Great bass player, but a Columbus copy in the style of for £1k?

[prowla]

Dennis Dunaway 1970s Columbus Jazz Bass Guitar

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256052364924

[rushbo]

Blimey.

"Grab yourself a bargain" says the seller. Or, you could get a Jazz bass copy from FaceBook Marketplace, pop down to HobbyCraft and get a glue gun and lots of shiny things and order a custom, mirror scratchplate.  Hey presto! A very similar outcome for well under the starting price of this piece. And you get to play with a glue gun, which is always fun.

[Bassassin]

I'm a massive DD fan (one of my first influences) and this does look like a pretty accurate Billion $ Bass replica - but this is a £200 bass with £30 worth of mirrors & rhinestones stuck on it. And £5 or so for the superglue.

 

I think for £1000 I'd want Dennis to have stuck the mirrors on himself. And then show me how to play Gutter Cat & Dead Babies properly.

 

 

[tauzero]

TBH, I've always associated him with Gibson basses, due to that being the only bass I'd seen him with in photos from the first few albums.

[Bassassin]

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

TBH, I've always associated him with Gibson basses, due to that being the only bass I'd seen him with in photos from the first few albums.

 

That'll be the Frog Bass:

 

 

I'm off to pick up an old Avon EB copy for £60, some green Halfords rattlecan & a bit of tacky bling. Pretty sure I've got a scabby P pickup in the spares draw, probably doesn't work but that's just a detail.

 

My painstaking artistry will definitely be worth the extra £900.

[Happy Jack]

On 24/04/2023 at 14:26, tauzero said:

TBH, I've always associated him with Gibson basses, due to that being the only bass I'd seen him with in photos from the first few albums.

 

He used to advertise Beatle basses for Hofner ... I've got a pic of his advert for the 500/1 somewhere.

 

[Owen]

7 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

 

He used to advertise Beatle basses for Hofner ... I've got a pic of his advert for the 500/1 somewhere.

That is real dedication.

 

I often say that we are in the golden age of luthiery. This is becuase it is virtually impossible to buy a new bass that cannot be persuaded to play nicely with a good setup. My first bass was a Columbus. It was absolutely dire. 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Owen
because of the spelling. Always the spelling.

[yorks5stringer]

Faye looks better than this...

[Shaggy]

On 25/04/2023 at 19:35, Owen said:

My first bass was a Columbus. It was absolutely dire. 

 

My second bass, Columbus JB copy.   Beyond awful.

Hopefully no one will be suckered into buying the one in the OP.   As the saying goes; “you can’t polish a turd......”

[Owen]

1 minute ago, Shaggy said:

 

My second bass, Columbus JB copy.   Beyond awful.

Hopefully no one will be suckered into buying the one in the OP.   As the saying goes; “you can’t polish a turd......”

It looks like this one has been rolled in glitter though.

[Bassassin]

2 hours ago, Shaggy said:

 

My second bass, Columbus JB copy.   Beyond awful.

Hopefully no one will be suckered into buying the one in the OP.   As the saying goes; “you can’t polish a turd......”

 

To be fair they weren't all sh!t - I've had one or two Columbuses they played fine after a proper setup. Pickups were rubbish, though.

[Waddo Soqable]

58 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

 

To be fair they weren't all sh!t - I've had one or two Columbuses they played fine after a proper setup. Pickups were rubbish, though.

Indeed.. I borrowed one for a bit when I were a lad and it was perfectly adequate, prob did a few gigs with it. 

I'd have one now for £50 or maybe 75 quid at a push, but a Grand 😧

[Waddo Soqable]

I'd rather have it without all the stoopid stuff stuck on it too.. all that would in fact knock money off in my view... 

[Shaggy]

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

To be fair they weren't all sh!t - I've had one or two Columbuses they played fine after a proper setup. Pickups were rubbish, though.

 

The pickups were definitely the weakest component; the magnetic field on mine were so feeble than an ant carrying a staple could have easily walked across both pickups without losing the staple.   At age 17 I actually carried out my very first ever bass mod on it, replacing the neck pickup with a Gibson mudbucker taken out of my first bass (a short scale Kalamazoo KB1) - which made it into a pretty decent dub-monster.    But it’s still the only one of my basses that I remember with zero affection. 🤔

[prowla]

5 hours ago, Shaggy said:

 

My second bass, Columbus JB copy.   Beyond awful.

Hopefully no one will be suckered into buying the one in the OP.   As the saying goes; “you can’t polish a turd......”

 

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

To be fair they weren't all sh!t - I've had one or two Columbuses they played fine after a proper setup. Pickups were rubbish, though.

My first bass was a Columbus Jazz - it wasn't bad.

(My second was a Rickenbacker, which I've still got!)

[Ralf1e]

Lets do a sweepstake.

How much does all that crap weigh?