PaulKing

Yeah I can't add much to what this lot of fine fellows have already said, just to confirm it's 100% NOT a Kay. I'd guess Czech, early Strunal. But impossible to say for sure. They still make basses that look very similar. Those external linings were put on 1960s Czech basses (like the pre-Strunal Aria Excelsior imported to UK by Boosey & Hawkes - I've got a blonde that looks very similar to yours). Yep that neck has come off at some point but it looks like a decent repair. The grain on the back is very sweet ... nice 'bookmatched' split veneer. Very pretty. As an owner of quite a few 60s East European ply basses over the years, I'd say that looks a good 'un, definitely a keeper. Hope it sounds as nice as it looks. The market seems pretty slow recently, but when times are good you might sell that for over £1k. A dealer would certainly aim a bit higher.

If you must, burn them off with gentle pass of lighter flame... can leave sooty deposits, but if they're small and fine they'll just vaporise leaving a smooth finish.

🙁

How do the 2 Aluminiums compare? I was in half a mind to chase that one just for the kicks but 4 is enough and I'm not sure how much I'd enjoy the sound!

What The Rev said, too.

We need to see a pic of the neck joint. from the side and from the back.

When you get round to changing the strings, don't take them all off at once. Change them one at a time. You won't regret it. (Whereas you will if you take them all off.) Just Google 'my sound post fell' to find out why. I agree that action is stupid high, can only be due to neck shifting, so that is a bit of a concern. You're going to end up with a very stunted bridge ... but you wouldn't be the first so go for it. Which reminds me ... when you decide to take the bridge off you have to ignore the above instruction... damn. So then, lay the bass down on its back and treat it very carefully, and leave it there (preferably with several very heavy books on top) while you're fiddling with the bridge. Just Google 'my sound post fell' to find out why. 🙂 There are plenty of instructions online about how to trim the top of the bridge without changing the curve. You have a proper old school 'Demented Are Go' sticker. Psychobilly kudos. That explains the knackered fingerboard.

What Jack said. An old beater ply bass is gonna do you a lot better, and you can always find one of them for under a grand. Boosey & Hawkes Excelsior or something like that. Scour ebay. Basses don't seem to be selling fast these days so I reckon you can haggle quite well. Markus Feldman has been trying to sell a nice old blonde cutaway on Facebook for a while - he might take a cheeky offer? The only gamble with ebay is you don't know what kind of set up you'll be getting ... but a bridge and new strings will always sort that out (though setting you back an extra couple hundred quid.) Evah Pirazzl slaps are fine strings for rockabilly, unless you're playing really authentic purely acoustic, and want to go for guts or really low tension nylon whackers. But I agree that Gewa wouldn't be top of my choice list (without playing it first). It might sound great, but I think more likely it'll be a bit of a cardboard box sound. Extra wide fingerboard??? WTF

Who remembers this one... it was the official Rockabillybass.com short originally...

I wonder if you need to look at your technique? Of course you might be doing it just fine (if you're following advice from the good old days of Rockabillybass.com you will be ... that's a blast from the past, I was one of the top posters on there!), but it is pretty easy to make a horrible noise if you just pull in the wrong direction. There's quite a knack to getting a clean click. Where do you live?

Lots of possible reasons for that buzz, not all of them string related. I just found the cause of a buzz that had been bugging me for ages. I ruled out the strings on fingerboard after a while, even though it was around the A on the G string that always caused it. Turns out it was just a frequency/resonance issue. The D tuning peg was rattling inside its brackets. Bit of grease and that buzz has gone. Even so, sounds like your probably are string/fingerboard. As Burnsbass said, your string heights aren't high. There are two very different schools of thought for slap, depending on your technique. Typically a super fast psycho- style clicketyclick goes with steels, mag pickup and highly amplified sound with a very low action - lots of click, low acoustic volume. But a more traditional rockabilly thunkety thunk goes with a very high action, and low tension / gut strings. 10-15mm or higher not unusual. Lots more acoustic volume, much more string movement. Your personal preference will be somewhere in between. In short, if a higher action gets rid of the buzz with those low tension strings, give it a try .. it might improve your technique!

Typo! 😁

Didn’t know it was Mick Robson. Aye, bit of acoustic strumming from me too. 2 bits in fact.

Who hasn't drooled over the bass tone, and Herbie Flowers' gorgeous playing, in Walk on the Wild Side. I had a spare afternoon, so set about doing a cover, testing various mics to see how close I could get to matching the tone. Crazy thing is I now can't remember which mic I used in te end, but probably a combo of Golden Age Project ribbon mic a foot from the bridge at a slight angle, and a little AKG condenser up near the fingerboard. Recorded and mixed in Ableton Live. Basses, guitars and saturated-vocals by me (sorry for the vocal...), 'Brushify' midi drum kit played on keyboard. Midi sax is always a bit lame but it'll do for the run out here. I was pretty pleased. Enjoy, or flame me, as you wish!

Underwood piezo DI'd to desk .... not my favourite sound for a recording but I wrestled it into reasonable shape as best I could. Does the job here, tolerably. I'd prefer a more transparent acoustic sound really but that's for studio work. And I still haven't nailed that technique yet, despite a bunch of different microphones. I think part of the problem there is the room I'm using ... box-room with no acoustic damping and a bunch of string instruments hanging off the walls. Ideal!