Below are a couple of quick photos of the most recent acquisitions to my tookbox. I picked up the 84 Shortscale SC Series I in Chicago and its Koa top and back are just beautiful. It came in great shape and plays like a dream.The Standard point is a 76 Series I with a Lacewood top and back that began life as a fretted instrument and was declawed/unfretted in 1978. I almost never got to this one because I was considering an early 90s Elan with upgraded electronics that I found on Craiglist in New Hampshire. However, the seller was asking somewhat above what I thought the bass was worth so I waited. Less than 2-weeks later, Henry Heillig from Toronto who used to play with Manteca posted on the site that he had a Series I or II, but wasn’t sure. The minute I heard that it was unfretted I jumped on it. It’s a bit road worn, but in a lot better shape than Henry led me to believe. I paid a VERY reasonable price of $1,200 U.S. for it so thought I would be getting something that immediately needed work, but it plays extremely well with a neck that is much more to my liking than another Standpoint I purchased a few years ago. I brought it to band practice Thursday evening along with my Rob Allen (with La Bella 760n nylon coated strings that everyone in the band had indicated they really liked – “sounds a bit like an upright”) and even with 20-year old strings that weren’t even flatwounds with no coating everyone thought is sounded great and fit right in with the newgrass we are playing. Whether it’s the neck, the “Alembic,” or some unknown “other” factor the bass and my playing got a two thumbs up from everyone and several, “what took you so long to get one of these” comments.
