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Proaxe?

D

DrPete

Jun 7, 2008
38
0
Adelaide, South Australia
#1
I stopped at a local pawn store and found this bass. The ticket price on it was $250. When I played it I found it really comfortable with a slick neck but on plugging it in, it was dead. The salesman was pushing me really hard to buy it and I said it was dead and when I knocked on the neck there was a rattle which I told him was coz the neck was cracked. I told him there was no way I would buy a piece of crap for such a price & it was onlt good for turning into a wall clock. As I was leaving the store he ran after me and said "If you want to take it off my hands, it's yours for $50. I reluctantly bought it, took it home and soldered up the dislodged input wire and tightened the rattling machine head ;).
This thing plays beautifully & has great tones from the mystery PJ pups, although the pots could do with changing, they only seem to make a change in tone for about 1/8th of their turn. I was going to use it as a backup but think it might become a daily player lol. The frets have no sign of wear & I got the action super low!
The only identifying markings on it is 'Proaxe' on the body. All I can find anywhere on the net is that Kramer released a range of Proaxe guitars back in the early 90's. Anyone know anything else or seen these around before? It's probably a cheapie knockoff but I really don't care because it plays so well.
proaxe_zps16018b19.jpg
 
#7
nukes_da_bass said:
Good man- got a good deal on a BROKEN axe and fixed it.

Jeez, whats wrong with you people? If the store owner is too daft to check electronics he DESERVED to get instant karma for his greed ($250.00 for a bass that has zero signal? Yeah right!).
Click to expand...

Have to agree with this here. He was out to scam you and pushing you into buying it, lucky for you you where one step ahead of him and had knowledge on how to do the repairs. So call it what what you will, however if you did not buy it someone probably would of and not been so lucky with a good turn out to the story.
 
#8
I doubt he decided to drop the price by 80% based on one customers' opinion. I really think he paid 25 for it, figured $250 was a reasonable price he hoped someone would pay, and then let it go for $50 and doubled his money.
 
#9
I wasn't planning on scamming or lying. The second hand & new market for here in Australia is ridiculously over priced. I didnt know what was wrong with the electronics as I didnt have a screw driver to take off the rear cover. As for the neck, well that was all me but he could've let me walk out the door, I didn't offer any amount.
BTW does anyone have an idea of the origins of this brand? Looks nothing like the Kramers I've seen.
I'm going to paint it seafoam green or purple & chuck in some Dimarzio's I have from another bass of mine.
 
#16
DrPete said:
I stopped at a local pawn store and found this bass. The ticket price on it was $250. When I played it I found it really comfortable with a slick neck but on plugging it in, it was dead. The salesman was pushing me really hard to buy it and I said it was dead and when I knocked on the neck there was a rattle which I told him was coz the neck was cracked. I told him there was no way I would buy a piece of crap for such a price & it was onlt good for turning into a wall clock. As I was leaving the store he ran after me and said "If you want to take it off my hands, it's yours for $50. I reluctantly bought it, took it home and soldered up the dislodged input wire and tightened the rattling machine head ;).
This thing plays beautifully & has great tones from the mystery PJ pups, although the pots could do with changing, they only seem to make a change in tone for about 1/8th of their turn. I was going to use it as a backup but think it might become a daily player lol. The frets have no sign of wear & I got the action super low!
The only identifying markings on it is 'Proaxe' on the body. All I can find anywhere on the net is that Kramer released a range of Proaxe guitars back in the early 90's. Anyone know anything else or seen these around before? It's probably a cheapie knockoff but I really don't care because it plays so well.
View attachment 2117258
Click to expand...
 
#17
I know this reply is late - but after several attempts over the years, I've finally found an instrument similar to my 'bargain(?)' - yours!
You're lucky! Several years ago, while killing time in SE Queensland I went into a Cash Converters & saw a 5 string Proaxe bass - with the 3rd fret missing & 3 strings on it - for $90! After I couldn't find what I was originally in the store for, I bought the caseless bass on the way out.
There had been a dodgy repair job done where the scarf joint on the neck had been re-glued (with what appeared to be dollops of superglue on the back) - but it was misaligned on the fretboard; where the 3rd fret should have been there appeared to be a ramp between the 2nd & 4th frets! So I bought a fret from a local 2ndhand music shop for $1 and with the help of a friend with a workshop from Hell we carefully planed down the fretboard & glued in the fret. The result was that the new fret was tidier than most of the factory-fitted frets!
But amplified, the bass sounded really bad, so I bought some J-style EMG blade pickups (calculated to cover pole/string alignment discrepancies); since the bass had P/J PUPs, I had to dig out the P cavity - only to discover the body was MDF!
So even with EMG PUPs - the bass still sounded terrible! But...the neck is beautiful - so I'm planning on another body made from Aussie timber; already bought a bridge online. At the moment the output jack is dangling out - long story.
Music Proaxe 5 1.JPG
 

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