Vintage 1968 Kustom USA K200 Bass Wineburst Finish w Dearmond Pickups + Original Case Rare Model

Vintage 1968 Kustom USA K200 Bass Wineburst Finish with Dearmond Pickups + Original Case Rare Model

Incredibly rare, short scale, semi hollow bass in “WineBurst” green to purple burst finish. These are built similarly to the Rickenbacker 300 series guitars, with very thin hollow bodies carved from solid maple blocks with hollow chambers inside, and a single slash "cats eye" sound hole. All electronics work as intended and bass is a lot of fun to play.

I’ve owned the bass about 7 years now. The original trapeze tailpiece was missing and had been replaced with a Japanese Teisco tailpiece with original cover and foam mute. Although not original, this tailpiece works well with the overall aesthetic and performance of the bass. The Schaller tuners are not original and the shaft holes on headstock have been enlarged to accommodate these tuners. The tuners work very well and are inverted on back as are the other examples of K200 basses. The pickguard is a replacement.

When I received the bass it had a crack on back of neck near the heel. I had the neck professionally repaired by local luthier and esteemed guitar historian, Lynn Wheelwright. Please look him up if he isn’t familiar to you. Lynn has written many articles for various guitar publications and has had quite a few interviews and articles with Reverb. Lynn did a fabulous job on the neck; it is smooth and it is stable. Neck is straight, frets have some indentations but plenty of life left.

Comes with red lined hardshell case with Kustom plate. Case has some wear but all latches and hinges work and handle is secure.

Last picture shown for reference only and is not included.

Here’s some interesting history I found while searching for info online:

“Kustom guitars debuted in the summer of 1968. They were semi-hollow bodies made of four pieces of wood. Two were laminated together and hollowed out, making a front, another two a back, then glued together to complete the body. The thin fast necks were bolted on and have a curved truss rod design. Pickups were DeArmond, vibratos by Bigsby. Input for the design was provided by none other than country guitar wizard Roy Clark, who claimed to take the best features of some of his favorite electric guitars and modify them to make them even better.

It’s easy to see why someone would think that either Rickenbacker or Moseley (Mosrite) had something to do with these guitars. The body with its single cats-eye sound hole is similar in design to Rickenbacker’s, even the knobs emulate Rickenbacker. The neck is skinny and very fast, two piece maple with zero fret has a feel & similar details to Mosrite’s. However, these were the original (wherever they got their inspiration) and hail from Kansas.

The guitar came with dual single coil DeArmond pickups that were designed to one-up or better the Rickenbacker sound. An adjustable bridge enables one to dial in intonation similar in design to Gretsch’s. A control panel on the guitars pick guard that included individual volume and tone controls for each pick up, a Gibson style toggle switch and a front mounted input jack. The bolt-on neck was topped with a rosewood fretboard inlaid with dot position markers. The neck was bound and had a steel nut.

Kustom guitars were really quite well made and are fascinating pieces of ‘60s American guitar history. Ross estimates that between 2000-3000 were produced between 1968 and ’69, though since it was really a small operation, those numbers are likely quite generous. They were basically distributed through Kustom amp dealers. “

This is a pre owned instrument that will show wear commensurate of age and use. There are dings, dents, scratches, paint chips, etc evident of a 55 year old instrument. Bass plays very well as is but any future, cleaning, setups, maintenance or repairs will be the new owners responsibility.

Please see pics and video for more details.

I am left handed but the bass is right handed and strung as intended for right handed players.

This listing is for the BASS + CASE only.

The guitar is listed in a separate listing and not included.

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International buyers are responsible for any taxes, duties, fees etc. I may be unable to ship to some countries because of size restrictions or other restrictions.