I actually got this on March 31st, the thread blew up on TalkBass and I didn't want to post it on April Fool's Day hah.
First, story time. I bought this the day before Russia attacked Ukraine, got the tracking number and everything. I did not expect to ever see it, and did not even consider trying for a refund, either, and just hoped the seller got out/safe. I even messaged them to forget the bass and just get safe if possible. I just hoped the money helped them in some way. Finally, mid-March the tracking number updated; Zaporizhzya (where the nuclear plant was hit and caught fire). Wow. Then Dnipro. Then a few days later, Lviv. Lviv was hit by missiles the next day. I was basically envisioning this like Saving Private Ryan with a bass guitar strapped to someone's back. A few days later it said out of the country; the Ukrainian Post is hardcore lol. It hit the US, and after a doorbell SNAFU, I got it today.
I don't normally name instruments (except The Beast, my big heavy 6-string Carvin/Kiesel) but I'm initially calling this one Baba Yaga lol, but might give it a more themed name for where it came from. Who knows. It's also a short to medium scale. Anyway!
Property of the State:
Yes, the small neck plate is stock. People keep saying it's not, but there are others with the same thing. The pocket behind the neck is for a battery, and then it looks like an entire cover went over that whole assembly.
They used to have 5-pin jacks:
*pats hood* This baby has so much patina
The middle three switches are on/off for the pickups, which I confirmed do work. The lower three were for the non-existing boost, phaser, and glissando effects. The 1/4" jack is garbage and needs to be replaced; it won't hold/capture the cable plug >_>
This bridge is rough and missing a saddle with a shitty makeshift replacement:
That body/neck joint is thicc:
But the screws stripped out of the neck when I put a little pressure on the end of the neck. No way would it have held string tension and might have slapped me in the head lol. But it's a project and while I had a slight hope it might be playable, I went in knowing that and mostly just wanted an old, beat up bass on the cheap.
Not much screw into the meat of the neck... I can fix it, though.
It is, without a doubt, the biggest piece of shit instrument I have ever owned LOL... It was made in Belarus between 1989 and 1993 and sold for 180 Rubles. I'm not doing anything too crazy with it, just going to do enough work to get it into playable condition. I verified the pickups work, found which knob is volume and tone. I printed the tracking history to put into the cavity, and at most I might paint the pickguard like the Ukrainian flag or make a replacement. I may also print in 3 languages "Russian warship, go fuck yourself" to put into the cavity XD Maybe glue in some sunflower seeds. Oh yeah, it came with a single flat wound string, the worst-feeling flat I have ever touched, and instead of a ball end it had a hunk of metal soldered/welded onto the end
Maybe it's a halvsie, I don't know.
Nut is 44mm wide, and spacing at the bridge is like 14-55mm. The bridge is 79-80mm pole to pole centers, so no, a tune-o-matic is not an easy replacement. I've been told similar saddle designs were used on 60s Japanese guitars.
First, story time. I bought this the day before Russia attacked Ukraine, got the tracking number and everything. I did not expect to ever see it, and did not even consider trying for a refund, either, and just hoped the seller got out/safe. I even messaged them to forget the bass and just get safe if possible. I just hoped the money helped them in some way. Finally, mid-March the tracking number updated; Zaporizhzya (where the nuclear plant was hit and caught fire). Wow. Then Dnipro. Then a few days later, Lviv. Lviv was hit by missiles the next day. I was basically envisioning this like Saving Private Ryan with a bass guitar strapped to someone's back. A few days later it said out of the country; the Ukrainian Post is hardcore lol. It hit the US, and after a doorbell SNAFU, I got it today.
I don't normally name instruments (except The Beast, my big heavy 6-string Carvin/Kiesel) but I'm initially calling this one Baba Yaga lol, but might give it a more themed name for where it came from. Who knows. It's also a short to medium scale. Anyway!
Property of the State:
Yes, the small neck plate is stock. People keep saying it's not, but there are others with the same thing. The pocket behind the neck is for a battery, and then it looks like an entire cover went over that whole assembly.
They used to have 5-pin jacks:
*pats hood* This baby has so much patina
The middle three switches are on/off for the pickups, which I confirmed do work. The lower three were for the non-existing boost, phaser, and glissando effects. The 1/4" jack is garbage and needs to be replaced; it won't hold/capture the cable plug >_>
This bridge is rough and missing a saddle with a shitty makeshift replacement:
That body/neck joint is thicc:
But the screws stripped out of the neck when I put a little pressure on the end of the neck. No way would it have held string tension and might have slapped me in the head lol. But it's a project and while I had a slight hope it might be playable, I went in knowing that and mostly just wanted an old, beat up bass on the cheap.
Not much screw into the meat of the neck... I can fix it, though.
It is, without a doubt, the biggest piece of shit instrument I have ever owned LOL... It was made in Belarus between 1989 and 1993 and sold for 180 Rubles. I'm not doing anything too crazy with it, just going to do enough work to get it into playable condition. I verified the pickups work, found which knob is volume and tone. I printed the tracking history to put into the cavity, and at most I might paint the pickguard like the Ukrainian flag or make a replacement. I may also print in 3 languages "Russian warship, go fuck yourself" to put into the cavity XD Maybe glue in some sunflower seeds. Oh yeah, it came with a single flat wound string, the worst-feeling flat I have ever touched, and instead of a ball end it had a hunk of metal soldered/welded onto the end
Maybe it's a halvsie, I don't know.
Nut is 44mm wide, and spacing at the bridge is like 14-55mm. The bridge is 79-80mm pole to pole centers, so no, a tune-o-matic is not an easy replacement. I've been told similar saddle designs were used on 60s Japanese guitars.
