fretless M-85

hieronymous

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So, I quietly won the auction for the red fretless M-85 a couple of weeks ago. Actually, does it count as winning if you're the only bidder? :?: The good thing is, I got it for the opening bid price! Here's a pic from the auction:

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It just arrived today. So far, I like it! Haven't plugged it in yet though - I think I'll do that next. I have a couple of questions - it's my first M-85 (complements my Starfire I Bass nicely), but I will post those questions later.
 
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gilded

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How much does it weigh??

The only M85 I ever had was a boat anchor.............
 

hieronymous

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Thanks everybody! I was just playing it - fun little bass! It's not too heavy - I don't have a scale so I don't know exactly. I need to clean her up and put some new strings on.

One thing I noticed is that the tuning posts are much bigger on this bass (left) than on my '67 Starfire (right):

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I was also wondering about the truss rod cover - I took it off because I thought it was upside down - the skinnier part was towards the body. But the tuning post bushing (?) is so big that even with it turned the other way it doesn't fit all the way down. I was also surprised to see how differently shaped they are. It's interesting noticing all the subtle differences, like the thickness of the lettering, the coloring, etc.
 
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danerectal

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Your M-85 should also have a metal truss rod cover. That's why the tapered plastic one wouldn't fit. Even on my B-301, it's a close call on the TRC fit.
 

hieronymous

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danerectal said:
Your M-85 should also have a metal truss rod cover. That's why the tapered plastic one wouldn't fit. Even on my B-301, it's a close call on the TRC fit.

Thanks - so looks like I have to keep an eye out for a vintage one or maybe I should get one custom made, like out of wood or something...
 

hieronymous

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billbass1 said:
hieronymous said:
danerectal said:
Your M-85 should also have a metal truss rod cover. That's why the tapered plastic one wouldn't fit. Even on my B-301, it's a close call on the TRC fit.

Thanks - so looks like I have to keep an eye out for a vintage one ...

Real Good Luck in ever finding one ....

I was afraid someone might say that! That's why I think the custom route is the way to go. Thinking of putting Dark Stars in it anyway, plus the original pickup selector switch is missing (this is one of the ones with the red die in its place), so it's not like it's a mint collector piece. Maybe even an Alembic-style bridge and tailpiece? :twisted:
 

jp

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Congratulations on the score. It's really stunning! So is it a stock fretless? I know that the JS Bass had a fretless option.
 

danerectal

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hieronymous said:
maybe I should get one custom made, like out of wood or something...

A good call for that is to bring a tracing to a trophy shop. They should be able to cut it from the plate stock for a decent price. You could probably get pretty accurate too.
 

Happy Face

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That is a wonderful instrument.

Did you play a fretless before?
 

hieronymous

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Happy Face said:
That is a wonderful instrument.

Did you play a fretless before?

Thanks! I had a fretless in high school but never put in the work necessary to be able to play it adequately. Also, it didn't have fret lines so it was pretty hard to play. My Alembic doubleneck has a long scale fretless neck with side dots where each fret would be - I am able to play that instrument somewhat, as long as I practice.

I've been on the lookout for a short scale fretless, since most of my instruments now are short scale. This one is neat because it has dots for the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, etc. positions, but the dots are where the fret would be instead of in between like on a regular fretted bass. So far I'm enjoying it, but I want to clean it and put new strings on before I start messing with intonation. To answer jp's question, I'm pretty sure it's factory fretless.
 

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Way back in the day, the Trading Post in the old Pensauken Mart had a fretless Starfire with those black tape-wound strings. It was six or eight hundred, IIRC. What a great sounding bass!
 

jp

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hieronymous said:
To answer jp's question, I'm pretty sure it's factory fretless.
Learn something new about Guilds every day here. Would love to hear more about it once you get to know it better.
 

mgod

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Default said:
Way back in the day, the Trading Post in the old Pensauken Mart had a fretless Starfire with those black tape-wound strings. It was six or eight hundred, IIRC. What a great sounding bass!
My god, the Pennsauken mart.

DS
 

hieronymous

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Cleaned the body with Alembic Supreme Polish, the fingerboard with pure lemon oil. It looks so much better! Headstock still needs to be cleaned - waiting to take the strings off. And waiting to take the strings off for a day or so while I play it so that any extra lemon oil/fingerboard dirt comes off on the old strings. Probably report back in a few days, hopefully with new pics, especially since I cleaned the back yard a bit today...
 

fronobulax

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hieronymous said:
Cleaned the body with Alembic Supreme Polish, the fingerboard with pure lemon oil. It looks so much better! Headstock still needs to be cleaned - waiting to take the strings off. And waiting to take the strings off for a day or so while I play it so that any extra lemon oil/fingerboard dirt comes off on the old strings. Probably report back in a few days, hopefully with new pics, especially since I cleaned the back yard a bit today...

Waiting with bated breath...
 
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