sgt-pluck

[quote name='paul, the' post='144535' date='Feb 21 2008, 05:24 PM']pluck, did the jazz sounds come with non-jazz ultra pups as standard?[/quote] As far as I can make out (and this isn't gospel), there were a few special editions of Tokai's with Dimarzio's fitted, and I [i]think [/i]mine was one of them, although I don't think my pups are ultra's. Could be wrong though. I've had my bass apart when I first got it to restore it - and me and my old man reckoned the pups/wiring looked factory. I know that Tokai had a deal going on with Dimarzio during the early 80's, and I've also found a copy of Guitarist Magazine from the 80's which reviews a fretless Jazz Sound which came with Dim's (I think! Might have been EMG's) from the factory, so it wasn't unheard of for Tokai to release 'specials'. Pluck

[quote name='spinynorman' post='144329' date='Feb 21 2008, 12:58 PM']It puts the "proper bass players use their fingers" debate in some sort of context. I wonder what sort of market research Leo did for that design choice. Does anyone play bass like that?[/quote] I've seen John McVie play like that, and I saw a bassist playing along with Nina Simone on some video or other using the thumb technique. Tried it myself after seeing that video. Made a nice sound but felt weird and was very slow Pluck

Could be my Tokai Jazz Sound? Either way, I don't need much of an excuse to post pics of my baby up again Dimarzio pups, possibly factory-fitted, early 80's. It's a Bravewood scratchplate, unnecessarily expensive, but looks the business. Pluck

Great work - another one spits out the dust and battles onwards!!! I like the brownish tint to the sunburst, goes well with the maple neck. Very nice

I know this thread is mostly for UK Japcrap, but I thought I'd post [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220203009494&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=012"]this[/url] as it's an absolute beauty, and fairly rare too, and I'm struggling to keep my finger away from the trigger! Pluck

[quote name='steve' post='137686' date='Feb 10 2008, 05:09 PM']I've now finished removing the finish from the body.... before [attachment=5546:PIC_0542.JPG] during [attachment=5547:PIC_0543.JPG] after [attachment=5548:PIC_0545.JPG] I still need to sand out a few bits of black finish that were sprayed onto areas where the original clear finish had worn away I had to sand out the neck pocket slightly so the neck would fit. I'm having more thoughts about the finish to the body, I quite fancy getting a really dark grain filler (black?) and then staining the body with white woodstain to maintain the bleached out look. And then an oil finish. Any advice/warnings by anyone with more experience than me (that's everyone!) would be gratefully received[/quote] Hey hey - thats starting to look really interesting! Body looks great. Are you going to go for a Fender-style bridge for P-thud or something like a Badass? Also, where did you get the neck from, and is it P-style dimensions or thinner like a Jazz? Might be interested in doing a similar build/restoration. Pluck

He played bass in some early Bad Seeds incarnations - I think on Her To Eternity and The First Born Is Dead. I wouldn't recommend either specifically for the bass (although it works very well in the context of the Seeds sound), but I would recommend either album plus basically anything else Nick Cave ever did on the basis that the man is a genius in my book Pluck

There's a rough guide to Fender bass action set-up here. [url="http://www.fender.com/support/basses.php"]http://www.fender.com/support/basses.php[/url] Pluck

Well I won't be shedding any tears. Sounds harsh, but the few times I went in there I swore I'd never go back. The service wasn't just indifferent, it was bordering on being rude. As has already been mentioned - if their website doesn't improve pretty sharpish - they'll be finished, which can only be a good thing for all the shops/websites who [u]do[/u] make the extra effort for their customers Pluck

There's also this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140199305553&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004"]Tokai Jazz Sound[/url]. Looks right to me, same as mine only a bit earlier. It's a lot of money. Pluck

Looking good. Wonder how it'll sound....

Nice one Jon - keep the thread going and let us know how the restoration goes. I'll be doing something very similar to a Japcrap P-style bass. When I find the right one. BTW, I didn't go for that Roadster we were talking about. Also, the white P pups on your Cimar look identical to the 70's Dimarzio's on my Tokai ( apart from obviously mine a jazz ). Like [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1976-Dimarzio-P-Bass-Pickups_W0QQitemZ140191616806QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]these[/url]... The pups on my Tokai sound wonderful. Pluck

It's all horses for courses isn't really? Technically brilliant, I suppose, but musically that style of playing does nothing at all for me either. But just because I don't like it, it doesn't mean it's rubbish. I've had a life-long love affair with motorcycles, but I wouldn't be seen dead on a Harley, or anything that even vaguely resembles one. I'd get laughed at if I tried to convince the world that Harley's weren't real motorbikes or their riders not real bikers. ( Although believe it or not, this is in fact the case ) Pluck

[quote name='Bassassin' post='113422' date='Jan 4 2008, 11:09 AM']One of the many he repeatedly lists & unsurprisingly never seems to sell. He has a black one the same, too. That Antoria Jazz I posted up earlier, identical apart from the name & colour, went for £175 yesterday. J.[/quote] This Jazz looks like it has the very neck that has been grafted onto the Antoria Precision-style bass currently on t'Bay, and posted earlier ^^. Very strange outfit that music-outlet-shop. He always seems to post pics of his comically-priced equipment without strings. Why is that? Also he never bothers with decent pictures and there's usually only ever the one shot. I wonder if he ever sells anything? I suppose must do, he's been at it a while and his prices have always been very high. Strange. Pluck

[quote name='beerdragon' post='112310' date='Jan 2 2008, 02:29 PM']Someone in South Yorkshire seems to be collecting this stuff. he says this is a Kay, but nowt on headstock. [url="http://cgi.ebay.ie/Mystery-1960s-70s-Bass-Guitar-Project-Buy-It-Now-75_W0QQitemZ140194153323QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.ie/Mystery-1960s-70s-Bass-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] I quite like that one

[quote name='Bass_In_Yer_Face' post='111497' date='Dec 31 2007, 02:17 PM']Been playing for a while now and I'm still staggered by Andy Rourke's lines from The Smiths...the guy is a legend. As someone once said, his songs sound like a whole different song going on withing a song.[/quote] Yep I agree. Andy Rourke is one of the few basses who I can genuinely say made me pick up a bass (I tend to play bass for it's part in the music I love rather than for bass in itself, IYKWIM ) I'm glad you posted this - it motivated me to finally learn a Smiths line - been lost in it half the day!! (and got the first part of Headmaster Ritual down ). It also reminded me how rubbish the tabs you get online are..! Pluck Edit - I also agree with above comments about Madness bassist too - love the line to 'It must be love'.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='111367' date='Dec 31 2007, 11:05 AM']Well, Christmas is over, and the JapCrap's coming back. Which is nice. An Arbiter/Matsumoku (probably) Rick copy: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120203908461"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120203908461[/url] And a no-name neckthrough 4001-a-be with a tongue-swallower of a BIN: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170181713050"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170181713050[/url] The ever-popular & so far sensibly priced Ibby Blazer: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140194099066"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=140194099066[/url] Keepin' it Fujigen, an Antoria Jazz, high start but worth a sniff if it doesn't attract too many bids: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320201155257"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320201155257[/url] And keepin' it both Fujigen and Antoria, a nice old LP bass (shame about the cack bridge): [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260198569119"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260198569119[/url] And maintaining the Gibson-esque theme, but this time hailing (possibly) from the JapCrap anorak's favourite sewing machine factory: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260197959651"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260197959651[/url] And finally, for the lovers of the weird, esoteric, and exclusive to Woolies in the late 60s/early 70s, a Teisco EB(?) which was probably sold as a "Top Twenty": [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290194561326"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=290194561326[/url] Good to have 'em back, isn't it? J.[/quote] At least two of those are in my 'watch, and might actually bid' list

Thanks all - so they do exist! Plenty of food for thought and some beauties too (love those Laklands), although mostly a little out of my price-range I can see a precision of some sort in my future. Wonder if it'll be Fender or other....? Pluck

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='110635' date='Dec 29 2007, 07:00 PM']Tis a GB - made by Bernie Goodfellow.[/quote] Nice. [quote name='bass_ferret' post='110635' date='Dec 29 2007, 07:00 PM']Celinder are very highly rated. Made in Denmark. Kiwi has one I believe.[/quote] They must be, no new orders til '09!

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='110617' date='Dec 29 2007, 06:32 PM'] OK its a bit Jazz shaped but pure P pup. I'm sure old git will be along shortly with his 5 string Shuker. Celinder do a P and there are a few on here. And dont forget Leo's own P update - the Stingray.[/quote] Thanks - what is that Bass in your picture? Also, I'd never heard of Celinder, I'll look them up. Pluck

So the Jazz bass spawned an entire genre of basses - ranging from direct replicas through JB 'inspired' instruments, to basses which have their roots in the JB but have evolved considerably. You can go out and buy just about any shape, style, configuration, colour etc of a jazz that you can think of, from any number of manufacturers, you can even buy an [i]actual [/i]Jazz Bass, and choose which 'era' you want it from. The options are endless. Is it because the old Precision is a bit of a one trick pony that manufacturers just don't see a market for a simple P-type bass that isn't a Fender? There are the cheapo P copies, but there don't seem to be many really nice quality precision-style basses available, that offer P-style simplicity, P-style looks and a P-style tone. Why is that? Does the market just not exist? I'm fortunate in that I don't suffer GAS too bad - I have my Tokai (JB replica!) which I really love, and really I don't feel like I need or want anything else/more. At the moment. Having said that , I do like that Precision tone, love the simplicity of it all (less is definately more in my world) and wouldn't mind a bass that would give me that. The obvious answer is 'go and buy a Fender P then!', and you'd be right, but I do wonder if I should look anywhere else first? For that dead simple, beautifully-made, single tone, (but what a tone!) style bass that will bring me Precision-ness without being a Precision. Not sure I even know what I mean, do you?! Pluck

Thanks for the info Jon. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled then for some of those brands you mention. I really like the idea of breathing life back into older instruments, especially if they were decent enough to begin with . Pity I can't afford the kind of money some vintage Fenders are fetching - I'm sure they can't be [i]that [/i]much better ( minus general kudos ) than some of the better replicas. Anyway - I'll let you know how I get on. Here's a few shots of my pride and joy as it is now. Work I did was: Take furious bow out of the neck. Considered refinishing the paintwork, but I like the 'used' look and it's not so bad so left as it I found it. Clean electrics and replaced the tone cap. Replaced rusted screws and the rusted pole-pieces with some new ones which Dimarzio USA kindly found and supplied completely FOC, even covered the postage! Stripped, cleaned, greased and reassembled tuners. Bought a really nice 4 ply celluloid tortshell scratchplate ( bit unneccessary really, it certainly wasn't the cheapest option ). It came without a scratchplate so I'm not sure if the original would have been tort, but I've seen pics of this bass with a tort guard on so that's good enough for me. Shimmed the neck to allow for the BadAss II it came fitted with, which hadn't been set up properly. Thats basically it! General clean-up, new strings, set up action height, intonation etc and away you go - good for another 20 years worth of abuse! Cheers, Neil

[quote name='paul h' post='103811' date='Dec 13 2007, 12:32 PM']I am sure Bassassin will be along shortly with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things jap and Crap! In the meantime get some pics up of the Jazz Sound. We can be a shallow bunch and need visual stimuli! paul.[/quote] I don't need asking twice, I'll take some tonight Edit, actually I found some shots as it was before I restored it. I'll do an 'after' shot tonight.

Hello there, new to this forum, relatively new to bass. I've been enjoying following the 'JapCrap on ebay' thread on this forum, and have a question. I love old basses, particularly the P/J variety ( can't afford the originals ). A couple of years back I decided to 'upgrade' from playing g**tar to bass, and so I took a punt on a knackered-looking thing on ebay that claimed to be a 70's Tokai Jazz Sound. It was pretty rough but I restored back to really good playing order, and it turned out actually to be a genuine Jazz Sound, although I date it to about 84 rather than 70's. As a bonus, it came with a Badass II bridge, and it has Dimarzio pups which both myself and my guitar-restoring father ( albeit acoustics ) believe to be factory fitted. I read somewhere that Tokai had a deal with Dimarzio for a short period of time during the 80's, anyone know anything more about this? Anyway, the bass is wonderful, I love it, sounds fantastic, everyone who hears it comments - it's just oozing with, I dunno, character. Oozing with cool! Still need to do a final tweak on the neck but it's basically there. Anyway, I blather. My question is, I'm looking to 'compliment' my Tokai with a 'vintage' P-Bass copy, partly because I want to try a thicker neck, and also because most of my favourite bassists used P's and I like the sound. Original Tokai's (Hardpuncher in this case) are getting harder to find now and the s/h values seem to have shot up even since I bought mine just 2 years ago. So which makes/models would you recommend I keep an eye on that will get me close to the quality of the Tokai's, without costing the same, but having that same 'thing' about them? Cheers.