Whackiest mass-produced basses?

[JIO]

60's - 70's Maton El Toro bass

View attachment 5418027

That's a cool take on the Dano longhorn

 

[JIO]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the Gibson Thunderbird for this thread! Here's why it's wacky:
1) The reverse body shape that's an ergonomic nightmare
2) The overly long headstock
3) The 3 point bridge that makes intonation and setups a nightmare
4) No strap peg on the upper horn (because it doesn't exist in the first place!)
5) Neck dive

Sez' the man with a Ric in his avatar...

 

[MrAB4003]

Sez' the man with a Ric in his avatar...

At least my Rics don't have any of the Thunderbird attributes I brought up!

 

[JIO]

At least my Rics don't have any of the Thunderbird attributes I brought up!

Contentious discussions about T-birds & Ric's and those who love/dis them can only lead to thread cancelation. Best to let sleeping dogs lie brother...

 

[MrAB4003]

Contentious discussions about T-birds & Ric's and those who love/dis them can only lead to thread cancelation. Best to let sleeping dogs lie brother...

I totally agree with you! No hard feelings here.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Not a 100% sure it’s mass produced but still can’t figure out how to use the B string from fret 14 and up on this :

Do you normally play with your hand around the top of the fretboard?

 

[Gervais Cote]

Do you normally play with your hand around the top of the fretboard?

In fact no but it’s more about the look than anything else. I usually prefer skinny necks and this one looks awkward to me.

 

[Herrick]

I don't own one, so I couldn't tell you, but it looks to me like they would be wound the same way as the E and A tuners.

It looks like there's very little room to stick the string end into the tuner.

 

[mongo2]

Guild X-701

They also produced the X-702 with the same body shape but two pickups.

Also the Guild Ashbory...

I have a trio of Guild Ashbory's from the '80s, one has a single digit serial number and was made without fingerboard binding.

 

[maturanesa]

Ovation Magnum. It seems Ovation take the concept "active preamp" too literal in the 80s

 

[maturanesa]

 

[Andy R]

Not a 100% sure it’s mass produced but still can’t figure out how to use the B string from fret 14 and up on this :

Just the same way as on any five string bass?

 

[Gervais Cote]

Just the same way as on any five string bass?

True, in fact, it’s more about the look than anything else.
I’m a fan of long skinny necks.

 

[Giffro]

A Couple more Maton Basses circa 1960's

1959-60 Vintage MATON BIG BEN Bass

60's Baroque Bass

A bit of TB info on the Baroque bass. I'm sure @JIO may find this interesting.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/maton-baroque-tuner-replacement.1508630/

 

[MARVIN MECKLER]

Washburn B80 with Stephen's Extended Cutaway:

Btw...who the heII is Stephen???

 

[ajkula66]

They also produced the X-702 with the same body shape but two pickups.

I owned a Guild X-702 a few years ago. Phenomenal instrument. However, I would disagree with the notion that these were mass-produced since the total of 235 X-series basses (X-701 and 702 combined) was built in 1982/83.

 

[mongo2]

I owned a Guild X-702 a few years ago. Phenomenal instrument. However, I would disagree with the notion that these were mass-produced since the total of 235 X-series basses (X-701 and 702 combined) was built in 1982/83.

I posted the X-701 photo in response to a previous poster in this thread who stated they couldn't find a picture of one. I don't really care if it was mass produced or not.

 

[BassAgent]

Pretty surprised nobody has named the Torzal.

 

[SJLee]

Brute bass.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Pretty surprised nobody has named the Torzal.

I thought about it but suddenly got a torticolis !