ash Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/131997420784?_mwBanner=1 Opinions? Looks like a car crash bass to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 (edited) [quote name='ash' timestamp='1478637596' post='3170563'] [url="http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/131997420784?_mwBanner=1"]http://m.ebay.co.uk/...784?_mwBanner=1[/url] Opinions? Looks like a car crash bass to me! [/quote] Well adrift of the quality of my 1970s JB EB3 type bass (long since departed from my care). Build quality is not a phrase that springs to mind looking at the pictures. Car crash? more like a train wreck. My £500 will be better used elsewhere. Edited November 8, 2016 by 3below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Lacking (as I do) any knowledge of the formative era of the Birch brand, I wouldn't dismiss it entirely. However if I judge it solely on appearance, it looks like an emulsioned, dessicated and abused bit of Soviet-era Eastern European junk with Letraset on the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatEric Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Oh Really!!!??? Poor old John must be spinning!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 IIRC from the interview in International Musician, Mr Birch had some very strong views on bolt-on necks and none of them were favourable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1478686064' post='3170863'] IIRC from the interview in International Musician, Mr Birch had some very strong views on bolt-on necks and none of them were favourable. [/quote] I suppose it's just about possible that he might have arrived at those views by building a few in his early days, though I have no idea if the bass linked could be one of his. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Love that screw in the neckplate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I still think it's Eastern European, or (at a pinch) 60s Italian. Hardware's weird & unidentifiable, string spacing is that strange narrow, parallel setup that Rickenbackers or early Italian & Soviet-era things always seem to have. Pickups I would say are swapped - their design looks much more recent (80s?) and the strings are nowhere near the poles as a result. The whole thing's had B&Q emulsion slopped all over it and the headstock "decal" (over the paint) is so inept the letters aren't even lined up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 [quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1478789170' post='3171653'] Pickups look a little like Maxon humbuckers from the '70s but painted black. [/quote] Same sort of layout but they're a different shape (longer), the adjuster screws are on the tops rather than tabs, and the pole pieces look to be cross-head. Plus they probably are 'buckers - which the Maxons ain't! [sharedmedia=core:attachments:69930] Odd pickups - they do look familiar but I can't place them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1478805699' post='3171836'] Odd pickups - they do look familiar but I can't place them. [/quote] That's OK Jon, the builder clearly couldn't place them either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1478807668' post='3171855'] That's OK Jon, the builder clearly couldn't place them either. [/quote] Pretty sure they're not original - they look from an entirely different era to the rest of the thing - so an ID wouldn't tell us much anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Dear me, you need a hazmat suit to even look at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Looking at some pictures, the bridge matches that model Baldwin bass too, albeit with the thumbwheels mounted in the wrong place. I think you might have successfully identified the parts donor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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