The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: ilan on January 31, 2014, 01:47:12 PM
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Turner Model One on eBay. Can't remember when I saw the last one for sale... love the styling.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310858955170
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/BG0AAOxyRhBS2cYj/$_57.JPG)
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Turner Model One on eBay. Can't remember when I saw the last one for sale... love the styling.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310858955170
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/BG0AAOxyRhBS2cYj/$_57.JPG)
Man I would love to own this bass! I've been watching it. I suspect the final bid will be out of my range.
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Looks in very good shape too. I have no idea what they sound like though.
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Looks in very good shape too. I have no idea what they sound like though.
I have actually played one. It sounded like an Alembic but with less electronic "sizzle" in the tone and much more "double bass" in there, the most I've ever heard in any electric instrument. The tone is still very hifi, just not so electric sounding. Imagine an Alembic with Ken Smith's pickups and preamp and you're mostly there. IIRC, it's a short scale (32" like Alembic or is it 30"?) but it never felt cramped. The only negative for me is the impossibly tiny body. It really felt like a big ukelele. The pictures make the body look much larger than it is. It's about the same size as a Hofner Beatle Bass, just a smidge bigger.
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IIRC these were 32" scale with extra length to the tailpiece so it could take regular long scale strings. OTOH this is an early one so it could be different.
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The tone is still very hifi, just not so electric sounding. Imagine an Alembic with Ken Smith's pickups and preamp and you're mostly there. (...) It really felt like a big ukelele. The pictures make the body look much larger than it is. It's about the same size as a Hofner Beatle Bass, just a smidge bigger.
Thanks. GAS is gone.
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I was thinking about these recently, and would love to eventually try one. I'd be tempted if this one had frets.
As an aside... 16 bids already and still 6 days left in the auction? These people are kicking their own a$$ getting into bidding wars... when the only bid that matters is the last one.
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... when the only bid that matters is the last one.
:thumbsup:..and shipping cost's only relevance is how it affects the bottom line.
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I'm curious that for such a high-end instrument it's odd that there are "floating" internal components... rear cover would be relatively easy replacement...
Not my cup of tea, mind you...
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I'm curious that for such a high-end instrument it's odd that there are "floating" internal components... rear cover would be relatively easy replacement...
Not my cup of tea, mind you...
Kind of surprising, considering the RT history with Alembic - whose bass guts are usually a work of art. (...although Wickersham was the electronics wiz, I suppose)
The old BC Rich stuff is like that too... circuit boards and batteries wrapped in electrical tape and floating around.
I went in and mounted the stuff a little better in my Mockingbird. Still have to do that for the Bich one of these days:
(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/bc-rich/bich/1211132121a.jpg) (http://s87.photobucket.com/user/0chromium0/media/forums/bc-rich/bich/1211132121a.jpg.html)
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Think of the RD, with it's machined thread retaining screw separate cover for the PP9, and the PCB, and it's bay, and the pup connectors... as much as people are critical (myself included) that was the way to do it...
That was professional workmanship...
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I won the Turner Model 1. Kind of surprised actually that it didn't go for more based on the few past auctions I have followed over the years. Wasn't really looking for a fretless but it could be years before another Model 1 appeared. I too have always been in love with the shape and styling. I also love that it's just plain mahogany and not a fancy top with sunburst. At least it has lines!! I'm curious to find out it it was born fretless or converted as the side dots are in line with the fretboard markers and not the lines. But maybe this is because it is lined and not unlined. I'm pretty excited. I'll chime in after i get it at the end of the week. Here's a link to another article on Rick from 2010:
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Rick_Turner_The_Father_of_Boutique_Guitars?page=1 (http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Rick_Turner_The_Father_of_Boutique_Guitars?page=1)
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I won the Turner Model 1. Kind of surprised actually that it didn't go for more based on the few past auctions I have followed over the years. Wasn't really looking for a fretless but it could be years before another Model 1 appeared. I too have always been in love with the shape and styling. I also love that it's just plain mahogany and not a fancy top with sunburst. At least it has lines!! I'm curious to find out it it was born fretless or converted as the side dots are in line with the fretboard markers and not the lines. But maybe this is because it is lined and not unlined. I'm pretty excited. I'll chime in after i get it at the end of the week. Here's a link to another article on Rick from 2010:
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Rick_Turner_The_Father_of_Boutique_Guitars?page=1 (http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Rick_Turner_The_Father_of_Boutique_Guitars?page=1)
Congrats!! I had a snipe queued up for it, but it was only $9 more than the final bid- and so it didn't meet the next bid increment. (...and I'm guessing your proxy bid probably would have won out in the end anyway).
Curious to hear your opinions on it when you get it!
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Congrats, you'll have to give us a full review. I think that's a good price.
Great article about Rick, too. I was aware of his Alembic and Dead connections, but enjoyed reading about his early guitar building days and what led him to design his guitar this way.
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I got the Turner on Friday. As expected a beautifully made instrument. 32" scale, a really nice feeling racy neck. The neck came with a lot of relief in it so it will take a couple of days to bring it down to a nice low action. This neck was definitely converted to fretless. You can slightly feel the filler at every fret line and the board is not coated at all. At some of the lines there are tiny chips also filled at the edges from pulling the frets. It came with round wound strings on it. There are the faintest beginnings of some grooving along the d and g strings but it is really minimal, more or less just knocked the sheen off the board. I restrung it with some flats. I actually liked to tone of the rounds a little better but don't want to f*** up the board. If i keep it fretless I'll have it coated. But seeing as it's not the best conversion I'm leaning towards having it re-fretted. I'll contact Turner this week as it needs a new cavity control cover. The current one is cracked in half. The rotating pick up surround is also slightly cracked. The bass sounds phenomenal. The only active bass I have ever owned is the Jackson Tbird that Mark now owns. I'm not really an active electronics guy. But this preamp is great. Very responsive. Just a little tweak makes all the difference. You can really dial it in so it's not too bright and zingy. Just a little gives the tone a nice weight and girth to the notes. There does not seem to be a passive option. None of the pots are push/pull. The three position toggle is off (no sound) in the middle with two different active settings at up and down. Sounds like a coil tap to me with down being a fuller humbucker sound and up being a thinner SC tone. The three band eq seems to be boost only. There are no center detents in the pots and dialing in a tone just took the slightest of bumps from all the way down. Of course you can go much more extreme but I like the more organic or natural end of it. It's full and firm and sounds like a lovely mahogany bass. I love the shape and contours of the model one body. Its one of my favorites and kind of reminds me of a modern EB-1. Its got some weight to it too its a solid body. But not as much as the Ovation Magnum I also picked up this week. Spent all day yesterday during the blizzard alternating between these two. Really impressed with the Magnum's tone as well. Sounds like a bass piano, very very weighty and solid. The Magnum takes effects very well too. Anyway lots of Mahogany this weekend! I'll post more after I get the neck relief down and hear back from Turner. The serial # is 104 80. I'm guessing that 80 is probably the year. I know most of the later Model 1s I have seen usually have a floating wooden bridge with piezo pickup as well as the magnetic rotating pup. So far I'm really glad i bought it. Not like these pop up for sale often or ever and usually they're much more money than I paid for this one. Probably due to this one being fretless. Here's a couple pics. The pickup surround is off in the two pics with the Magnum because that is how the truss rod is accessed. Luckily the same size nut as a Gibby so I had the wrench. The Magnum came set up perfectly, what a beast!
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn3/saltymonkey/_DSF1990_zps2b5d260e.jpg)
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn3/saltymonkey/_DSF2023_zps0cc1fd0a.jpg)
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn3/saltymonkey/_DSF2025_zpsa2506e3a.jpg)
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Both very nice!
I'd look into having the Turner refretted and restored.
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Couple of great looking rare birds you got there, congrats! Those Turners are really cool. I'd be on the fence about re-fretting because I'll bet it sounds great as a fretless!
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The key questions are do you want the beastie as a rarity or as a player, then, do you prefer the idea of fretted or fretless...?
A quality luthier could replace the board to give you an unmarked, unlined neck or a refret on the original... that's easy...
To me, the bass looks like she would suit a fretless, but I'm not the owner... (love that Magnum; weighs a ton, right...? ;) )
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Regardless of what you decide, Rick will repair his own instruments.
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I want it as a player. If it's a player and a rarity then great. But if I don't play it they generally don't last. I'm leaning towards having it refretted. It's not really singing as a fretless. The filler in the fret lines is raised just enough that i think its acting like mini frets and killing a lot of the mwah. And maybe it's the uncoated board too. I don't really know. I've only owned one fretless previously. I know I could easily sand the lines down but I know that I'll play it more fretted and I really like the bass. I'll most likely send it back to Turner to have the work done. His website says that they'll repair their own instruments at discounted shop rates. And this way it gets a good going over from the man who built it.
And yes the Magnum weighs a ton! But it sounds so good and plays really well. It really sounds like what I want a bass to sound like. Lots of weight to every note and beautiful, full, punchy tone. That big humbucker is fantastic. The tone is worth the weight. It's in pretty fine shape too and you don't see very many with a tort guard. They're usually black. A US made bass with excellent tone and a graphite reinforced neck for under $800. You don't find that in very many instruments.
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So my Turner Model 1 is on it's way back to me From Rick Turner Guitars after the refret and repairs. It was refretted. The control cavity cover and rotating pickup surround were replaced. Both were cracked. There was a small crack in the face by the preamp that was glued. The batteries were secured in the control cavity. They were loose. As per my request the preamp and truss rod were inspected, both were fine. And of course it was set up. Total including return shipping and insurance from CA, $454. As far as the connection to someone from Yes, Rick didn't know. They didn't keep detailed records back then. But he did find a handwritten page in an old record book with dates and such. He left and signed a note to send back with the bass for me. He says, "It falls a little more than halfway through our first run of Model 1s, and is one of about 24 basses we built in that 1979-1981 time period. It was made in my old shop in Ignacio, California in the middle of 1980". First run! I'm pretty psyched! He also said that its value today is approximately $5900.00!!! I think I did pretty good considering with the refret and repairs I'm into it for a little over $2000. Can't wait to get it back and play it. $5900, wow. Not that I'm looking to sell it but it makes me feel pretty good!
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That seems like a very reasonable price to have all that work done by Rick and staff. And even though you want it as a player, it's great to know the age and value.
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Think about it like this - with such limited runs, I just don't believe these people just do not remember if they supplied an instrument to a pro ... but if they gave the lady provenance then it might raise the value and the prospective owner or seller could make more out of the sale for nothing other than a piece of paper ...
When PC saw mine, back in the early eighties, when he still worked out of his shed, he just said "oh that one!" I never even knew of the JAE connection, but he skipped the answer to who she was built for ... when Eric did his research he still could not remember ... give the provenance and the value might change ... sometimes irrationally ...
Just enjoy the instrument, like I do mine ...
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Yes it is great to know the age and value. And just because a first run Turner is reportedly worth $5900 doesn't mean that someone would actually pay that much for it. If it was known to be owned by Chris Squire or Steve Howe it would just be another part of the interesting story of a rare bass. Between Junior HS and HS I think I saw Yes 6 or 7 times. It would be cool but wouldn't change how I treat the bass or make we want to cash in and sell it.
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That's awesome news that you were able to have RT do the work. I would have also re-fretted it. For several years in the the 80s-early 90s, I was playing a fretless bass almost exclusively, but from the 90s up I've barely touched it ('83 MM Stingray; sold it recently and bought a '79 Mockingbird - which I do play quite a bit).
I remember the auction text on this one stated that it belonged to the "touring guitarist for Yes". That would narrow it down ;D. If true, it would have been around the Drama tour I s'pose. I was wondering about that provenance- if any more info had been revealed from the seller.
BTW, there's some footage of one in action here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_iVxiBNGFM
(unfortunately it's being used to back Van Morrison.... :) I kid)
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"Touring guitarist for Yes" to me would say Billy Sherwood. He wrote and toured with them as a side man in the mid to late 90s. He also plays a lot of bass. Steve Howe was still on board for Drama.
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I must admit I haven't kept up with Yes since the 80's. I saw them first on the Relayer tour and last I think on the Tormato tour.