Couldn't help myself after culling 23 bass ukes, I'm adding 2.

[KohanMike]

A few weeks ago I got rid of 23 of my 31 bass ukes/mini bass guitars, staying with 8 of my 21" scale piezo, but today while hanging at Eric's Guitar while he fixed the pickup on my walnut gypsy jazz, we got to talking about the great work he has done, and Pat Wilkins painting too. My wheels started turning and after some design and mod thoughts, and seeing that Rondo still has a Hofner style bass uke on sale ($199.95), I decided to go for it (yes, I really, really like those Hadean Hofner copies, especially with Eric replacing the floating semi-adjustable wood bridge with a fully adjustable metal one, which he's doing to the others too). But, I can't just get one, I always want an even number when presenting my collection, with the images nice and symmetrical. So I also ordered another 21" solid body bass uke from eBay (also $199.95).

One of the basses I gave up, I had Eric modify to look like a Fender Jaguar guitar, but the Jaguar has a particular body shape with short horns, and mine had standard length horns. What started my GAS was one of the bass ukes I kept, a grey one, I had shortened the horns long ago, which made it perfect for creating the Jaguar style. I'm going have Eric and Pat modify that one the Jaguar, have them modify new solid body to look like the old grey one, and also mod the Hofner, plus a complete paint job (though I'm not totally sold on the green, I tried purple, but didn't like it, at least the green I can play on St. Patrick's Day as well). Here are rough mockups of the three basses.

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Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 3 thinline acoustic bass ukes, 5 solid body bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[Patty]

A few weeks ago I got rid of 23 of my 31 bass ukes/mini bass guitars, staying with 8 of my 21" scale piezo, but today while hanging at Eric's Guitar while he fixed the pickup on my walnut gypsy jazz, we got to talking about the great work he has done, and Pat Wilkins painting too. My wheels started turning and after some design and mod thoughts, and seeing that Rondo still has a Hofner style bass uke on sale ($199.95), I decided to go for it (yes, I really, really like those Hadean Hofner copies, especially with Eric replacing the floating semi-adjustable wood bridge with a fully adjustable metal one, which he's doing to the others too). But, I can't just get one, I always want an even number when presenting my collection, with the images nice and symmetrical. So I also ordered another 21" solid body bass uke from eBay (also $199.95).

One of the basses I gave up, I had Eric modify to look like a Fender Jaguar guitar, but the Jaguar has a particular body shape with short horns, and mine had standard length horns. What started my GAS was one of the bass ukes I kept, I had shortened the horns long ago, which made it perfect for creating the Jaguar style. I'm going have Eric and Pat change the new solid body to look like the one that will become the Jaguar, and also mod the Hofner, plus a complete paint job (though I'm not totally sold on the green, I tried purple, but didn't like it, at least the green I can play on St. Patrick's Day as well). Here are rough mockups of the three basses.

View attachment 144589

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Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 3 thinline acoustic bass ukes, 5 solid body bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

That green one with the violin/cello stylings is smashing! … And I love the color. Very distinguished.

 

[Jim Hanks]

And so it begins again

 

[KohanMike]

That green one with the violin/cello stylings is smashing! … And I love the color. Very distinguished.

Thanks Patty, that helps. I may add the Hofner style tail piece, attached.

And so it begins again

Yep Jim, "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in..." Even for a just few weeks, I kept thinking about doing more, yesterday's conversation sealed the deal. Doing these really keeps my juices flowing. This might be enough, but we'll see how long that will last.

 

[don_b]

We have very similar tastes in electric instruments

 

[bbkobabe]

You are insatiable... not that this is a bad thing!

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Nice mods. Can you get me info on the metal bridge unit? I have use for one.

 

[KohanMike]

Nice mods. Can you get me info on the metal bridge unit? I have use for one.

I get them from Thompson Guitar. The bridge is made in Korea. Chrome is available, black is on backorder.

Piezo 4 String Bass Bridge Pickup

Piezo 4-String Bass Bridge Pickup Available in chrome and black Top-load design High quality, made in Korea Specs: Screw spacing (outside screws) 55.5mm String spacing: 19mm Overall width: 92mm If you want some super unique bass tones….like the “only kid on your block” bass tones, you really...

www.thompsonguitarandthrift.com

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Excellent! Thanks

 

[steve-o-reno]

More cool basses! You have such a great eye for design and mods. I'm one of the fortunate ones to grab a couple of the basses that Mike cleared out a while back. They are very cool and so much fun to play. Mike, I'm glad your juices are flowing again!

 

[John Stephen]

Hey Mike, I realize this is a nine-month-old thread, but I'm curious as to how you got rid of 23 instruments. I have reached a point where I want to thin out the herd, and am wondering how to get started.

 

[KohanMike]

Hey Mike, I realize this is a nine-month-old thread, but I'm curious as to how you got rid of 23 instruments. I have reached a point where I want to thin out the herd, and am wondering how to get started.

At first I put them on the Talk Bass forum classified. After the first few that had to be shipped, as far as Switzerland (I hadn't done any shipping since before covid), I found it was a royal pain in the rear to get them packaged and shipped, with delays like crazy and really expensive, so I changed to Craig's List local pickup only (Los Angeles). I was also very anxious to let them go and sold them each for $100 cash, no matter what they cost me. They were gone in a few days.

 

[John Stephen]

Thanks Mike -- that's a good strategy. I'll think along those lines when I start culling the herd.

 

[quiltingshirley]

Sounds right to me!