Found this guy while surfing eBay. Pretty interesting pickup choice; I’d love to hear some sound clips….

Check out the auction for more photos: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200385919293

Click for Auction Link.

I guess if the second pickup is legit, the model would technically be an EB-6D?

Either way, it’s a rare bird indeed:

Here’s the link, for as long as it lasts: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270244556826

This is a super rare ’60s Danelectro Coral prototype Vincent Bell style 60s prototype bass guitar. I think that this was an experiment. Basically the folks at Dano took a guitar body and put a Wasp bass neck on it. Please see the last pic, it’s of a prototype sitar with the same type of plastic lable.

I’ve used it to play gigs, and it’s a real attention grabber. I always get looks and comments from other musicians.
It’s so big that I’ve named it “The Boat”.

Here is some history from its previous owner…

…in 1986 Chris Lukasik (now deceased) and I went to Cecil Gullickson’s(now deceased) warehouse in Orlando, Florida and found two of these (I sold the other to the bass player for EmmyLou Harris). Cecil had bought a lot of the defunct Dano inventory and moved it to Orlando to market his then very novel guitar synthesizer(actually used by Steve Miller on an early album). His synth did not become successful as did later ones marketed by Roland, etc. and we bought his inventory. I kept this all those years, sold all the rest. I don’t think there were tuners on it in 1986. I have forgotten the history of the tuners, and one of the pickups I think went dead over the years and chris replaced it, can not remember which one.

The bass makes use of a Coral neck married to an archtop acoustic guitar body with two Dano single-coils mounted in the soundhole. I bet this thing sounds awesome. On to the pics:

Auction Link: VINTAGE 60s CORAL DANELECTRO ACOUSTIC ELEC. BASS GUITAR

I wish they’d made the body a little larger, so the neck didn’t look quite so huge. Imagine if the body was the same size as say, a Gretsch G6073. I’d slap some Dark Stars in that puppy and rock heck out of it.

Maybe I should start and all-bass three-piece bluegrass band……one guy would play a Morgan Monroe F Basses, one on a Deering Banjo Bass, and the last guy on a Martin 00C-16GTAE…….

Anyways, you can check out the auction here, and the Morgan Monroe product page here.

At first glance, this bass appears to be a your standard, run-of-the mill, uber expensive and collectible Rickenbacker 4005 hollowbody bass.

But the bass sleuths among us will quickly pick up on the Gibson mudbucker and mini humbucker pickup combination that were installed on this bass. I wonder how the bass sounds when compared against a stock 4005.

If any Rickenbacker enthusiasts are looking at these images, they’ve probably just thrown up on their keyboards, right before the massive brain hemoraging ensued.

This auction is no longer listed in eBay’s completed items because it’s over a month old, so no link. But it did sell for a hefty $2,500.

The builder really went all out for this one. Headstock has matching sparkle silver paint, chrome-covered Jazz Bass pickups and white vinyl covering on the sides. (Coincidentally, the vinyl on this custom bass is more true to the original Danelectro’s than the tape used on the reissues.)

The auction ended with no bids (had a starting bid of $399). Check it out here.

See the auction (with a few hours left): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&viewitem=&item=120098396941 

What you have below is the only example I’ve ever seen of a Firstman “Baron” hollow body bass. Until now, I’ve only seen or heard of the Firstman brand name in reference to the “Liverpool” guitar model. Furthermore, I’d only seen this body style with a Greco badge on a Rickenbacker-esque headstock (and usually finished in greenburst or redburst). (The Greco model was called the “Shrike.” This Firstman version sports a transparent red finish and a Mosrite-esque headstock. Check her out:

Since this bass was listed as a “Firstman,” it sold for half of what I would have expected a Greco version to go for. So congrats to bidder “cdn92140e36″ for his win. You can see the full auction here.

For example of a Greco Shrike, click to see this insanely over-priced listing for a greenburst Shrike.

Lastly, here’s the Firstman Liverpool guitar I mentioned above:

I love it. So exaggerated. So pointy.

Here’s the description from the auction:

NECK – “D” Shape Set Neck made of Curly Maple and cherry. Features valute proper and offset tuners on unique shape Cherry Clad Headstock. Fretless Fingerboard made of Hickory with Maple Binding. 33″ Scale. 12″ Radius, 23 Dot Inlay Face Markers made of Brazilian Cherry. Oxblood Corian Nut. 2-Way adjustable Trussrod with Tortoise on white on black Trussrod Cover.

BODY – Viola Shape Mono Frame Hollow Chambered Construction with solid wood blocking at the Neck Pocket and the Bridge thru Tailpin areas. The face is made of bookmatched Brazilian Cherry with Bentwood subtle arch shape. Features two large Traditional F Holes. The left side upper bout has flat shape to accomodate side mount controls.

The middle mono frame wood is made of Curly Maple and Alder.

The back is made of 3 piece Curly Cherry. Features bevel arch carved perimeter.

ELECTRONICS – Artec Piezo Pickup with 4 Band Preamp. Features 9-Volt Battery Box, Master Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence Slide Controls. 1/4″ Side Mount Input Jack with oval shape chrome plate.

The finish is a hand rubbed Satin Oil polished out with Carnuba Wax. This is a beautiful finish that lets the wood breath and allows for natural resonation and sustain of the selected mixture of tone woods. It is more resistant to scratches and dents than tradtional lacquer or polyeurethane finishes. It is easily maintained with lemon oil polish.

This one is definately unique. Not sure that I’m a big fan of it, but I can appreciate the concept. The auction has already ended, but if you really want one, it should be easy enough to contact the builder. Just don’t let them inlay “UG” on the headstock.