ebay for $15. I don't think the body is plywood, but it's probably more than 2-piece. If $110 is your budget, this is an easy choice over Squier.
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Thank you for the pic and your input. I hope this one is a solid player. The craigslist add says it is in good shape, but I won't know for sure until I get there.
Assuming the bass is playable, I'd likely want to replace the electronics with clean new stuff. Where could I find a cheap replacement for that humbucker with the dog ears?
