Premier Bantam Bass (1950s/early '60s) Natural, Very Good, Hard, $1,600.00

This gorgeous 1950s/early 1960s Bantam bass is an incredibly hard-to-find hollowbody bass with a unique feel and sound! Premier was a brand manufactured by the NYC-based Multivox Company. It has a natural blonde finish and a fabulous gold sparkle pickguard. This bass may be small but it sports a thick chunky neck that is incredibly comfortable to long thin fingered fellows like myself. It measures roughly 1 17/32th” at the nut and features large pearloid dot inlays. The single neck-positioned DeArmond-designed pickup and smaller semi-hollow body give this baby a full and deep thumpy tone that would be great for jazz, r&b, country, and swing! In addition to that it I currently strung with flat-wound strings, adding to that warm rounded sound. The headstock sports the Premier logo and ornately designed Grover Imperial tuning machines. The tuning machines and stop tail piece give this beauty a distinct art-deco vibe that is dripping with vintage cool. The bass weighs in at a comfortable 6 pounds 4 ounces. The binding around the neck and body has yellowed somewhat with the passage of time and has a few spots around the body where it is separating very slightly. There are two small cracks in the body; one that runs under the lower strap button and another that runs beneath the output jack (see photos). The frets have some wear but the bass plays great with just a bit of buzziness above the 12th fret in a few spots. This is an extremely rare bird that oozes vintage cool! Includes non-original hard shell case.