Silvertone Guitar

THIS is a rare bird. How many times do you find a "shark-fin" style BASS guitar on eBay? This is the only one I've seen in a couple of years.

So here you have it: a 100% original genuine Teisco "shark-fin" bass from the mid-1960s, with two massive pickups and the distinctive offset headstock with 3/1 tuner arrangement.  It's a beauty, with a deep blue metallic paint job, smooth rosewood fretboard with dot inlays, anodized aluminum pickguard with STRIPES, and lots of shiny chrome.  Please note that this is a SHORT-SCALE bass, measuring 30 inches from the nut to the bridge.  Though concealed by the chrome cover, that bridge has double saddles, adjustable for height and intonation.

I guess you know that Teisco (Tokyo Electrical Instrument Supply Company) built most of the coolest electric guitars in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s: the Silvertones, Harmony, Kay, and others. Then they also put their own brand on some of them, like this one.

Everything works the way it should.  There's very little fret wear and practically no fret buzzing, no scratchy pots, the tone and volume controls work fine, and the on/off switches turn on and off.  This is a really well-built instrument.  Those massive volume/tone knobs aren't plastic, by the way, but are solid knurled aluminum.  The massive tuners work smoothly.  And look, it's still got the little slip-on plastic switch covers AND the chrome-plated bridge cover, which are usually missing from these guitars.

Very good to excellent condition.  As you can see in the photos, there are a few dings here and there, mainly on the tips of the horns — or maybe they are called "fins" on this model.  The end of the headstock has gotten bumped a bit, but not too bad.  And if you look carefully at that photo showing the side of the neck, there's something like some specks of dark old tape residue alongside the neck for maybe two inches. You can barely feel it, and I have no idea what it was for.  There is NO evidence the neck was ever damaged or repaired.  And that four-bolt neck joint is solid as a rock.

The only thing that seems to be missing is the little metal badge that was stuck on the back, right below the bolt-on neckplate.  That told you what model this guitar was.  Since it was just glued on, it's often missing.  But the full-color metal Teisco badge is on the headstock, so you know this is a genuine Teisco, and not a Silvertone model.

It comes with a brand-new Musicians Friend bass guitar case — very nice, very sturdy, with good latches and a comfortable handle and a huge storage pocket with lid.  I just recently bought the case because I wanted to take better care of this fine guitar, but — dang it — now I've had a "financial reversal" and need to sell off part of my collection.  The bass has to go to a new home.

Winning bidder pays $30 for FedEx Ground shipping, so please be prepared to provide a phone number and other information I may need for the FedEx shipping forms.  Sorry, but no international bidders.  Please check my 100% positive feedback for more than 1,800 transactions and bid with confidence. Email me if you have any questions. Thanks for looking!