Turner Model One on eBay

[ilan]

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

[drbassman]

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

Man I would love to own this bass!  I've been watching it.  I suspect the final bid will be out of my range.

[ilan]

Looks in very good shape too. I have no idea what they sound like though.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

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.

[Dave W]

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.

[ilan]

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.

[chromium]

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.

[dadagoboi]

... when the only bid that matters is the last one.

 ..and shipping cost's only relevance is how it affects the bottom line.

[Highlander]

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...

[chromium]

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:

[Highlander]

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...

[saltymonkey]

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

[chromium]

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

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!

[Dave W]

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.

[saltymonkey]

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!