What bass is this???

[HaphAsSard]

pickup under the bridge

Interesting! I wonder how it worked.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Probably not what you wanna hear but in my experience these Eastwood Airline "reissue" basses are overpriced entry level basses with a cool design. It has been a while since I tested one but unless they've radically improved them I can't recommend buying one at that price. They look amazing (if you like that kind of 60s vibe) but the ones I've played were pretty much bottom of the barrel as a musical instrument.

Maybe they've gotten better over the years?

 

[yodedude2]

Right, except you left out Speigel. ward's gave you Airline and sears gave you Danelectro and Harmony under the Silvertone badge. Speigel gave you Kay.

western auto = truetone i.i.r.c.

 

[Element Zero]

That’s clearly the Barf bass.

 

[Cutter8]

That bass would give Jack White a boner. He prob has one in every color. Lol

Every one that I’ve ever gotten has been the same color.

 

[GretschWretch]

western auto = truetone i.i.r.c.

Yes! Yes! I blundered into the same confirmation last night.

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I just KNEW that at one time Western Auto was selling musical instruments.

 

[yodedude2]

ah yes, truetone was kay as silvertone was danelectro. this sort of thing would make a great thread on it's own.

we now return to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[GretschWretch]

Interesting! I wonder how it worked.

I tried to find an image of one of these bridges broken apart but failed. Here is the critter in its habitat.

.

These bridges are stock for both the short-scale Valco-made basses like the Map and the Pocket bass and also the long-scalers like the Taurus and violin bass. The exception is the black violin bass, which uses one of these.

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Contrary to popularly held opinion, these "bridge pickups" are not piezo-electric; they are magnetic. Somehow Valco highjacked a design from the old Aurora Model Motoring slot cars (not the Thunderjets) and doubled down.

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The base of those bass bridges has two coils set in side-by-side. From the bottom of the saddle project two steel pins which fit into the holes in the center of the coil. Pluck the string, the bridge vibrates, the rods activate the coil and, we have signal!

But these bridge pickups do not have the output to function on their own as pickups; they are more like tone controls. They must be used in conjunction with the main pickup.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Contrary to popularly held opinion, these "bridge pickups" are not piezo-electric; they are magnetic.
[...]
The base of those bass bridges has two coils set in side-by-side. From the bottom of the saddle project two steel pins which fit into the holes in the center of the coil. Pluck the string, the bridge vibrates, the rods activate the coil and, we have signal!

But these bridge pickups do not have the output to function on their own as pickups; they are more like tone controls. They must be used in conjunction with the main pickup.

Thanks!
(I did think this would have been a little early for a piezo sighting in the wild, AFAIK.)
Interesting indeed. Cousin to Ampeg's "mystery pickup", in a way.

 

[B-Mac]

I tried to find an image of one of these bridges broken apart but failed. Here is the critter in its habitat.

.

These bridges are stock for both the short-scale Valco-made basses like the Map and the Pocket bass and also the long-scalers like the Taurus and violin bass. The exception is the black violin bass, which uses one of these.

Link Removed

Contrary to popularly held opinion, these "bridge pickups" are not piezo-electric; they are magnetic. Somehow Valco highjacked a design from the old Aurora Model Motoring slot cars (not the Thunderjets) and doubled down.

Link Removed

The base of those bass bridges has two coils set in side-by-side. From the bottom of the saddle project two steel pins which fit into the holes in the center of the coil. Pluck the string, the bridge vibrates, the rods activate the coil and, we have signal!

But these bridge pickups do not have the output to function on their own as pickups; they are more like tone controls. They must be used in conjunction with the main pickup.

Wow!
GW, you never cease to amaze me with your vast knowledge of all things bass!

 

[JIO]

It's an Eastwood. The tailpiece is a generic that you can buy from AliExpress.

The original National and Val-Pro was 25" scale (the Eastwood is 30.5"), and had (as far as I can tell from pics) a different tailpiece, pickup under the bridge, single magnetic pickup, and both thumbrest and tug bar.
View attachment 4793357 (source)

I had one many years ago. It fit in the overhead compartment when I flew with it once. Had a sort-of piezo but magnetic pu in the bridge and sounded like it was made of fiberglass, which it was. A very 'unique' sound.

 

[GretschWretch]

Wow!
GW, you never cease to amaze me with your vast knowledge of all things bass!

The only reason I know about this is because I had/have a defretted one. The bridge "pickup" was dead, so I arranged for Seymour Duncan to do a re-wind, which entailed me removing the pickup, which exposed to me its guts. Once I saw the dual Model Motoring coils, I knew we were not dealing with a piezo. Incidentally, the metal rods descending from the bridge proper into the coils are more properly referred to as "pole-pieces."

Seymour had forgotten I had sent him the pickup, so after two years(!) I inquired about it. He was so mortified he did the job for free.

 

[B-Mac]

The only reason I know about this is because I had/have a defretted one. The bridge "pickup" was dead, so I arranged for Seymour Duncan to do a re-wind, which entailed me removing the pickup, which exposed to me its guts. Once I saw the dual Model Motoring coils, I knew we were not dealing with a piezo. Incidentally, the metal rods descending from the bridge proper into the coils are more properly referred to as "pole-pieces."

Seymour had forgotten I had sent him the pickup, so after two years(!) I inquired about it. He was so mortified he did the job for free.

Free is good!