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looking at getting a vintage looking hollow body?

0175westwood29

By 0175westwood29,
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wingnutkj Community Regular

wingnutkj

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I played an Epi JC in a music shop yesterday. The feeling was of a really solid bass, but I found the neck was a bit too wide and chunky for me. Got some good tones out of the pickup - there's enough variety in the varitone switch settings to keep things interesting.

How vintage-looking are you looking for? As a result of the trip to the shop yesterday, I'm going to be selling a couple of basses to make room for a new arrival, and one of them is a Yamaha BEX4 semi-hollow in blueburst. Lovely instrument, vintage-looking, with some decidedly non-vintage features - 3 band EQ, piezo and magnetic pickups, flame top. Pix and more info will be in the For Sale section when I get round to it...

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Cat Burrito Grand Master

Cat Burrito

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I was quite pleasantly surprised with the Ibanez Artcore although no hard case. The Epiphone Jack Cassady is more retro in vibe but again, Epi have withdrawn the hard case these days. Italia look good to me & I'm yet to play an Eastwood but they seem to get very mixed reviews. I believe Gretsch will be outside your budget. The other option is EBay has a lot of 70s JapCrap cropping up right now.

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0175westwood29 Veteran

0175westwood29

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[quote name='wingnutkj' post='932769' date='Aug 22 2010, 02:02 PM']I played an Epi JC in a music shop yesterday. The feeling was of a really solid bass, but I found the neck was a bit too wide and chunky for me. Got some good tones out of the pickup - there's enough variety in the varitone switch settings to keep things interesting.

How vintage-looking are you looking for? As a result of the trip to the shop yesterday, I'm going to be selling a couple of basses to make room for a new arrival, and one of them is a Yamaha BEX4 semi-hollow in blueburst. Lovely instrument, vintage-looking, with some decidedly non-vintage features - 3 band EQ, piezo and magnetic pickups, flame top. Pix and more info will be in the For Sale section when I get round to it...[/quote]

thanks ill check them out!

andy

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0175westwood29 Veteran

0175westwood29

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[quote name='Daquifsta' post='932866' date='Aug 22 2010, 04:56 PM']An Eastwood classic 4 maybe?

Sounds nice here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmSUjhcJaPo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmSUjhcJaPo[/url] but then most things do when Ed Friedland plays them[/quote]

whoa just checkout some other vids! they sound awesome!

andy

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Mykesbass Grand Master

Mykesbass

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Epiphone Zenith?

[quote name='Johnston' post='932729' date='Aug 22 2010, 01:22 PM']Played one, not plugged in. I liked it but really heavy for a semi.

I might be going into town tomorrow if it's still there I'll refresh the memory.[/quote]

I know someone who uses an Artcore after a serious neck injury in a car crash - bought it as he couldn't gig his P Bass, so surprised by this comment, perhaps there's a wide variation in weight with them.

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EssentialTension Grand Master

EssentialTension

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[quote name='Mykesbass' post='933233' date='Aug 22 2010, 11:18 PM']Epiphone Zenith?



I know someone who uses an Artcore after a serious neck injury in a car crash - bought it as he couldn't gig his P Bass, so surprised by this comment, perhaps there's a wide variation in weight with them.[/quote]
I think there are maybe two Artcores now, one is fully hollow while the other has a centre block and so is heavier.

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Mykesbass Grand Master

Mykesbass

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[quote name='EssentialTension' post='933245' date='Aug 22 2010, 11:55 PM']I think there are maybe two Artcores now, one is fully hollow while the other has a centre block and so is heavier.[/quote]

Thanks for that Dave - didn't want to disbelieve the other post but knew the light weight was why my pal bought his.

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Shaggy Mentor

Shaggy

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If you can find one - they crop up now and then on ebay - get a '90's reissue of the Epi Rivoli, they were made by the Peerless factory in Korea and are real high quality basses.

Otherwise all info above is good, but if it was me with that price range I'd look out for interesting '60's & '70's Jap - / Italian - / Brit-crap; Commodore, Baldwin etc; more retro-cool and can usually be moved on for at least what you paid. The early '70's Shaftesbury copy of a Rick 4005 especially good, and well within your range.

I picked up a mint '85 Gordon Smith Galaxy for £350 on t'bay, a hand-built beaut of a bass; intended for a '60's project but so good it's now my main fretted gigging bass. :)

Edited by Shaggy
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basshead56 Rising Star

basshead56

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The Dean Stylist are aslo pretty good, but the pckups let it down somewhat-though they can swapped out for something nicer later on for not much money.
Itali also do sime nice semi-hollows.
The epi JC is a gorgeous looking and sounding bass, but again, the difficulty in finding a case would put me off it a bit.
I was on Ebay last night and saw this-looks very nice:
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Telecaster-Bass-Guitar-Warmoth-Dark-Star-Audere-Preamp-/190433054071?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV"]here[/url]

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Shaggy Mentor

Shaggy

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[quote name='basshead56' post='933451' date='Aug 23 2010, 11:06 AM']I was on Ebay last night and saw this-looks very nice:
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Telecaster-Bass-Guitar-Warmoth-Dark-Star-Audere-Preamp-/190433054071?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV"]here[/url][/quote]


I saw that too; fab body and p/ups / electrics, not so keen on the neck.
At that price; worth it for the Dark Stars alone!

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basshead56 Rising Star

basshead56

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[quote name='Shaggy' post='933469' date='Aug 23 2010, 11:17 AM']I saw that too; fab body and p/ups / electrics, not so keen on the neck.
At that price; worth it for the Dark Stars alone![/quote]

+1,
The body and DarkStar´s look fantastic!
Very unique neck too, perhaps not to everyone´s liking, but agreed-the price seems great considering the parts alone.

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0175westwood29 Veteran

0175westwood29

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[quote name='basshead56' post='933475' date='Aug 23 2010, 11:29 AM']+1,
The body and DarkStar´s look fantastic!
Very unique neck too, perhaps not to everyone´s liking, but agreed-the price seems great considering the parts alone.[/quote]

indeed im just looking for something a bit more like the casady or ibby basses?

andy

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tino Enthusiast

tino

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[quote name='0175westwood29' post='933234' date='Aug 22 2010, 11:19 PM']thanks for the suggestions guys im checking them all out! so please keep them going!

burritobass yep sadly a grestch is out of my price range which is a big shame![/quote]
Especially as I have such a Gretsch for sale right now :)

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