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Tutmarc audiovox model 736: where are they?

#161
Design,
Great pics I'm with you on the white 736 it was probably modified later, did you notice the serenader is white also.. the cord it kind of a problem unless you want to sit right next to the amp all night....The bridge is interesting since it is nickel plated copper, atleast on my two steels, copper is pretty soft and the notches would be easy to wear in or could of been easily filed.... just a thought since Paul used the same bridge as on the steel on the bridge it says to me he only made a few basses....on a steel the bridge doesn't need to be graduated to be in tune but on the bass it is obvious when you play it it will not intonate properly...Paul had to know this and you would have thought he would have cast a proper one....the bridge on the serenader is different and looks to be slanted to correct for this???.
On the update of the other build I am doing I just received the ebony fingerboard, will have new bridges in a few days made from copper and the copper scratch plate by the weekend. pics soon
I now have a frying pan steel with a copper plate and a model 236 amplifier, just acquired from Seattle......I just rebuilt the amp and can now play the bass through the original amp.....it sounds different than the recording I put up earlier, the G string is more pronounced......as soon as possible I will put up a recording through the 236 amp and one through a modern amp. I will also give steps to building the pickup as I get to that. one issue with the bass is when the string hits the blade on the pickup it makes a metallic pop. you can play it easily or put a little black tape over the blade and eliminate that or lower it....
I spent 3 hours with Gruhn a couple of weeks ago in Nashville and he couldn't remember where the bass he had went to. it was there only as an appraisal and only 1 day...still looking for that one.
thinking of making one more with updated bridge, pickup and volume and tone control so it could be played live on stage with jack on the bottom....youtube worthy then.
Dave W
 
#162
Bflat said:
the bridge on the serenader is different and looks to be slanted to correct for this???.
Click to expand...

Yes, slanting a straight or "stick" bridge can improve intonation. I've found it works well enough for me up to the 12th fret, but higher than that usually requires finer adjustments. Since I rarely go up to the dusty part of the neck on instruments with a slanted straight bridge, it's usually ok for me.
 
#163
Design,
the pic in post 158 has a serenader bass in it even though Bud says it is a 736 bass, look at the way the body is cut and the scratch plate is cut wrong for a 736, Bud has a history of not getting everything exactly correct.
another note in an interview with Bud he says when his father married Bonnie Guitar it shut down his basement operation, so Paul lost interest after a few years of making instruments...
 
#166
Bflat said:
...on a steel the bridge doesn't need to be graduated to be in tune but on the bass it is obvious when you play it it will not intonate properly...Paul had to know this and you would have thought he would have cast a proper one....the bridge on the serenader is different and looks to be slanted to correct for this???.
Click to expand...
This is the only other pic of a Serenader bass i have found so far. The curve of the body may be creating the illusion of a slanted bridge?
 

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#168
Bflat said:
Design,
the pic in post 158 has a serenader bass in it even though Bud says it is a 736 bass, look at the way the body is cut and the scratch plate is cut wrong for a 736, Bud has a history of not getting everything exactly correct...
Click to expand...

Hi Bflat,
The pic in post 158, I think this is a 736. I can't make out the headstock but the rounded lower bout and the scratchplate match the white EMP bass. (See pic attached) The scratchplate on the white EMP is smaller than the walnut Nashville bass, and the pickup is further from the bridge.

P.S. That's great that you now have a 236 amp!
 

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#169
Design,
you could be right but look at the upper bout of the body on post 158 it seems to be cut concave like the Serenader not convex like the 736.... thats the only thing that makes me think it is a Serenader.
Yea the 236 I have is the early one with a 10" speaker and 2 6f6 outputs 1935
 
#170
mongo2 said:
I noticed...what a co-inki-dink...;)

Further up than 12 can be played as a fretless and then intonation is up to the player...clever, eh?
Click to expand...
:eek: Were these guys ahead of their time or what?
I love this thread so much it's not even funny...
First time I can appreciate the differences between the original and the Serenader. Also in this old post (from a thread about Bud's passing):
knuckle_head said:
Paul Tutmarc's bass

Link Removed

Bud Tutmarc's bass

Link Removed
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#173
Bflat said:
Design,
you could be right but look at the upper bout of the body on post 158 it seems to be cut concave like the Serenader not convex like the 736.... thats the only thing that makes me think it is a Serenader.
Click to expand...
I agree. One can also make out the lack of frets past the twelfth. The headstock is a little too indistinct unfortunately.
NINJA EDIT: you beat me to it again, Bflat!
 

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