Bassassin

Much as I didn't want to think this was a cynical, last-ditch cash grab, the screen grabs I've seen of prices for some of the different 'packages' tickets are being flogged in, with prices going into the multiple thousands, do lead me to the uncomfortable conclusion that my once-favourite band whose principles as artists I once admired, are quite happy to gouge like there's no tomorrow.

Probably not all of them! I do know Aria's MB range of pickups used in the SB, RSB, TSB etc basses did include P-style coils in a soapbar case. Some even had exposed poles.

That may well be the single w@nkiest thing I've ever seen, musical or otherwise.

Apropos of nowt, there's a very early live bootleg (I think Peart's second or third gig with them) where they jam bits of what became By-Tor in the instrumental bit of Working Man. 😎

Hi Dazzer, welcome to BC! If the serial's a little silver sticker, unfortunately there's no known way of dating them, as I mentioned upthread. There is a pattern, but cleverer minds than me haven't worked it out yet! Best guess is late 70s/early 80s, as it seems Moridaira carried on making copy guitars fro a few years after most Japanese manufacturers stopped. Hohner production went to Cort in Korea around '82 so it's unlikely to be later than that. Post some pics if you can, always good to get a look.

Yeah - that's kind of my hope/fear! Fear in that I won't buy a ticket if they announce any UK/EU shows, because of the greatest hits/nostalgia thing - then they'll go "by the way, we recorded these ten new songs we'll be playing for the first - and very last - time on this last-ever tour!"

Likewise. Upper bout looks like a huge, pointless expanse of unnecessary bulk. Looks like it could be shaped into something with a bit of coherence but that ain't it.

Fair enough. On a quick count, I saw them 14 times between 1981 & 2013, and I think I'm fine with all those memories. Doesn't mean I can't be a tiny bit disappointed by the way the band which I have to acknowledge has been my single biggest musical influence has decided to bow out. Assuming that's what they are doing - if they were to announce some new music alongside these gigs I'd feel quite differently, I think.

This - but new music, in a studio, Not bloody Tom Sawyer & Spirit Of Radio for the 578478547854785784th time.

The Peart Era - everything from Fly By Night to Clockwork Angels? 😉

Thread no. 3...

Peart retired after the R40 tour (which I recall he only did on sufferance), several years before he became unwell. Clockwork Angels was their final album and as far as anyone - band or fans - were concerned it was over. And that was a shame but their choice - so fine. Lee & Lifeson said they'd maybe work together again at some point but it wouldn't be 'Rush'. The assumption was it'd be new music in some form. The Taylor Hawkins reunion thing was quite unexpected, and I do remember reading that afterwards they said the phone "hadn't stopped ringing". They were highly dismissive of the idea of going out as Rush with a different drummer. Lifeson went off to do his Envy Of None thing, and Lee's written three books - it sort of looked like they'd found new outlets. Personally, as I said, I hoped they might get the bug to make some new music together, but instead they've done the very thing they seemed pretty adamant they weren't going to do. For musicians who I always admired for making their own decisions & not succumbing to commercial pressure, or doing anything the easy way, this feels pretty sad.

If they were going out as 'Geddy, Alex & Friends Perform The Music Of Rush' or something, it'd seem a little bit less - I don't want to say it - but cynical. I don't think I'll be going.

Copy/paste from t'other Rush thread as I didn't notice this one! Well - I suppose that's exactly what I hoped they wouldn't do. I always hoped that if Lee & Lifeson did get together again, it'd be for new music, collaborating with other musicians, and not under the Rush name. They'd previously seemed resistant to doing precisely what it looks like they are doing - maybe there's only so long it's possible to hold out against bigger & bigger dollar-carrots being waved at you, I dunno. I'm glad they're using a relatively unknown drummer, rather than one of the 'usual suspects' list of prog drummers that get waved around as potential Peart substitutes. I hope they learn to pronounce her name, though.

Well - I suppose that's exactly what I hoped they wouldn't do. I always hoped that if Lee & Lifeson did get together again, it'd be for new music, collaborating with other musicians, and not under the Rush name. They'd previously seemed resistant to doing precisely what it looks like they are doing - maybe there's only so long it's possible to hold out against bigger & bigger dollar-carrots being waved at you, I dunno. I'm glad they're using a relatively unknown drummer, rather than one of the 'usual suspects' list of prog drummers that get waved around as potential Peart substitutes. I hope they learn to pronounce her name, though.

Use a hairdryer to get all those stickers off - softens the glue so they should peel off without leaving too much mess or residue.

90s/00s Korean brand, apparently good quality, & mostly copies. Got into some bother with Fender over the similarity of the logo on their, erm, Fender knockoffs. They made some originals including the Argus bass, which I had GAS for for a long time. And I still regret not picking up the one that was on here for £100, quite a lot of years ago. Yep. I still want one.

Genuinely fascinating! Wonder what they chat about?

Greco 4001/4003 types ran from the early 70s through into the 90s/00s, so it depends! At the point in the 70s where the Chushin Fakers were available, Greco's versions were Fujigen Gakki's 2388B & 2388B/DX models, the DX being through-neck & the most comparable. I don't think there's much in it - all of the Japanese factories active in this era were capable of extremely high quality & any through-neck MIJ Rick copy is a high-end instrument within its range. I own a Chushin Faker and it's a solid, well-made & very playable bass - however I've never owned a Fujigen-made one so I can't make a direct comparison.

I would. But then, I'm subject to occasional rash & impulsive decisions!

I don't. Looks like a one-off to me, probably late 70s when symmetrical (neck-divey) bodies were inexplicably popular. I'm pretty confident neither Mats nor any other Japanese factory would've used that headstock on a bass like this. Not sure that's a Schaller bridge - looks a bit like a 3D but the proportions don't look right. Maybe something like this, from around the same era & loosely based on the Schaller. Apart from the actual rollers!

Happily, that funny Mr Hall has retired, and been confined to a remote, isolated island with no means of communication, or quietly led down to an underground soundproofed padded bunker, so he will trouble us no futher. That's why Rickenbackers have single dual-action truss rods these days. Regarding the mysterious HW, I don't know - but if I wanted to, the Rickenfakers FB group would be where I commenced my clandestine investigations.

Chushin Gakki, Japan, mid 70s. Pickups may have date codes. On the whole these are very, very good copies. Might have been branded Shaftesbury but these turned up with a bunch of names, and if the bass is in Sweden it probably had a local importer or retailer's brand. Odd comment about the 'cheapest possible quality' parts. The pickguard's a bit of plastic, not sure the bits of plastic Rickenbacker use are made of superior material! The closed-back, cast button tuners are Gotohs, and should be perfectly serviceable. Shergold used them back in the 80s. Eko never made a 4001 type but Italian manufacturer Gherson made some nice ones.

That's really quite restrained & conservative for a Wandre. I've never found any of their designs particularly appealing but live in hope that, wonky-looking & tacky as they are, one day one will turn up at the car boot for a tenner.

There are Chinese copies of these - there's at least one owner on the Rickenfakers FB group. I don't think the one in the pic's a knockoff though, it doesn't have the generic hardware & pickups a copy would come with.