Anyone got any history on Encores?

[sunday_luthier]

Hello everyone,

I really enjoyed reading this post, as I too have a 90's Indian Encore P-Bass I bought for peanuts at a yard sale about 20 years ago.

I'm a guitar player, and this bass had been collecting dust until a few years ago, when I started taking bass classes.  It's a lot of fun and I now play bass in a covers band.

Anyway, it was a Pearl White finish, just like the picture below, but the body had quite a few scratches and dings.  Nothing serious, but thought it was a bit boring to look at.

I sanded it to find a pretty ugly piece of solid wood, which I finished in Tru Oil.  I find that ugly wood is still prettier than a white plastic finish.  I replaced the pickguard with a grey pearloid, which I quickly grew tired of and briefly put the original white one back on.

I found a Jazz Bass pickup laying around in my parts drawer and decided to install it in the Encore.  New black pickguard, extra knob and voilà :

I love its new mojo !

Oh, and after reading this post, I checked the polarity of the magnets and discovered that they were indeed the same polarity, so I unglued one, flipped it and glued it back on. 

Still has some setup to do and can't wait to play it.

These basses aren't bad.  They're not world class or anything but decent for the money and a perfect base (haha) for modding.

Cheers,

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by sunday_luthier

[hooky_lowdown]

Glad you like your Encore E83. I have two, one red and one black, one strung with flatwounds and the other nickel roundwounds. Both play and sound awesome, even with stock pickups.

The E83's have solid sen ash bodies. There are rumours that the early Encores (1989-90) were made from parts (neck and bodies) rejected by quality control at Fender, so are essentially Fender parts! The factory where the Encores were made also made Squier II and Sunn Mustang guitars and basses - both brands owned by Fender.

[Col the Plunker]

Still have my first bass, yup... you got it,  P bass in pearl white/cream with Fender headstock shape. Got it second hand around yr2000 for £20 from a mate. Sprayed it twice since then, and it's now back to off-white/cream. Sounds and plays silky smooth with flatwounds on. I would really like to know it's age.

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by Col the Plunker
Improve

[hooky_lowdown]

36 minutes ago, Col the Plunker said:

Still have my first bass, yup... you got it,  P bass in pearl white/cream with Fender headstock shape. Got it second hand around yr2000 for £20 from a mate. Sprayed it twice since then, and it's now back to off-white/cream. Sounds and plays silky smooth with flatwounds on. I would really like to know it's age.

 

It's an Encore E83, was produced between 1989-93.

[ambient]

I guess they’ve always happened when someone has done a performance worthy enough to be called back out.

[Col the Plunker]

Thanks Hooky for your reply, so she's just coming into her prime eh?!

I didn't flat down as far as bare wood when respraying, so it's identity remains secret.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Col the Plunker

[stewblack]

Love this thread. It will not rest in peace. 

[Col the Plunker]

On 06/11/2019 at 12:19, sunday_luthier said:

Hello everyone,

I really enjoyed reading this post, as I too have a 90's Indian Encore P-Bass I bought for peanuts at a yard sale about 20 years ago.

I'm a guitar player, and this bass had been collecting dust until a few years ago, when I started taking bass classes.  It's a lot of fun and I now play bass in a covers band.

Anyway, it was a Pearl White finish, just like the picture below, but the body had quite a few scratches and dings.  Nothing serious, but thought it was a bit boring to look at.

I sanded it to find a pretty ugly piece of solid wood, which I finished in Tru Oil.  I find that ugly wood is still prettier than a white plastic finish.  I replaced the pickguard with a grey pearloid, which I quickly grew tired of and briefly put the original white one back on.

I found a Jazz Bass pickup laying around in my parts drawer and decided to install it in the Encore.  New black pickguard, extra knob and voilà :

I love its new mojo !

Oh, and after reading this post, I checked the polarity of the magnets and discovered that they were indeed the same polarity, so I unglued one, flipped it and glued it back on. 

Still has some setup to do and can't wait to play it.

These basses aren't bad.  They're not world class or anything but decent for the money and a perfect base (haha) for modding.

Cheers,

 

Your bare wood finish screams ash. It's not the prettiest wood granted, but incredibly hard and resilient. Ideal for bass as it won't soak up any resonance. (My late Pops was a carpenter, so I learned a few things about different timbers from him).

[hooky_lowdown]

1 hour ago, Col the Plunker said:

Thanks Hooky for your reply, so she's just coming into her prime eh?!

I didn't flat down as far as bare wood when respraying, so it's identity remains secret.

I think yours may be one of the very early ones (1989 or 1990!), You can usually tell by the position of the string tree, if it's before the E in the logo it's early, the later ones were after the E in the logo.

[Col the Plunker]

9 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

I think yours may be one of the very early ones (1989 or 1990!), You can usually tell by the position of the string tree, if it's before the E in the logo it's early, the later ones were after the E in the logo.

Whoah! Thank you my friend. It's great to get precise info on what maybe a vintage instrument. If it helps your judgement further, it sports a 3 ply scratchplate/pickguard which I believe to be original.

[Pea Turgh]

Encore Blaster - any good like the old Encores, or rubbish?