Ampeg AUB-1 Electric Bass Guitar (1967)
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Item # 9503
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Ampeg AUB-1 Model Electric Bass Guitar (1967), made in Linden NJ, serial # 428, red/black sunburst finish, laminated maple body, maple neck with ebony fingerboard, original black gig bag case.
This is a very nice example of an original fretless Ampeg AUB-1 (Ampeg Unfretted Bass #1), the company's first production "horizontal" bass. While Ampeg had prospered with amplifiers since the 1950s, they had made only half-hearted attempts to market instruments before 1966. The first was the fiberglass upright electric "Baby Bass" in 1961, and then they dabbled with importing re-branded Burns of London guitars. After that experiment ended, Ampeg decided to create a truly unique original design for bassists exclusively. These Ampeg basses were launched at the 1966 NAMM show with some fanfare and have become a '60s classic, although never mounting serious competition to the Fender Precision or Jazz bass that dominated the market.
These models were designed primarily by Ampeg employee Dennis Kager, but the instrument's character was strongly shaped by company founder Everett Hull's extreme distaste for the Fender bass. Hull was a purist who considered the upright bass to be the only legitimate low end instrument, and wanted to cater to traditional jazz and even classical players! To this end, this first Ampeg "Horizontal Bass" does not have a conventional magnetic pickup. It utilizes the same vibration-activated "Mystery Pickup" located under the bridge as the upright Baby Bass, allowing use of gut strings as well as steel. This point Hull insisted on, much to the chagrin of his employees who knew rock'n'roll players were the mass market. The unique scrolled headstock was another nod to bass tradition added on to Kager's design.
Ampeg had these instruments in production by late 1966, offering fretted and fretless models designated the AEB-1 and AUB-1. The fretless bass was a genuine innovation, designed to help upright players transition to the electric with the familiar microtonal fingerboard retained. This was a direct opposite concept to Fender's fretted "Precision" bass. Unfortunately in the ever higher-volume playing environments of the late 1960s, the rather microphonic and fairly low output pickup proved somewhat impractical and the instrument was re-designed in late 1967 to use a more a conventional magnetic pickup. Pickup oddities aside, the rest of the design is extremely well-engineered and quite functional.
This bass is a wonderful example of the first fretless mystery-pickup model. The unusual offset body is built of laminate woods; the most notable feature is the large open f-holes cut in either side. The maple neck has a rosewood fingerboard inlaid only on the top edge with tiny dots to mark the positions. The bridge unit is milled aluminum and adjustable for height and intonation. The strings run to a separate heavy tailpiece mounted off the bottom of the body which can be adjusted to put more or less tension on the bridge. This setup requires special extra-long strings, although the scale length is the same as a Fender at 34". The serial number is stamped under the tailpiece bar. Even the bridge cover (rarely found intact) is interesting; it has individual foam mutes mounted underneath, and can be slid back or forward to increase or decrease the effect.
This bass has a sound somewhere in between a fretless bass guitar and an upright. The acoustic-y twang of the "mystery" unit can be mellowed using the volume and tone controls, but it does take some experience to understand how to get a variety of sounds from the instrument. The combination of the fretless fingerboard and bridge mutes can create a fairly convincing electric upright sound if used carefully, just as Everett Hull envisioned. While admittedly not to every taste, the original AUB-1 is a connoisseur's delight for the bassist with an eye to its unique character and history.
Overall length is 47 in. (119.4 cm.), 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 34 1/2 in. (876 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This bass shows some wear overall but remains nicely original and unaltered. These Ampeg "Scroll" basses have often fallen into disrepair or been modified over the last 50+ years; it is always a treat to find a well-preserved original like this. The bass has some typical linear finish checking, but by and large the original lacquer is well-preserved. Ampeg were new to finishing wood in 1966 and many early examples have significant finish loss or have been refinished due to the lacquer simply peeling off. This bass is mostly free of this cracking and flaking to the lacquer; there is some chipping along the rim, more from general wear than finish flaking, and the only significant loss is to the bottom edge of the body.
Beyond that, the bass shows some general play wear overall, with small chips to the headstock, neck, and one larger spot of loss to the topcoat at the rear base of the scroll. The back of the neck is checked but shows very little wear; there is a spot worn through the finish on the side of the neck over the body where a player rested their thumb. The hard plastic pickguard and neck backplate each have a small wear spot through the top layer. The fingerboard is well-preserved and the bass appears to have always been played with flatwound strings as there is no rutting of the board at all. The bass is still set up with a set of vintage (possible factory) flatwound strings that remain in good playing condition.
All hardware is also original and complete including the sliding bridge cover and mute bar, which is often gone by now but is still intact and working on this bass. This feature is actually particularly useful on the AUB-1, as it greatly aids in controlling the sound, especially if upright emulation is the goal. This AUB-1 a very good player, eccentric-sounding for sure, but it performs exactly as intended. A superb example of this unique New Jersey creation and one of the most interesting and distinctive of all vintage American basses.
The extremely rare original heavy padded vinyl gig bag has some wear but is intact and functional. The lower half of the zipper is jammed but the bag can still be fully closed to contain the bass using the upper tab. This is the only one of these we have ever seen, and it certainly saves storage space over the large and cumbersome HSC it was the only alternative to. A very worn original warranty card and two adjustment wrenches are in the pocket. Excellent - Condition.
This is a very nice example of an original fretless Ampeg AUB-1 (Ampeg Unfretted Bass #1), the company's first production "horizontal" bass. While Ampeg had prospered with amplifiers since the 1950s, they had made only half-hearted attempts to market instruments before 1966. The first was the fiberglass upright electric "Baby Bass" in 1961, and then they dabbled with importing re-branded Burns of London guitars. After that experiment ended, Ampeg decided to create a truly unique original design for bassists exclusively. These Ampeg basses were launched at the 1966 NAMM show with some fanfare and have become a '60s classic, although never mounting serious competition to the Fender Precision or Jazz bass that dominated the market.
These models were designed primarily by Ampeg employee Dennis Kager, but the instrument's character was strongly shaped by company founder Everett Hull's extreme distaste for the Fender bass. Hull was a purist who considered the upright bass to be the only legitimate low end instrument, and wanted to cater to traditional jazz and even classical players! To this end, this first Ampeg "Horizontal Bass" does not have a conventional magnetic pickup. It utilizes the same vibration-activated "Mystery Pickup" located under the bridge as the upright Baby Bass, allowing use of gut strings as well as steel. This point Hull insisted on, much to the chagrin of his employees who knew rock'n'roll players were the mass market. The unique scrolled headstock was another nod to bass tradition added on to Kager's design.
Ampeg had these instruments in production by late 1966, offering fretted and fretless models designated the AEB-1 and AUB-1. The fretless bass was a genuine innovation, designed to help upright players transition to the electric with the familiar microtonal fingerboard retained. This was a direct opposite concept to Fender's fretted "Precision" bass. Unfortunately in the ever higher-volume playing environments of the late 1960s, the rather microphonic and fairly low output pickup proved somewhat impractical and the instrument was re-designed in late 1967 to use a more a conventional magnetic pickup. Pickup oddities aside, the rest of the design is extremely well-engineered and quite functional.
This bass is a wonderful example of the first fretless mystery-pickup model. The unusual offset body is built of laminate woods; the most notable feature is the large open f-holes cut in either side. The maple neck has a rosewood fingerboard inlaid only on the top edge with tiny dots to mark the positions. The bridge unit is milled aluminum and adjustable for height and intonation. The strings run to a separate heavy tailpiece mounted off the bottom of the body which can be adjusted to put more or less tension on the bridge. This setup requires special extra-long strings, although the scale length is the same as a Fender at 34". The serial number is stamped under the tailpiece bar. Even the bridge cover (rarely found intact) is interesting; it has individual foam mutes mounted underneath, and can be slid back or forward to increase or decrease the effect.
This bass has a sound somewhere in between a fretless bass guitar and an upright. The acoustic-y twang of the "mystery" unit can be mellowed using the volume and tone controls, but it does take some experience to understand how to get a variety of sounds from the instrument. The combination of the fretless fingerboard and bridge mutes can create a fairly convincing electric upright sound if used carefully, just as Everett Hull envisioned. While admittedly not to every taste, the original AUB-1 is a connoisseur's delight for the bassist with an eye to its unique character and history.
Overall length is 47 in. (119.4 cm.), 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 34 1/2 in. (876 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This bass shows some wear overall but remains nicely original and unaltered. These Ampeg "Scroll" basses have often fallen into disrepair or been modified over the last 50+ years; it is always a treat to find a well-preserved original like this. The bass has some typical linear finish checking, but by and large the original lacquer is well-preserved. Ampeg were new to finishing wood in 1966 and many early examples have significant finish loss or have been refinished due to the lacquer simply peeling off. This bass is mostly free of this cracking and flaking to the lacquer; there is some chipping along the rim, more from general wear than finish flaking, and the only significant loss is to the bottom edge of the body.
Beyond that, the bass shows some general play wear overall, with small chips to the headstock, neck, and one larger spot of loss to the topcoat at the rear base of the scroll. The back of the neck is checked but shows very little wear; there is a spot worn through the finish on the side of the neck over the body where a player rested their thumb. The hard plastic pickguard and neck backplate each have a small wear spot through the top layer. The fingerboard is well-preserved and the bass appears to have always been played with flatwound strings as there is no rutting of the board at all. The bass is still set up with a set of vintage (possible factory) flatwound strings that remain in good playing condition.
All hardware is also original and complete including the sliding bridge cover and mute bar, which is often gone by now but is still intact and working on this bass. This feature is actually particularly useful on the AUB-1, as it greatly aids in controlling the sound, especially if upright emulation is the goal. This AUB-1 a very good player, eccentric-sounding for sure, but it performs exactly as intended. A superb example of this unique New Jersey creation and one of the most interesting and distinctive of all vintage American basses.
The extremely rare original heavy padded vinyl gig bag has some wear but is intact and functional. The lower half of the zipper is jammed but the bag can still be fully closed to contain the bass using the upper tab. This is the only one of these we have ever seen, and it certainly saves storage space over the large and cumbersome HSC it was the only alternative to. A very worn original warranty card and two adjustment wrenches are in the pocket. Excellent - Condition.