Musky

[quote name='danbanbass' post='103028' date='Dec 12 2007, 12:44 AM']hi musky, had a look there appears to be no stamping on the pickup etc and no extra holes on the body as you describe, what do you reckon its worth as is? I also found a big metal plate underneath the pickup the same shape as the hole Thanks Dan[/quote] It sounds pretty much as though the body isn't actually fender (not '73 anyway), though there's always the possibility that it's been resprayed covering the holes. I would have expected to see the wood unpainted on the bass side of the neck pocket as well. The pickup bottoms should look like the ones [url="http://guitarhq.com/fenddiff/gray_bottom_pu.jpg"]here,[/url] though the lack of a stamp doesn't necessarily mean they definitely not original. As for value, it might well fetch more for the parts. The neck alone might be £3/400 with the hardware (which appears to be original, what I can see of it) included if it's in good nick. The bridge is worth £25 or so. Perhaps £70 for the neck plate. Without knowing what all the other parts are it's impossible to guess, but probably not a great deal.

Interesting. The pickguard, pots and wiring aren't original - neither's the bridge, though you probably knew that. The pickup should either be dated or have a code on it, but it's looks pretty much that this is a '73 bass. A quick check reveals that - surprise surprise - Fender did mess about with neck codes for whatever reason, which would make the neck completed on 21st week of 73 on a Monday. I can't make out any holes for a bridge cover in those pictures. Under the guard there should be holes for the pickup cover and holes below the strings for a thumb rest.

[quote name='BB2000' post='102440' date='Dec 10 2007, 10:40 PM']Have you ever seen a documented case of this? Fender's take is that 'Fender® branded instruments have not and will never be made of plywood'. I've assumed that this meant instruments with Fender on the headstock, but it's not a very clear statement.[/quote] There was a post on either the Fender Forum or tdpri.com by a guy who'd had a Fender from new that was plywood - pictures included. It caused quite a stir, with various theories put forward, but the guy insisted it was genuine Fender and owned since new. Still, I'm not sure that counts as documented.

That serial dates it to about 1973 (I say about because Fender weren't particularly systematic in their serialization). The neck code makes it a Precision with rosewood fingerboard. The last four numbers give the date - 21= 21st week, 1 = year (1971), 3 = 3rd day (Wednesday). Only Fender didn't apparently start using this system until 1972, which makes yours something of an oddity - not unusual for Fender. You mights like to look at the codes on the back of the pots and check the numbers against the info given at [url="http://www.provide.net/~cfh/pots.html"]http://www.provide.net/~cfh/pots.html[/url] for a confirmation of the dates.

[quote name='Davetbass' post='102379' date='Dec 10 2007, 08:46 PM']I bought a white Squire jazz in 87 and it was a great bass. Difference to this one was a thin piece of brass banding that ran from the bridge pick up to the bridge. Think thats how they were made originally in the 60`s though feel free to correct. Sure it was £300 at the time..... I`m not sure about pulling out of the sale because someone has not listed it properly....might be held against you [/quote] Sounds like that was a Japanese model most likely with an E serial number - a JB355. It was very different to the Korean model in that it was a 60's reissue. With regards to the plywood issue, it's pretty much impossible to guess without dismantling it. Squiers turned up with ply bodies from 1987 through to the mid-nineties. The Silver Series from japan had the odd plywood body and even some US made Fenders have been reported. This could be a great bass, regardless of it's construction and what it says on the headstock. The only problem lies in other people's perception of it's worth, and the inevitable effect on it's resale value.

A Zoom B2? Or the 2.1 if you think you might have a use for USB? Lots of amp and FX models, plus the usual effects and, errr... a drum machine. And of course a tuner. Well within your budget. Bear in mind that tuners built into multi FX are usually pretty basic - they actually work ok, but often don't have all the LEDs for seeing how close you are to the note that dedicated tuners usually have. For live work, when tuning is something you want to be as hassle free and quick as possible, I'd still spring for a stand alone tuner.

I've got to agree with wateroftyne - well over the going rate I'm afraid. It's not early eighties either - 'S' serials turn up on Korean Squires around 1988/9 (the serials are a bit of an anomaly in Fender's usual dating of Far East guitars). If you haven't paid for it yet, I'd say that's grounds to withhold payment. EDIT: He doesn't say it's early eighties, does he. Doh!

Looking at some of the stuff the guy has been selling, there's no sign that catherineh has stuck in any other bids on his auctions. In fact he's got several comments in his feedback about what bargains his auctions have been (99p selling price with just the one bid), so there doesn't seem to be any sign of shill bidding from other accounts either. There's no accounting for what is going on in someone's head when they put a bid in - maybe they are following the logic that if someone will stick on an extra 6p, someone else might put on an extra 11p. And another bidder might take it up to 55p (because the 50p mark is a logical staging post in low value auctions) - as in fact you did. So she outsmarts everyone by putting in a bid of an extra 99p - it's only 99p, right? Why not round it off to the whole pound? Because thats the start of the whole process again, and maybe she only wanted to pay a fiver plus the 99p she thought she might need to outbid all the others adding random amounts. Or maybe 99 is just her lucky number. Whatever the case is, I haven't seen anything that suggests shill bidding.

Hi there - welcome to the forum! I had no idea Hofner were doing these, and the briefest of looks on google doesn't seem hopeful for them being available in the UK at the moment. However, about a year ago there was a real spate of people on the boards (or rather another incarnation of it) buying and raving about the quality of the Harley Benton BeatBass - [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_beatbass.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_beatbass.htm[/url] It's a Hofner copy and, best of all, it's dirt cheap!

I loved the non reverse thunderbirds looks, but then I'm a sucker for quirky looking basses. I might have been tempted to buy one of the Epiphone versions if they'd got the headstock right and did have the P/J pickups. That Fernadez just looks wrong though.

There was a thread about this recently - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7619"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7619[/url] I don't tend to mind if people want to use my amp, as long as they've bothered to get in contact first. It's taking the mick to just turn up and expect to use someone else's gear without checking it's OK. But then I don't own a nice old Ampeg.

[quote name='neilb' post='101084' date='Dec 7 2007, 07:22 PM']I'd say its a P neck for a start,therefore not originally on this body. Probably the P decal has been taken off and a J decal put on, not very well in my view. I personally am not aware of the Jap Fenders doing photoflame bodies, but I bow to Muskys knowledge. however, that is NOT a J neck, too wide at the stock.[/quote] Well spotted - that definitely does look like a P neck, especially in the shot looking down the neck. I seem to remember there was a point in the early 90's when the only Jap Fenders you could get had the foto flame finish, though maybe I'm getting confused and it was only Strats or something that all came in foto flames. Either way Fender Japan definitely did foto flames - a mate's got a Precision Lyte in a similar colour to the one in the auction.

It certainly looks like a Fender foto flame body, but the necks had a foto flame finish as well - which this one doesn't. Did they ever produce the foto flames with standard necks? That logo does look like it's been applied later, but the serial and 'made in Japan' (or what you can see of them) look kosher.

[quote name='Sparky' post='100845' date='Dec 7 2007, 12:47 PM']Thanks Musky. It's got dot inlays but I don't know what a 4 bolt neck is. It has a piece of copper wire running from the bridge pickup to under the bridge - earthing wire? and the headstock looks like this: [attachment=4006:800px_Fe...eadstock.jpeg] ...62 RI??[/quote] Dot inlays = 62 RI. It shoud also have a square metal plate with four bolts on on the back of the bass to secure the neck. A 75 will have a rounded triangular shaped plate with just three bolts doing the same job.

If it's got block inlays, bound neck and bullet truss rod it'll be a 75 RI. If it has dot inlays and a 4 bolt neck it'll be a 62 RI. Edit: Bear in mind that the RI's weren't exact copies of the originals, and there's certainly a difference in pickup spacing on the 62 RI and the original, so make sure you get a guard appropriate for a reissue.

[quote name='SJA' post='100418' date='Dec 6 2007, 06:19 PM']BTW, Bassassin, is Lemmy's maple board Rick (with the star inlays) a real Rickenbacker? did they actually do maple board 4001/4003's? I know they did a maple 4004 cheyenne/laredo or whatever it was.[/quote] I don't think anyone actually knows with any certainty what it is - including Lemmy. The story goes that he bought it off a shady character who offered it to him at a gig. Rickenbacker didn't offer 4001's with maple necks as standard, so it could be a custom, modified or a copy - though I believe Jon had doubts about any copies with those specs either.

[quote name='SJA' post='100418' date='Dec 6 2007, 06:19 PM']BTW, Bassassin, is Lemmy's maple board Rick (with the star inlays) a real Rickenbacker? did they actually do maple board 4001/4003's? I know they did a maple 4004 cheyenne/laredo or whatever it was.[/quote] I don't think anyone actually knows with any certainty what it is - including Lemmy. The story goes that he bought it off a shady character who offered it to him at a gig. Rickenbacker didn't offer 4001's with maple necks as standard, so it could be a custom, modified or a copy - though I believe Jon had doubts about any copies with those specs either.

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='99415' date='Dec 5 2007, 10:39 AM']I've just bagged a cheap 5 string bass on ebay... probably regret it, but I need a cheap 5 stringer asap and the only ones in the shops are outside my immediate budget... It's this one... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330194343949"]<a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=330194343949" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=330194343949[/url]</a> Never heard of the make before... but it came in my range and I (well my proxy) was the only bidder at £69.50 + £16.85p&p well, we'll see how good it is when it arrives... [b]If I'd discovered it had been posted in here and I'd ended up in a bidding war with a fellow BC'r, I'd have been upset...[/b] [/quote] I should have said that was exactly the kind of auction that could have done with flagging up here - it had been hanging around on ebay for ages. It was in the correct section and available for anyone to find ("5 String Bass Guitar by Cougar" pretty much flagged it up for anyone interested in a cheap 5 string). And given that it had been on ebay for ages, and is after all a cheap brand, I don't think there was much danger of a bidding war.

I can't really comment on the Glasgow scene but in London, for this type of venue, that doesn't seem too bad (I'm assuming there are other bands on the bill as well). Sure you're looking at a fraction of what you'd get at a pub gig, but it isn't a pub gig and for an unknown band in that neck of the woods different rules apply. I guess you've got to figure out how many people you could realistically get in and how much the gig is worth to you. Then again, I'm in London - I'm used to getting screwed over!

Well, there's quite a few variables there but here's my take: 1) If you can't get to a shop that stocks your combo or it's discontinued, take your own along. Probably best to call first though. 2) Ask to try it through other combos. What it will sound like through a PA is anyone's guess - it's not just due to the variability of the combination of different PA's and rooms, but your sound is pretty much in the hands of the engineer as well. 3) Never assume that it's going to be better with a set up - it might be playing as well as it's ever going to. 4) Unless you use flats it probably won't sound substantially different (assuming the strings are in good nick). The basic character of the bass will still be there, though it's likely you can find another set you'll prefer more. It's worth bearing in mind that more expensive basses are more likely to come with decent strings anyway. 5) It'll sound exactly the same when you're used to it. Your expectations or tastes may change, but then none us know what we'll want in a few years time. Buying online can be a bit of a pig-in-a-poke, especially if you're looking at cheaper basses where quality control might not be great. On the other hand, if you buy carefully second hand off ebay, you could reasonably expect to sell it on without without making a loss if you decide you don't like it.

I was going to suggest a Squier VM Precision, but having looked at the ESP it's quite metal looking so maybe a precision is not to your taste. The ESP is a 35" scale, which is longer than standard but would make it good for detuning if that's what you're into. On the flip side it will also make it a bit harder to play, especially if your hands aren't that big.

There's a lot to be said for that Warwickhunt. If you're on the look out for for a specific item or just a bargain in general, and have put the time in on ebay, you'd not be overjoyed to see a thread about it. On the other hand, some BCers have actually benefitted from these kind of threads. It's a bit of a two way street. Plenty of links go up in the JapCrap thread, and I consider these more of an information service more than anything else - a lot of these basses go for bargain prices anyway (for what they are) and Jon's comments are usually an education. I'm equally as sure that particular thread has prevented a few unsuspecting people from buying Japcrap in the truest sense of the word. I wouldn't like to see a ban but yes, maybe people could pause to reflect before posting a link.

[quote name='Bassman7' post='97859' date='Dec 2 2007, 11:17 PM']Ed Straker says: "It's part of late 60s early 70s British culture don't you know..." Caption: S.I.D. (Space Intruder Detector) "Alert...unidentified bass player unfamiliar with classic Gerry Anderson late 60s Sci-Fi culture" (Bit of fun really!!)[/quote] Hmm... Early seventies, surely?

Rothko had three bass players, as did Spinal Tap on Big Bottom - in fact I was in a band in the eighties with three bass players. Cop Shoot Cop, Girls Against Boys, God Speed You Black Emporor, Treponem Pal, The Dirtbombs, The Vipers (the Manchester one) and Deity Guns all had two bass players. Bands have two guitarists, even two drummers, with no problems so why not double up in the bass department. Twice the fun!