Magnatone Bass

[Hornisse]

I bought this project bass on Ebay for $100.  Longscale bass with a beautiful Brazilian board and the CTS pots are dated the 28th week of 1960!  Has Kluson tuners too.  Needs work but I figure for $100 I couldn't go wrong.  Even has double truss rods in the neck.  I have no idea what model name it is though. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140333489112

[Dave W]

Looks like you've got yourself a real project, but I agree you won't go wrong at that price.

gweimer might know the model, remember he had a Bullwinkle headstock Magnatone Hurricane restored early last year. http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=73.0.

[Hornisse]

That one is very cool.  I may send this one to Dale Fortune and see what he can do with it.  Has some water damage cracking on the bottom but overall it looks good.  I'm hoping to keep the original finish. 

[Pilgrim]

You probably can keep the finish.  Interesting that the neck appears to have a dual truss rod.  Overall, though, if you're OK with it as a relic finish it doesn't look too bad.  Needs parts...but that's not unusual.

[Hornisse]

I found a guitar look a like on line.  http://www.dadsnoisybasement.com/dadspresentgear.html  You have to scroll down a bit.  The guy says these were designed by Paul Barth who worked at Rickenbacker.  Interesting.  Maybe this is where the double rods come in play?

[gweimer]

Magnatones are a labor of love.  Mine turned out really nice, and that Barth pickup is what makes these basses so cool.  My Hurricane, unfortunately, has developed fretboard problems above the 12th fret and the action is really high now.  I suspect that the cool outdoor weather from the night I gigged with it did a little damage.  I won't be doing that again.

Keep us posted on your progress, and post pics when you've finished it.

[Dave W]

Paul Barth had become factory manager for Rickenbacker by the 50s, which IIRC was when the twin truss rods were first introduced there.