The Last Bass Outpost

Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: rockinrayduke on March 26, 2008, 01:54:33 PM

Title: the horror....the horror
Post by: rockinrayduke on March 26, 2008, 01:54:33 PM
http://cgi.ebay.com/1961-EPIPHONE-NEWPORT-EBD-BASS-2-PICKUPS-ULTRA-RARE-NR_W0QQitemZ160222550313QQihZ006QQcategoryZ118984QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Somebody should restore this.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: gweimer on March 26, 2008, 02:23:54 PM
I'll be watching that one.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: chromium on March 26, 2008, 02:36:43 PM
Very sweet bass.  Bet it would patch up nice and make a great player.

Does that guy (or the previous owner) have an aversion to glue and clamps or what!   ;D

(http://i9.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/e4/53/9415_1.JPG)

(http://i16.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/e4/53/8ed1_1.JPG)
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: OldManC on March 26, 2008, 05:29:12 PM
That could be a great project!
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: gweimer on March 26, 2008, 06:12:13 PM
You are all evil, and I'm going to hell.  I just threw my hat in the ring for that one.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Bass VI on March 26, 2008, 08:35:30 PM
Man!

 I'd had hoped this one would have flown under the radar! ( like that happens around here ) I was hoping to catch it for research and development. Uwe, are congrats ( and a trip to your luthier ) in order? Would it be too much to ask the lucky future owner ( I hope one of us ) for pics and tracings? This would be the logical step ( backwards ) from my Embassy clone project.

(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/bassVI/EBLPNecks011.jpg)

Cheers!

S.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Dave W on March 26, 2008, 09:30:28 PM
Very sweet bass.  Bet it would patch up nice and make a great player.

Does that guy (or the previous owner) have an aversion to glue and clamps or what!   ;D

Seems that way. But what's behind that first and second fret screw-down? My guess is that it was done to correct a separation between the fretboard and neck in that area. I've seen that before on earlier Gibsons and Epis. It's not common but it does happen.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: uwe on March 27, 2008, 04:36:34 AM
I'm not bidding on this. The screw-down is plain horrible, though it can be made unseen again. Or put bullet cartridges where the screws are ...
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: gweimer on March 27, 2008, 06:15:26 AM
I'm not bidding on this. The screw-down is plain horrible, though it can be made unseen again. Or put bullet cartridges where the screws are ...

I thought of you the minute I saw that.   My luthier may be able to come up with something creative if I get this.  I have a feeling it will go out of my price range.  Even if it IS a '61, my price limit is still going to be pretty low.  There's a lot of hits on this, and so far, some active bidding.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: MARICOPAA on March 27, 2008, 12:25:02 PM
I was offered this bass for $2800 about a week ago and after looking at all the pictures and showing them to my luthier...at that price I passed.

I'm sure others were offered the bass...clearly everyone was doubtful so up it goes on eBay.

It is going to be a very expensive fix to do right so $800 for the bass would be more like it. I doubt it will go that low. Good luck to anyone here bidding on it! We'll see soon ;-)
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Dave W on March 27, 2008, 01:19:49 PM
$2800!?  :o  Yow! Well, at least he put it up with no reserve. Frankly, I wouldn't go $800 for it. But we'll see what the marketplace says. You never know.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Bass VI on March 27, 2008, 01:53:01 PM
$800, I hope not, to much unseen and unseemly work. However, my "day job" is guitar repair and I've seen much more misguided attempts at fixes, usually at the hands of an owner who's trying to "save" his guitar. The best (or worst) happened last week, a guy brought in an inexpensive acoustic/electric guitar, headstock wrapped in about 3 feet of duct tape, now the best part.....he'd taken a shoelace tied it to the D string tuner, down to a large woodscrew ( right into the heel of the neck ) and back up to the G string tuner ( I wish I had pics! ) none of this had any effect the break ( go figure ) but at the time, I think the guy sincerely thought he'd come up with a fix. Not to hijack this thread, but these Epi neck joints are a little weak ( I had to reset the neck on my Newport ) so the "repair" on this one is sort of understandable, but not correct IMHO.
We'll see how it goes, I'd still like to get tracings and pics if one of us wins it.

Cheers,

S.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: uwe on March 28, 2008, 04:19:18 AM
Prices are really marching up even on the Epi stuff now. Add to that the fretless Ripper which went for 2.000 bucks a few days ago and we should all be very happy with our investments. It seems that old TBirds and EBs were only the start and we havn't seen the end of it yet.

I warn you of the subprime (and in a Fenderista world all Gibson basses are subprime!  :D) bass craze!!!
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: gweimer on March 29, 2008, 05:49:45 PM
Agreed that Epiphone prices are sharply on the rise.  Even some of that really nasty '70s Japanese stuff is getting a lot more money than I'd pay.  The "Holy Crap" bass model (ET-288M?) has gone as high as $800 in recent months.

The Newport is climbing fast.  One early bidder has out bid me already, and I'm tempted to let it go.  I have other things to worry about.  Still, the thought of recovering that '61 is still pretty tempting.  I may go a little higher, but not a lot.  I have tomorrow to think about it.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Dave W on March 29, 2008, 05:54:42 PM
I remember passing on a couple of regular single pickup Newports in the late 90s, both were under $500, unbroken and all original. That boat has sailed.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Bass VI on March 30, 2008, 03:34:53 PM
http://cgi.ebay.com/1961-EPIPHONE-NEWPORT-EBD-BASS-2-PICKUPS-ULTRA-RARE-NR_W0QQitemZ160222550313QQihZ006QQcategoryZ118984QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Well, I'm out of the running, at close to $1000 (including shipping) I'll hope the new owner is a member and will offer pics and tracings.
Good Luck!

S.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Dave W on March 30, 2008, 06:06:13 PM
Sold for $1351.  :o
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: gweimer on March 30, 2008, 06:19:52 PM
I dropped out after $600.  BassVI - which bidder were you?  Unless the buyer is a good luthier planning to do the work himself, I gotta think this went a little over the edge.  This had to be a labor of love, because I don't think it will end up with that high a value after all that needs to be done.  The finish is still pretty checked regardless.
Title: Re: the horror....the horror
Post by: Bass VI on March 30, 2008, 07:46:07 PM
I didn't even get in on it, by the time I checked the auction this afternoon, it was higher than I wanted to go.  The $6-800 range would have been as far as I wanted to go. At $1400 w/shipping, it will be tough to recoup unless the winner is doing the work himself and is very skilled. Repaired I couldn't see it selling for more than $1800 and the restoration bill will probably go past that.
On the other hand, it is rare and the new owner may place a premium on rarity rather than market value, for that matter he/she? may think it's cool ( I do ) and that's the value to them. I thought I recognized the high bidders ID ( maybe from the 'Pit? )
Anyone out there wanna show of your new prize?

Cheers,

S.