Paul Tutmarc's Audiovox 736 Bass -- what scale?

[Chris P.]

That pickup is really a horse shoe!

[Dave W]

That pickup is really a horse shoe!

Lot of iron in there. I wonder if the string pull is exceptionally strong. I wouldn't want to hold it near a hard drive, it might erase everything. 

[Chris P.]

 

[moonshine]

I am the "TB Guy" (that just doesn't sound right...) that took the pictures of the walnut bass.

Without a doubt, this bass was a short scale instrument. I know, I was there.

It was small in size. The bass (& a lap steel from the same period) were in the shop for one day. It was my job to authenticate it. Time was limited; I took it apart, pictures were taken, then it was reassembled. I did get to plug it into an amp and play on it (there was no male plug on the end of the cable so I used alligator clips to attach it to a  cable so I could plug it in); the strings were beyond dead, but it did work.

My notes state that the scale was approx. 30" . The scale was just shy of that; my guess is 29 7/8".

Moonshine

[Dave W]

Thanks, Moonshine. I'll certainly take your word for it. Images can be deceiving.

BTW, besides the one I mentioned earlier, there's yet another Audiovox 7-string lap steel on eBay right now, including the matching Audiovox amp. I don't think either auction will bring near the asking prices.

[dadagoboi]

I am the "TB Guy" (that just doesn't sound right...) that took the pictures of the walnut bass.

Without a doubt, this bass was a short scale instrument. I know, I was there.

It was small in size. The bass (& a lap steel from the same period) were in the shop for one day. It was my job to authenticate it. Time was limited; I took it apart, pictures were taken, then it was reassembled. I did get to plug it into an amp and play on it (there was no male plug on the end of the cable so I used alligator clips to attach it to a  cable so I could plug it in); the strings were beyond dead, but it did work.

My notes state that the scale was approx. 30" . The scale was just shy of that; my guess is 29 7/8".

Moonshine

Thanks for clearing THAT up, and Welcome!...now post some builds!

[moonshine]

Thanks for clearing THAT up, and Welcome!...now post some builds!

Thanks dadagoboi, It's good to be here... Another forum to spend my my time looking at instead of building... Just what I need!   

I look forward to posting. I have some interesting stuff going on (at least interesting to me).

Here is another pic of the Audiovox... I may very well be the only person that has ever attempted to play the solo from Eruption on one of these:


This also shows how small the bass actually is.

Moonshine

[Dave W]

I'm wondering if the overall length is really shorter than the 42" shown in old ad. With a scale a hair under 30" that would mean that the headstock would have to be about 11" long, since the distance from the bridge to the butt is so short. It just doesn't look that long.

[moonshine]

I think 42" overall length almost has to be incorrect. I just measured my 68' Gibson EB0 & it measures just under 41". It's almost the same scale length (30.5), but there is considerably more space between the bottom of the bridge & the bottom of the body when compared to the Audiovox. I would guess that the Audiovox is closer to 38".

Moonshine

[Dave W]

Thanks. My wrong assumptions had been based on 42" being correct.

[design]

I just posted this in the TalkBass forum: OK i have obsessing a bit about this bass. I emailed the EMP musuem and they kindly sent me these dimensions for the white enamel painted Audiovox 736 they have!

30 5/16" length – nut to bridge
37 ¾" length – overall
10" width – overall
1 ¾" depth – overall

So Moonshine's estimates were pretty close! Comparing pics of the white model with the dark walnut model which Moonshine posted, they seem nearly identical to me except for the position of the pickup. Hope someone on this list could make a CAD drawing and work out some other dimensions i.e. bridge position, pickup position, width at nut, etc.
Also perhaps inspection of an Audiovox lap steel might hint at the material the nut is made from, or other clues. The lap steels seem less rare. I'm thinking of making a full scale cardborad template. I have never made a real guitar but would love to make one of these!

P.S. it seems that EMP have removed the audio samples from public access on the internet.

[Dave W]

Thanks for this info. Very nice of them to pass the info along.

There are three of the lap steels on eBay right now, two of them show the nut. If I had to guess, they look like metal nuts but that's not unusual for a lap steel.

I have a couple of pieces of aged black walnut that I could use to make one. Don't know if I would make it with only 16 frets though.

[design]

Here's a guess: the 42" length, listed in the 1930s advertising flyer, maybe they mean the size of the case. Since part of the pitch was to replace the Double Bass, they may have been referring to the total length of the case.

[Dave W]

That certainly could explain it. Or it could just be an error. Whatever the reason, the two examples we know of are both quite a bit shorter.

[design]

Here's a picture I cropped from a post on the TalkBass forum by Deviate3s. The lap steel player is Paul Tutmarc, the bassist...maybe it is Paul's first wife Lorraine? This is from the cabinet display at the EMP museum in Seattle.