S.D. Curlee bass for Hornisse

Denis · June 22, 2011, 05:42:25 PM

Here are a few pics of the S.D. Curlee bass I picked up for Hornisse the other night. Serial number 661 is stamped on the bridge. I think it's first year bass, probably 1977 or so? Played it through a Genz Benz 9.0 Shuttle. This bass sounds fantastic! The combination of wood and the brass and that pup give it an awful lot of low end power but oddly has some brightness mixed in (sort of like my Victory with the brass nut).

What I think is the original case. Note the squared corners on the hinge side and rounded corners on the latch side. Bass + case = weighs a ton.

Bass in case. Fits REALLY well.

THe body is smaller than it looks, about the size of a Les Paul Jr maybe. It's thick though.

Body front. Brass bridge, brass pup cover.

Back. Look at all that brass.

Headstock. Brass nut. Note how the logo outline is pressed into the wood.

Grover tuners!

The tuners are propeller shaped!

sniper · June 22, 2011, 05:50:57 PM

SERIOUS gassing up!!!

jumbodbassman · June 22, 2011, 07:10:28 PM

nice thin 32" scale. they play well but on the heavy side due to the body wood

godofthunder · June 23, 2011, 03:33:51 PM

I always thought these were the coolist ! Wish I bought one back in the day when I had the chance. One of these days I'll find one.

dadagoboi · June 23, 2011, 03:48:56 PM

Can't wait for mine to arrive. It must be heavy with all that brass, maho and maple.

Pilgrim · June 23, 2011, 05:42:50 PM

Quote from: dadagoboi on June 23, 2011, 03:48:56 PM
Can't wait for mine to arrive. It must be heavy with all that brass, maho and maple.

I'm delighted to have been a bad influence. Just for once I gave GAS to someone else instead of them giving it to me. If you got it for $299, that was a darn good buy.

dadagoboi · June 23, 2011, 06:20:10 PM

Quote from: Pilgrim on June 23, 2011, 05:42:50 PM
I'm delighted to have been a bad influence. Just for once I gave GAS to someone else instead of them giving it to me. If you got it for $299, that was a darn good buy.

$304, I got beat

Freuds_Cat · June 26, 2011, 09:02:17 PM

Whats happening with those bridge saddles?

jumbodbassman · June 27, 2011, 08:02:59 AM

looks like one or 2 have flipped over.

FrankieTbird · June 27, 2011, 09:22:34 AM

Looks interesting but that neck looks like a 2x4. Is it just the angle in the pic? What is the width at the nut? It's gotta be fatter than a P-bass.

Denis · June 27, 2011, 10:37:16 AM

I'll take measurements and investigate the saddles this evening.

jumbodbassman · June 27, 2011, 12:06:49 PM

neck is a little fatter at the nut than a pbass. All the curlees i have owned/played/seen have had a brass nut.

Highlander · June 29, 2011, 05:04:43 PM

Robert if you're reading this - hope all's well...

dadagoboi · June 30, 2011, 02:25:21 PM

Got mine Tuesday. It weighs 8.2 lbs, not bad at all. Neck is a nice profile but the G string wants to fall off the nicely rounded over board. Narrowing the spacing at the nut slightly may help that. Frets are good but I can't figure out how to get a wrench onto the truss rod. Pretty sure I'm going to do a total clear nitro refin and keep it.

Denis · June 30, 2011, 06:29:57 PM

Quote from: BUFF on June 29, 2011, 05:04:43 PM
Robert if you're reading this - hope all's well...

Robert's doing well but has bailed out of the forums for a while. He lurks though!