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Just picked up my new (to me) MiJ 1974(?) Univox Hi-Flyer Bass.



The previous owner did some janky things... replaced the original pickups with Gretsch pickups (wired poorly), and he also used 34" flats on it, so they were wound awfully.

I'm looking for some more bass-correct P-90's to replace what's there. I strung it up with some D'Addario short scale half-rounds, and i think i'm gonna play it out tomorrow, along with another recent purchase (see below):



So far, combo is <3 I can't wait 'till i get the guts sorted out!

sick! I love that thing. Good score!

Nice RAT. What year is that one?

Pens wrote:Nice RAT. What year is that one?

It's one of the "Large Box Vintage Reissues" and mine's from 1992.

I've tried a few on bass, and this one has totally been the best match. I contacted the bassist of one of my favorite indie-pop bands inquiring what he used. He said it was that RAT model, an early 80's GK400rb (which, coincidentally, i've been using for a decade!) and a Mustang bass.

EDIT: I'm having trouble embedding a youtube video, but here's the band (Henry's Dress) with that RAT+Bass tone:

[video width=200 height=175][/video]

Ah. I have an '86 "edge release" with the newer small box, but with the vintage guts.

Congrats!

Whoa!

That bass is fantabulous! Did these come with the old school p-bass bridge ashtray, or is that an add-on? What kind of pickups would have come stock? And what's the scale length?

Very nice score!

Looks pretty sweet!

astro wrote:That bass is fantabulous! Did these come with the old school p-bass bridge ashtray, or is that an add-on? What kind of pickups would have come stock? And what's the scale length?

Very nice score!

1. Ashtray: As far as i know... yes. However, i have seen stock Hi-Flyers with both the '62 P bass ashtrays (like mine) as well as the 50's, "open back", style ashtray.

2. The stock pickups also changed. I forget which came first... but there were two styles. The first, which were on mine (seller included them) are a Humbucker-style pickup. The second style were a "bass P-90". I've heard these, and i'm scrounging around for one. IMHO, they sound terrific. The awesome company, Eastwood (www.eastwoodguitars.com) have a Hi-Flyer re-issue with bass p-90s. I contacted them asking if their bass P-90s will fit in with my Univox, they didn't know. So, now i'm on talkbass seeing if anyone can measure their Eastwood Hi-Flyer pickups... so, we'll see.

On that note, i've ALLLLLMOST bought one of the Eastwood Hi-Flyers, but i have a preference for maple fingerboards. So, i'm stoked i waited it out for the univox!

3. Scale Length: 30" scale, all the way!!


Some pictures to illustrate things:

This shows both the "50's style ashtray" as well as the "Univox Hi-Flyer Humbuckers" that mine have:


Here is (what i think pre-date the Humbuckers) a Univox Hi-Flyer with the "Bass P-90":


And here is what Eastwood is selling as a re-issue/re-release/re-make (also 30" scale!):

I absolutely love this bass; lookin forward to the pickup mod and following demo (hint!)

The Univox bass P90s and their rings both have a wider footprint than the Eastwood ones, so it won't be a direct retrofit. Ordinarily I'd suggest buying the new pickups/rings and seeing what you can do but given the amount of interplay between the neck and pickguard in this case I'd advise against that route. Shortscale member benecol had a most dissatisfactory customer service experience buying pickups from Eastwood as well.

That's disheartening... BUT, good to know, none the less.

I played it with the Gretsch pickups this past Saturday, and it sounded well enough.

But, I'm still going to be trying the original pickups over the next few days. So we'll see how that goes.