"New" Bass

Some of you have already seen this on Facebook, but essentially, it's garbage picking week. That is, people leave bulky stuff by the roadside for it to be picked up, and some stuff that they throw out is still actually pretty good (refraining from commenting on society). Case in point, this bass. My brother was out looking at stuff, and he found this bass. The strings were rusted "to heck and back", he says, and the body isn't in the greatest shape, but the electronics apparently work. I'm going to tune it to a higher tuning, ADGC, which is a fourth above the typical EADG, and use it in more acoustic settings. I'm going to get strings sometime for it, and hope it's playable.



Any of you acquire any gear lately?

Nice find!  What brand is it?

Last week I picked up a Fender Acoustic bass: http://www.christianhardmusic.com/t6772-newest-addition-to-the-arsenal

I think it's called a Saturn. Never heard of it, couldn't find it online.

From what I can find, it's a Vox Saturn.  Is there a model and/or serial number on it?

Xid wrote:

From what I can find, it's a Vox Saturn.  Is there a model and/or serial number on it?

That was my best guess. I couldn't find a model/serial number on it, only a Made in Japan sticker.

I read a forum where they said some of the Japan made ones are rare, but not all of them.  I'd take it down to a vintage music store (if you have one) and see if they can tell you anything more.  There's an off chance you could have something there.

Xid wrote:

I read a forum where they said some of the Japan made ones are rare, but not all of them.  I'd take it down to a vintage music store (if you have one) and see if they can tell you anything more.  There's an off chance you could have something there.

Hmm, I may just do that if I can.

I wish I could find one like that!  I'd strip the parts and build a cigar box upright bass out of it!

I just ordered some strings online for it. I should be getting them next week, and I'll be able to tell you how it sounds then.

If it does not work, are you willing to spend money on it to replace pickups, do a pro setup on it, etc.?

My brother made sure that the electronics worked before he removed the strings, so I'm assuming they do work. I'll see what comes of it when I put the strings on.

I wish that I'd come across something like that just for the neck.  I don't care about any of the rest of it.  I just need a neck to make a great cigar box bass.

I got my bass strings, put them on, tested my bass… and was shocked when it didn't work. I cranked the volume all the way up, but only a tiny bit of sound was coming out. Then I had the bright idea of trying the other pickup… which worked brilliantly! Now, I have a really nice bass that sounds pretty darn good (even if only the neck pickup works). The action is too high (although not intolerably so), as is to be expected with an older bass, so I'm going to have to lower the pickups in order to adjust the neck without the strings hitting them. I will upload a video soon…

Only a few songs work with the tuning I've chosen, which is ADGC. Some are The Police - Demolition Man, ELO - Don't Bring Me Down, Black Sabbath - Paranoid. I can also do most of The Police - Message In A Bottle and Toto - Africa, and probably Jethro Tull - Living In The Past. Of course, I didn't tune it that way just to play those songs. I'll be jamming a lot of more indie/folk acoustic stuff with my friends here, so even if I still have to plug in to be heard, the tone is even more like an acoustic bass than what I managed to get with my 5-string, and as a bonus, the higher tuning means I can play melodies during the parts where no bass is needed. I'm excited.

As far as I can tell, my bass was manufactured by Kawai or Teisco or Guyatone in '68 in Japan for the Canadian Eaton's catalogue. I don't think it has much worth, but it's still 47 years old!

You'd be surprised at some of the guitars that are now worth a lot.  It is worth only what someone would pay for it.