Brownsville Violin Bass (2/2) ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Brownsville Violin Bass (2/2)

Brownsville is maybe a house brand of Sam Ash. ( Brownsville is a section of Brooklyn NY, where Sam Ash started. ) I got this one cheap because it had a buzz that they couldn't figure out, which I correctly deduced was a bad string. I put a new set of flats on it right away anyhow. I don't remember what kind - flats is flats - I'm not critical enough to care about tiny variations of dull and thuddy.

Later, I added the pearl pickguard and changed the other bits to match. I kind of wish I hadn't done the thumb rest, but on such a cheap guitar you can do anything you want. A touch of linseed oil turned the rosewood into ebony, and it's permanent.

This is more like an Epiphone than a Hofner. It may actually be an Epiphone, they crank these out by the thousands in China, and put whoever's name on them - Turser, Rogue ... construction is 100% plywood, with plenty of dried polishing compound inside for extra tone. The finish is so thick, I think they dip them.

I just took a loupe to it, and the flamed maple is real. I would have guessed fake. There's a lot of nice binding too. The hardware is decent, the electronics are decent, there's nothing wrong with the neck. The logo looks like a pearl inlay, but I doubt it. All it really needed was a decent set of strings and a set up.

I really can't find a flaw anywhere. I don't understand how they can build such a quality instrument and sell it for next to nothing. I'd say this is at least as good as a low-end Hofner. With the flats and toneless humbuckers, it really nails that Beatles woody thump. Don't forget, in the sixties, Hofners were considered junk, and they're still making them the exact same way today. McCartney played one because they were willing to make him a lefty, and later gave him a second.

In the early sixties, American instruments were very hard to get in Europe. Rickenbacker first sent Macca a standard righty 4001. Imagine trying to play that upside down. They later made him a lefty, and he ditched the Hofners except for the rooftop gig. I think Fender was equally clueless. I guess there weren't very many pictures of the Beatles on the internet back then.

I once saw a kid slapping a violin bass in a store. That's just wrong. The greatest bass line of all time was played on a Hofner violin bass:

Notice the subtle changes in rhythm as the song progresses. McCartney wasn't a show-off, but he is one of the all-time greats.

For something similar, check out Rondo Music. ( Update: alas, no more. )

Update:

I noticed this thing was in need of some TLC and a better picture. So I polished it up with Lemon Pledge ( perfectly good guitar polish ) and re-oiled the fretboard with BLO. I also noticed that I had re-wired it at some point to Volume-Balance-Tone. Not diggin' those bland speed knobs though, I wonder what might be better.

So I looked through the parts box, and came up with these. The silver caps suggest teacups without being gold, while the small one in the middle and big ones on the ends suggests Hofner's control layout. Incidentally, Hofner's controls were transplanted directly from a guitar, and are fairly useless on a bass.

How are you s'posed to tell he's a lefty? Which one is the base player anyway? The one in the middle? These long-haired kids all look the same.

F.C. Hall - President of Rickenbacker **
"I do not like this music!"

** Actually Leo McKern as Klang in Help!

Unfortunately, early television was prone to technical glitches. As a result of the Ed Sullivan Show, Paul was thought to be right-handed until approximately 1965. In fact, he was left-handed until 1966.

Rickenbacker scientists had no small amount of difficulty building a left-handed model, but they persevered. These prototypes are preserved in the Rickenbacker Museum.

From top to bottom:

This was the initial attempt. To everyone's surprise, it proved to be right-handed.
Upon testing, Prototype 2 was also found to be right-handed.
Prototype 3 showed great promise, but was dangerously unplayable, resulting in a number of injuries and one death. Luckily, Ric's shrewd legal department had all participants sign waivers before testing.
Prototype 4 was an attempt to fix Prototype 3. It was abandoned when testing revealed it had no output jack.

There were many other expensive prototypes between 1964 and 1967.

Accounting finally decided it was close enough and shipped it. It was the end of the Hofner era. Ironically, by this time Paul had become right-handed. Note the awkward hand positions on the left-handed base. In this period, Ringo was also experimenting with being left-handed, but ultimately decided to quit playing the drums altogether.