Just emailed the guy about his Univox bass

[Denis]

I mean, $50? Why not?

60's or 70's Univox Bass as/is - $50 (Holly Springs)
I'd like to sell my old Univox Bass. This has tons of style and vibe but needs a restoration to be playable. Would make a great project. Needs a bridge. Made in Japan maybe? Neck is straight and frets have no divots or anything. Nut is cracked. Original tuners. Binding isn't lifting. Body has no bad damage. Few scratches but nothing that probably couldn't be buffed out and cleaned up. It looks like it was rarely played. I think these are the original pickups and the original wiring harness (it's there inside the body).
Would meet near Holly Springs. AS-IS. I can't help you get it put together.
$50.

[Nocturnal]

Worth a shot for $50 for sure. Could be a cool project.

[ack1961]

Denis, nice find!
Let me know if you're not going to grab it.
Steve

[Highlander]

Wrong side of the pond again...

Good luck with that one...

[Denis]

Just picked it up. Definitely worth the $50. It's pretty darn clean. All the electronics are there, but hanging loose in the body. I assume it was made in the same factory all those lawsuit basses were but it makes me wonder of all those tailpieces and bridges were the same on a bunch of them?

Thoughts?

[Pilgrim]

I have a slightly earlier version of that bass!  I think they're a nice instrument, and I've been watching complete ones in good condition sell on Ebay for $300+. Mine has the earlier headstock, yours has the later headstock to qualify it as a "Coily" model.

I even have a pair of pickups for it!  They're a different style than those - more the style found in the Epi models with a white insert around the pole pieces.

I also have a tailpiece and bridge which are 100% correct for it - I was going to sell them with my walnut Lyle, but I might be persuaded otherwise....

The tailpieces and bridges WERE the same on Lyle, Epiphone and Univox.  The bridge on mine still has the flip-mute and cover over the saddles, but those were very often removed.  The only difference in tailpieces is whether it has a rosewood insert or not - the one on my Univox does not, the spare I picked up does.

Here's mine (and the lousy string-winding in the last photo wasn't my work - it has now been corrected):

[Denis]

Oh, that is sharp! I like how the tuners are slightly angled matching the Univox badge.
Any idea what year yours is? A friend of mine thinks mine is a '72 u1835. Make sense to you?
Hmm, how much persuasion do you need to not sell your tailpiece and bridge with your Lyle?
And how did you come by the spiffy green A tuner? 

[Pilgrim]

The shot was taken outside and the tuner is reflecting the leaves on a tree.  I hadn't noticed that before.

Since I have no takers so far on the Lyle, I'll check to see what I have in the bridge and tailpiece...I have no problem with selling them and breaking even on them. Took months of Ebay searching to find them!  I'm in Seattle at the moment and won't be able to search records until this weekend.

Those chrome "wing" tuners are pretty typical Japanese types from the period...but I often see the black ones, too.

Dating Univox instruments is difficult.  The website http://www.univox.org/ has photos of many models and can help.  Check the "guitars" link.  I think mine falls into what they call the "335 copy" series and yours falls into the "coily" series..at least your tuners and headstock logo are dead on.  The logos changed on the headstock and that's the main change I notice.

I think they swapped off tuners throughout the Aria > Univox transition.  My Aria Diamond that's a predecessor of the Hi-Flyer has the black tuner knobs that yours has....and I'm sure it's a model that was made before yours.

[Denis]

Thanks for the link! I think it's a '71 or '71 u1835 Coily. Haha, after holding all these Rippers, the Victory, Thunderbirds, etc, this thing seems to weigh less than an envelope! It's weird! It's in great shape though, so hopefully it will not need to much.

[Pilgrim]

It will probably be a bit neck-heavy, but a good strap helps.

[Garrett]

That`s a real beauty Pilgrim! Is it a short scale?

[Pilgrim]

Yup. Finish is fantastic.  I don't think it has seen sunlight much... no color
fading.

[Pilgrim]

PM sent.....

[jumbodbassman]

Thanks for the link! I think it's a '71 or '71 u1835 Coily. Haha, after holding all these Rippers, the Victory, Thunderbirds, etc, this thing seems to weigh less than an envelope! It's weird! It's in great shape though, so hopefully it will not need to much.

i have one.. very neck heavy.  with some TLC these are nice basses.  Pickups are usually shot by this point.  Microphonic or very week.  I plan on changing them out one of these projects/days...

[Pilgrim]

i have one.. very neck heavy.  with some TLC these are nice basses.  Pickups are usually shot by this point.  Microphonic or very week.  I plan on changing them out one of these projects/days...

Agreed, the pickups in mine are really not that great.  That's why I bought a pair of the Gretsch Filtertron pickups...they're smaller than the OEM ones, but they should work OK.  As far as I can tell, they're rail types so matching pole pieces to strings doesn't matter.

I just have so much going on that I haven't messed with them. I've figured out how I can mount them temporarily in the original pickup surrounds, than I can have new surrounds custom made if they work out OK.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Gretsch-BASS-Filtertron-Pickup-CHROME-/290473848762?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item43a1972fba