Mello's new bass (not a guild, but a relative)

mellowgerman

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It's a '64(?) Hagstrom Futurama bass! Just picked it up for next to nothing on another forum. Missing the bridge pickup and as far as cosmetics it's a legit relic. But it's structurally solid and the neck is perfect with very little fret wear. 30" scale and the neck profile feels similar to my old '66 starfire.
I plan on having fred hammon make me a single-magnet dark star for the bridge/middle position and I do need to replace the tuners, but then she'll be an excellent player :mrgreen:
Just thought I'd share the joy with my LTG buds
haggy.jpg
 

mellowgerman

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hieronymous said:
Nice! Plus it's got a harp bridge, huh?

thanks! and sorta; it's similar to the early hagstrom bridges (used by guild from 66-67) but instead of individual plastic saddles, it just has one big floating rosewood block. Intonation probably won't be exact, but as long as it's not horrible, it doesn't bother me too much.
 

adorshki

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Interesting...is that actually a Fender body and headstock? Or very close and maybe milled in the same mill?
 

mellowgerman

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Nope, these are completely their own thing. Sure, they resemble a fender p style body and neck, but they are short scale, the neck is extremely thin, and the body is much lighter. Feels great. I can't wait to get some strings on it
 

Happy Face

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eXcellent! Glad you found another interesting bass to work into shape!
 

fronobulax

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Interesting, yes. But ugly. Are those controls on the treble side down by the bridge and jack?

I understand why you sold the '66 Starfire and the Dearmond but neither is a decision I can imagine making myself :?
 

hieronymous

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mellowgerman said:
hieronymous said:
Nice! Plus it's got a harp bridge, huh?

thanks! and sorta; it's similar to the early hagstrom bridges (used by guild from 66-67) but instead of individual plastic saddles, it just has one big floating rosewood block. Intonation probably won't be exact, but as long as it's not horrible, it doesn't bother me too much.

Interesting - I saw an old Guild bass at a store while I was living in Japan - I think it was a JS-II - and it had a single piece of wood for the bridge piece, which was the main reason I didn't get it - I wonder if they put a Hagstrom bridge piece on it? Or if they just made it themselves...
 

mellowgerman

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Frono, they are indeed controls. There's an on/off switch for each pickup, a tone switch, a mute switch, and a volume knob.
I agree that it's ugly, but I love the ugliness. It's like an adorable little ugly duckling :D

As for the one-piece rosewood saddle, I just strung it up with some strings (as well as I could with that faulty tuner and all) but it seems to intonate really well. In other news, it appears the neck pickup that's still on it is DOA. So this one will probably end up just having one darkstar.
 
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Mellow, very sweet bass. It definitely won't be mistaken for a fender anytime soon with that pickguard- but I actually like the pickguard- although it is an ugly ducking. It's quite unique.

I knew a guy who had a guitar with a pickguard like that. I don't think it was a hagstrom. It looked like a imitation- it was covered in acrylic paint (red body, black neck) and it looked like it was made out of plastic.

I'm veeraholic. please help me.
 

mellowgerman

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Got another one 8)
Sort of a Christmas present and sort of not.
A friend of my dad's plays bass and has a whole room full. Last time I jammed with him I played his Gibby Thunderbird and dug it thoroughly. Fast forward to shortly before Christmas, my dad's friend heard about my job-loss/having-to-sell-the-starfire, so what ended up happening is that my Christmas present from my parents was the first payment on the Thunderbird, making it mine to keep. Only thing is I have to pay the rest of the money over time. No pressure, just whenever I get a new job and am able to start in on it. What an amazing instrument. Here she is (in all her white-plush-lined-fitted-case glory)!
DSC_0265.jpg
 

Happy Face

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Nice aquisition!!

How does the neck feel in your hand versus the old Starfire? Does it feel like an EB-3, sorta fat but not too wide?

Thanks.
 

mellowgerman

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Happy Face said:
Nice aquisition!!

How does the neck feel in your hand versus the old Starfire? Does it feel like an EB-3, sorta fat but not too wide?

Thanks.


neck feels great -- a lot like how I remember my epiphone eb-3 neck from days of past. very comfortable.
the main difference i had to get used to was the extra 3.5" of neck :wink:
 

adorshki

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mellowgerman said:
Happy Face said:
Nice aquisition!!

How does the neck feel in your hand versus the old Starfire? Does it feel like an EB-3, sorta fat but not too wide?

Thanks.


neck feels great -- a lot like how I remember my epiphone eb-3 neck from days of past. very comfortable.
the main difference i had to get used to was the extra 3.5" of neck :wink:
Like I said on another thread, sometimes you're supposed to adjust to the guitar, not the other way 'round! :wink:
 

mellowgerman

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adorshki said:
Like I said on another thread, sometimes you're supposed to adjust to the guitar, not the other way 'round! :wink:

of course. otherwise i'd still be playing my '99 squier p bass :lol:
 

mellowgerman

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moved this post to the mug shots category. figured our 6-stringer friends might get a kick out of it too :)
 
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