Soviet Tonika Bass - Exploded (Pic Heavy)

[Bobby B]

Not exactly in the demolition sense, although there is a bit of that too. I bought this ultra cool looking Soviet bass, and it arrived yesterday. To be clear on this, the seller said the neck was warped, and I bought it as a wall decoration and anything beyond that was going to be a bonus.

I unpacked it and the strings were loose for shipping, so I put it in tune, and when I was tuning the G string, I heard a crack noise. Looked it over, and...

to be continued...

 

[Flaked Beans]

You bought it as a wall decoration ??

 

[Nightlyraider]

In Soviet Russia, bass tunes you!

 

[Bobby B]

I played around on it a bit, which was not an easy thing to do, and then exploded it, and by that I mean took it apart and checked it out.

Starting at the top, here is a closeup of the back of the tuning pegs. Note that the threads are VERY uneven. Some are thick and others are thin. They rattle and are loose in the base. (the screws that are missing were there, I just forgot to put them back in before I took this pic.)

It does have a truss rod, but fat lot of good it does. The truss is basically a long screw, and tightening it doesn't really adjust the neck. Plus, it has scary green Communist Mold in there...

The plastic nut does not sit flat on the neck.

 

[grrg63]

Pretty cool, any idea when these were made and for how long?

 

[JimB52]

Is that the bass that brought down the Berlin wall?
Broke up the Soviet Union?
Forced Brezhnev from power?

 

[Bobby B]

I pulled the neck off. First we have the plate. It's thin metal with adhesive on the back that is screwed down over the 2 bolt neck screws.

I'm not sure what this bass is made of, but I'm going to call it "Soviet Lumberwood". It's fairly soft and light.

 

[Bobby B]

The neck is a mess. I can't get a good picture of the bow in it, but basically it's a ski slope with moguls. The frets are popped up and uneven. It's "bound" with thick paint.

 

[Jazz Ad]

Most Tonika/Ural basses have multiply beech necks and birch bodies.
It appears to be the case for this one.
I used to have a Pspiral that while poorly constructed was quite a player with a good deep tone.

 

[Craigster]

and this is the country whos technology had us (USA) worried for 40+ years...I'd be suprized if their nukes could get out of the ground let alone make it across the ocean to America

 

[AltGrendel]

Translation:

Greeting Comrade. You are agreeing that this is fine example of Soviet Workers Tonika Bass Guitar for making the Peoples Music. It has made of the finest qualities of wood that could be found and as was celebrated with much vodka for the cheerfuls musics that are be made during creation of.

You will enjoy playings this fine item which is the envy of the Amerikan Proletariat.

Or Else.

 

[Bobby B]

The pickups are encased in metal. They are very microphonic and are sitting on the pickguard, rather than in the guitar body. The Cheesy Guitar site, which is the catalog of Eastern Bloc guitars and basses, says when they started making them, they didn't actually have a real guitar in possession, but went off photos.

I've seen some rinky dink pups before, but wasn't quite prepared for this...

I thought it really strange the pickups are on the pickguard, because the body actually is routed out. They even coughed some shielding paint, or maybe just matte black paint, in the cavity.

 

[Bobby B]

The pickup selector is 10 position! Not sure what they are all supposed to do. Some of the positions are "off", kinda randomly, so it may not be functioning exactly as intended. It seems that it has the 2 pups either ON or Kinda On or barely on or OFF.

 

[Bobby B]

The electronics are not grounded to the tailpiece. The tailpiece is a bent piece of metal with holes in it.

The strings appear to be from the same set, but they don't all have the same end. The A and D strings are a little rough for flats, while the E and G strings are baby butt smooth.

The E string has a couple of pregnant places.

The bridge is hard vinyl material. The second pic has it sitting on the body of the bass, and you can see it's much higher than the neck. If it were not so high, it would be slightly more playable.

 

[Bobby B]

There is a tailpiece cover that attaches with 4 screws. You must remove it in order to change the strings. The output jack is a 5 pin DIN, but no MIDI. As you can see, you can't set this down while it's plugged in without risking damaging the plug or cord. There is a little damage to the bottom, showing off that Soviet Lumberwood!

 

[DTF]

this was recorded using one of those

YouTube - Korky Buchek Bing Bang song WITH LYRICS!

 

[Aspidites]

and this is the country whos technology had us (USA) worried for 40+ years...I'd be suprized if their nukes could get out of the ground let alone make it across the ocean to America

Never underestimate their military technology.

 

[Bobby B]

And a few stats...

It weighs 7lbs6oz

Neck width at nut - 1 5/8"
Neck thickness at nut - 13/16"
Neck width at 12th fret - 2"
Neck thickness at 12th fret - 1 1/16"

32" scale
47" overall height
22 Frets, or 23 including the 0 Fret

This site has extensive info about Soviet and other Eastern Bloc guitars.
Vintage guitars, basses and effects from the communist Europe

And on this specific bass:
Tonka bass - the first Soviet electric solidbody bass guitar

From that site:
"The legendary Tonika bass is the first Soviet-made electric bass. Made since the end of the sixties together with Tonika guitar - the first Soviet mass - production electric guitar.

This bass belongs to the second generation of Tonika produced at Rostov, Ordjonikidze and Sverdlovsk. The fisrt generation Tonika was made at Luncacharsky Factory of Folk Musical Instruments in Leningrad (St.Petersburg) and was a bit different."

 

[arsie]

Looks like the neck plate is a replacement/replica/imitation. The 3M sticker made me laugh.

No.1 thing I love about it is the binding that runs the length of the fretboard. 2nd thing is the headstock that matches the pickguard (The Kremlin frowns on changing pickguards).

The crack in the neck pocket (2 bolts OMG!) and the ??? style pickups are my concerns. Looks like it can be turned into a real player. The 10 position switch is a good example of the drawbacks of a planned economy. "I am sorry, the 10 position switch was made for the Space Programme, and we have 12,324,562,124 left over, you have to find a way to use 7,423 of them. "

 

[jim777]

Wow, but I LOVE that neckplate. I would have just bought that I love your descriptions of the bits and pieces, I laughed out loud a few times reading this thread. Can't get over that awesome pickup and 2 bolt neck!