ash

Every John Birch bass I've played has been of top notch build quality and as someone else pointed out of through or fixed neck design. Birch was very interested in the pickups and electrical switching side of guitar design and these look nothing like the pickups Birch made. Elsewhere on this site is a thread about a Birch 8 string bass I just bought off evilBay even though this bass needs total restoration it's evidently far superior to the one in this listing.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/131997420784?_mwBanner=1 Opinions? Looks like a car crash bass to me!

Interesting article here about them .... http://www.joness.com/gr300/G-77.html

...and therefore utterly useless as a bass guitar synth I actually had one a few years back, the weird lead with pins didn't work well but I bought it cheaply off eBay. It played ok and had a massive case with very pink lining. The nicest thing was that it came with 4 packs of LaBella flatwounds that were probably worth more than the bass. I sold it on and kept the strings!

Ah 'the Dalek's handbag' as it was fondly nicknamed ... utterly useless without its foot pedal and controller of course.

Perhaps this model of commerce is why the world is so screwed up I think we all enjoy making a few quid on a deal but the fact that this was bought from a charity and flipped at a gigantic price hike bothered me. That's merely me stating my opinion.

Oh well it appears it went for £585 and now it's being flipped at over double the price.... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291928733547?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's worth about £70 some poor misguided fool is going to be very disappointed

Thanks people I'll do my best and report back on progress!

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1476771617' post='3157014'] Nice one Ash [/quote] Cheers Karl!

Here is a picture of the back and control cavity now it's stripped of parts and the giant back plate. Unlike some JB basses the cavity is quite small.

The chap isn't particularly communicative I did ask about history and that's all he gave me. I think he just wanted rid of it however I doubt it had any celebrity connection. It's beautifully made and sounds pretty good too!

Well the good news is that the electrics all seem to work after a clean and that the truss rod turns and moves the neck. Thanks for your kind words I'll update as things move on - it is a very solid and quite heavy instrument. The chap who I bought it from rescued it from a neighbour - in his words he saved it from the bonfire as the neighbour 'detests rock music and especially Black Sabbath which he believes this guitar make is particularly associated'. It beats the old Uncle's attic story anyhow

I bought it - I may be daft but I love vintage UK gear and have not seen a RB shaped JB 8 string before. I like the idea of rescuing an old bass so I took the gamble. Fortunately there are no cracks or structural damage. The frets need cleaning of course but the trussrod looks ok and the short scale neck is pretty straight too. I can get it refinished and get John Carling of John Birch to look at the electrics. That's the plan anyway