Retro style basses - What do you like about them?

[GretschWretch]

I love 50s/60s retro styling. The only Fender bass that interests me is the Jaguar, which is a retro-style bass that never existed in the 50s but looks like it should have. I own a Rickenbacker, which is a living anachronism of 50s style. Eastwood Guitars make some cool retro style basses, some are reissues of fallen flag brands, and others are new designs in the 50s style. If I were a true TB'r I'd have a huge collection of them by now.

Last year I had the opportunity to buy an original Silvertone bass, I think it was the same model pictured below. I played it for a bit, pored over the details, asked the shop owner about its history and so on. I decided to sleep on it and the next morning decided to pass. It was in great shape, sounded cool, played fine, even still had the often-missing Silvertone badge on the headstock, but it had some things that old cheap instruments had that made me wonder if it would problematic in the future. I thought it would be cool for a collector but not for me. Anything I would use this bass for I can do better with my Ric. Part of me is kicking myself, though.

View attachment 3898263

But early on in the sixties, Teisco offered a loose knock-off of the second-generation P and also a Jaguar bass, years before Fender.

 

[Spectrum]

But early on in the sixties, Teisco offered a loose knock-off of the second-generation P and also a Jaguar bass, years before Fender.

I've seen that TEISCO Jaguar look-alike, somebody on TB either restored or built a replica that is quite cool.

Eastwood also has a TEISCO tribute line that includes at least one bass. I love how TEISCO used rocker switches like you'd find in an auto parts store on some of their instruments.

 

[GretschWretch]

I've seen that TEISCO Jaguar look-alike, somebody on TB either restored or built a replica that is quite cool.

Eastwood also has a TEISCO tribute line that includes at least one bass. I love how TEISCO used rocker switches like you'd find in an auto parts store on some of their instruments.

Yep. With two pickups you get rocker switches.

 

[JimmyM]

I just love how people who don't like a certain style of basses think it's all about being hip and cool and has nothing to do with tones. Whatever.

 

[coy garcia]

I'm Partial to old and new fretless Ampeg style basses. Mojo, Sound, Feel!

 

[Real Soon]

The new Nordstrand Acinonyx is pretty cool ... short scale, sounds great, and not something you’d see every day

In the Workshop: The Birth of Acinonyx

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Literally the first quirky new retro style bass I thought of. Even while I've got a Mustang strapped on me at the moment. heh

That style is reminiscent of a whole range of things from Vox to Eko to Teisco to Mosrite to Hagström and many more instruments or those inspired by those companies, and the Nordy is really more subtle than most of them. A few months ago, had Nordstrand moved their shell pink prototype to production while I was waiting for the Mustang, I very well might have refunded and put my money on an Acinonyx, and since they have pretty different pickup layouts, I would've dealt even with that. This was a shallow move overall, getting a CME-exclusive bass pretty much entirely for the look. Also: foray into shortscale, which I'm enjoying.

Of course, of all the Fenders, the 'stang has, along with the Jaguar, probably the most era-specific retro appeal (next to maybe the Tele style for real traditionalists), so I don't think I betrayed my appreciation of the oddly ol-skool by sticking with it.

 

[Real Soon]

I'm not thrilled with the retro reissues I've tried, they mostly miss the most salient charming details of the originals. Speaking of which, I'd love to have an original oddball orphan or two of the sixties persuasion, (Eko, Hagstrom, Framus come to mind) but the fact that they are mostly priced about ten times what they are worth "as a bass" tends to put the damper on my nostalgic enthusiasm...

Thing is, a lot of these reissues aren't really marketed toward musicians who were around when the originals were being produced. I hate to sound ageist! But I'm personally in what I can tell is the obvious target demographic, and probably on the older side of it myself: retro styling, modern technology and versatility, a nice hint of the original sound, but not a total re-creation as much as an adaptation. These reissues are popular and have been for some years, maybe since the birth of the hipster movement some 15 years ago.

The Mustang PJ on my shoulder right now is a great example. It's got a J pickup and Fender's famously indestructible modern poly finish and originalistic purists will yell that it's not really a Mustang. Cool! But it's shortscale and got a 'stang body and I can get pretty damn close to original tones...and a whole lot of other tones too. And as for the price, we have to consider inflation in that line of argument. EVERYTHING costs 7-10x what it did in 1965.

 

[brianrost]

Is it the look, the tone, the feel, the “mojo”, all of the above?

90% of the appeal is the look, because many of the current "retro" replicas don't have the tone and feel of the originals.

Some examples:

-- The current Supro line have the body shapes but not the electronics and other features that made them unique and quirky.

-- The Gibson/Epi reissues of the EB-0/EB-3 "SG" models use pickups that look like the old "mudbuckers" but don't sound like them.

-- Danelectro has issued a number of models that didn't even exist in the old days, like long scale basses, while not making oddballs like the 15-fret shorthorns.

Etc.

 

[lowendrachel]

Used to love the block in lays.

 

[staurosjohn]

Interesting question... not quite sure why I like (some) Retro looks? I’m 58yo... maybe tryna re-capture my youth?!?

I did just order one of *these*... prolly gonna mod it (as I do with all my basses). Lollipop tuners, split coil pu, etc. (is this Retro?)

 

[Wisebass]

Hi Sascha

There seems to be a Retro style bass renaissance

Somebody said, you can make every bass look retro with cromed bridge cover ashtrays, vintage style

Kluson Clovers or Lollipops and a tort pg.

I said: Every bass?

This is my favorite retro look! fretless is even better!


greetings

Wise(b)ass

 

[msb]

I just love how futuristic has become retro .

 

[msb]

Always loved this shape . It's kinda like a Jazz bass ... but funky .

 

[staurosjohn]

Happened upon this article... Retro Inspired Basses

 

[Jebberz]

I like the retro look for me, Retro means before I was born, but I understand that the definition may vary from each other perspective), but I like some modern feature: hot pickups, satin neck, parallel/series pickup switching. My Short Scale Jag was the perfect platform to acheive this:
- Retro side : Just added ashtray and pickup covers
- Modern side: Redid the electronics (Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounds, pusjh-pull for series/parallel)

 

[msb]

cnltb , I suppose most basses today are retro styled . The early Fender designs were incredibly modern for the day , and even companies like Gibson had some space age offerings . It was the Italian companies the Japanese first began to copy in the mid 60's , and then they began the lawsuit copies of American designs . Now we see a lot of that mid 60's Italian futuristic design in retro looking instruments and we think it looks Japanese . Gibson made some Flying V guitars in the late 50's . They didn't make basses available , so when the Japanese began to make Flying V basses they had to imagine how Gibson might have done it . Later when Gibson decided to finally make a V bass they came up with a different electronic package because they didn't want to copy the Japanese . This dearth of fresh innovative design has been the norm for a long , long time .

 

[msb]

I should add that I am thankful that amp and cabinet design is fresh . Give me a ten pound class D head and a lightweight efficient cab any day of the week ...

 

[mdlewis]

Some of it may be pushback from the predominance -- near tyranny -- of Fender-ish basses, which by now have surpassed ubiquity.

This.

The title of this thread references "Retry style" which I interpret to mean an esthetic (visual) reference. For me it's like some popular songs - there are songs I don't need to hear ever again, because I can hear them in my brain anytime I want to.

I am sooo tired of looking at Fender basses, that I don't need to ever look at one again to crystallize their image. It's not that I don't appreciate them, I'm just bored with the way they look. I still have one left (a P of course) and still enjoy playing it but I've known ever since I bought a Bongo over 10 years ago that my times with Fenders are long gone (and also the Bongo). Some of the retro, and retro-inspired basses bring fresh looks, without compromising on playability or tone to an instrument that really lends itself to visual and sculptural exploration. We're lucky that we play such an instrument, you can't really do this kind of thing with a trumpet, for example. Performance is both an aural and visual activity; fresh looks can really energize an audience and provide relief to weary eyes.

 

[fhm555]

Retro style basses - What do you like about them?

Not much.

 

[Sacha Lévesque]

Happened upon this ‘Retro’ article... Retro Inspired Basses

That’s a gem! Thank you so much for sharing