Vintage Encore Bass Identification Help

[Larbacca]

Hi,
I sometimes peruse Shopgoodwill.com to see if anything weird pops up. I usually set a budget of $50-75 to see if I can snag something weird for a project. I found and won this thing...Any idea what it is? I've tried to find info on line but no luck.

 

[UNICORN BASS]

Yep that's gnarly but super cool! Careful with the DNA.

 

[abarson]

Encore guitars – Jedistar
Definitely has the '80s MIJ aesthetic.
Encore guitars with the same logo are being sold by Gear4Music.com, but the bass models (all FSOs) aren't available to the USA. There seem to be many users of them on basschat.co.uk.

 

[Larbacca]

Encore guitars – Jedistar
Definitely has the '80s MIJ aesthetic.
Encore guitars with the same logo are being sold by Gear4Music.com, but the bass models (all FSOs) aren't available to the USA. There seem to be many users of them on basschat.co.uk.

Thanks, I'll post something over there too. It's very odd and I can't find another one online.

 

[GretschWretch]

Encore is a house brand bass. I've got a Jazz Bass with the same headstock label; ditto a Strat, and a Teisco EB with an Encore sticker attached to the upper cutaway. Consider it just one more lawsuit era copy.

These things being said, I have to wonder whether yours is not a homebuilt body with an Encore neck.

 

[Larbacca]

Encore is a house brand bass. I've got a Jazz Bass with the same headstock label; ditto a Strat, and a Teisco EB with an Encore sticker attached to the upper cutaway. Consider it just one more lawsuit era copy.

These things being said, I have to wonder whether yours is not a homebuilt body with an Encore neck.

I thought that was possible, but the layout is interesting for a homemade body. There has to be an easier neck to use for a homemade body too.

 

[GretschWretch]

I thought that was possible, but the layout is interesting for a homemade body. There has to be an easier neck to use for a homemade body too.

If you are referring to the way the pickups bookend each other, that is one of the things that suggested to me "homemade." I've never before seen dual splits, one normal and one reversed.

And we don't know when this bass was made. Might be the Encore neck was the easiest one to lay hands on.

 

[ardgedee]

The body looks a little lopsided, the bridge is crooked and the controls are weirdly clustered together. The body might have come from a factory but I'm guessing it was homemade. The neck isn't going to be easier or harder to fit than any other neck from a Fender or Fender copy, and if the body was homemade the neck was used simply because it was available at the time.

 

[abarson]

If you are referring to the way the pickups bookend each other, that is one of the things that suggested to me "homemade." I've never before seen dual splits, one normal and one reversed.

And we don't know when this bass was made. Might be the Encore neck was the easiest one to lay hands on.

Dual split, one normal one reversed, appeared on some S.D. Curlee basses.

I thought Vantage did as well, but they're not reversed.

 

[devnulljp]

https://jedistar.com/encore/

 

[GretschWretch]

Dual split, one normal one reversed, appeared on some S.D. Curlee basses.
View attachment 4283908
I thought Vantage did as well, but they're not reversed.

Thanks for this. In my stomping grounds Curlees were so obscure as to almost be never seen.

 

[brianrost]

B.C. Rich also used dual Ps on some models, like the Eagle I owned. Some had reversed pickups, some did not.

That's definitely a homemade body. I've never seen an Encore from the 70s and 80s that wasn't a copy of a Fender or Gibson.

 

[abarson]

Thanks for this. In my stomping grounds Curlees were so obscure as to almost be never seen.

I was only looking at the pickup configuration last night, but now I see that the controls, bridge, etc are a match as well. Aside from the extended upper horn, it’s very similar.

 

[Larbacca]

Here's the backside of the bass/body. I'll post when it arrives on Tuesday.

 

[Larbacca]

Update:
I received the bass yesterday. It is in shockingly good shape and it'll be an easy fix to get up and running. A few observations:

1. It's definitely not a homemade body. It's as well made as could be from whatever year and east asian factory this came from. It is a plywood body with a sort of brown veneer on it.

2. The bridge is strange, kind of a hybrid hondo and fender screw configuration. It is straight though. I think the other pictures were taken at a weird angle.

3. The pickups are shot. I have a couple of sets for another project that I will throw in. They were a little weird. Instead of the standard foam cushion, they had two magnets taped together to prop them up.

4. None of the screws have ever been removed. They were all old, rusted, and generally corroded from age. Same for the pickup springs.

5. The neck plate is very straight and tight. The neck has never been removed for any reason. The neck itself has no gaps on either side. The truss rod turns as well.

6. The control cavity looks unmanipulated as well. The pots are the mini kind, very old but very tight wiring. They have not been touched since this thing was put together.

Anyway, still looking for whatever the heck this is.

 

[UNICORN BASS]

Lots of DNA on that one!