Bassassin

A quick Google image search suggests it's a Sandberg Bullet Booster. Which is a really rubbish name for a nice-looking bass, in my (admttedly valueless) opinion.

https://bassbros.co.uk/sold-basses/2012-sandberg-bullet-booster-fretless/

There are people on here who know a lot more about Sandbergs than me, with luck one wil be along soon.

@casapete beat me to it - Fujigen (the factory which made it) 2407, branded Antoria for UK distributor J.T. Coppock & Sons. We had one turn up a couple of years back & I contributed what little I knew back then. There's a serial number on the bass neckplate - can't quite see it but the second 2 digits are the year, likely '76 or later.

9 hours ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Hi Richard

Regarding the mystery writing inside the cavity, my brother lived in China close to the Korean border for over a decade teaching English. He is married to a local. They speak several Chinese dialects and understand some Korean. I could forward the writing on to them if you like. They might be able to translate it or at least identify which country the writing originates from ?

Cheers, Steve

Hey Steve, that mystery was solved upthread. The bass is a 70s Japanese copy, made by a factory called Chushin Gakki, and it pre-dates both the Chinese guitar industry & the advent of high-quality Korean-made instruments.

Here's the translation:

3 hours ago, Chiliwailer said:

Fixed for you 😉😜

Hope something works out for you 👍

Thanks - it will.

It'll take about 4 months to work it out, though...

5 hours ago, Chiliwailer said:

So… all these set ups, but not many folk entering the Basschat monthly composition competition, or maybe you used to? 

 

It’s not a serious competition, just making something up based on a photo chosen by the previous months winner.

September’s comp will be pinned in the Recording section sometime on the 1st or 2nd. 

I look at the pics every month in the hope of inspiration, but...

My creative process (if you can call it that) is incredibly unspontaneous, slow & laborious, ideas can take months to develop & just as long to record satisfactorily. It's very rare that any composition is 5 minutes or less, and although I dislike them, can't play them & obviously have never used them - unfortunately I can't guarantee no bagpipes.

So maybe next month...

Three connected songs currently in progress, in varying stages of completion/disrepair. Today, we are mostly trying to work out what the hell the guitar's meant to be doing during the verses of Song #2, which may or may not be called Hourglass, or Seventh Season, or something we've not yet thought of.

I will be consulting the Parasaurolophus Of Prog (currently working out a synth line for the instrumental intro) for advice but I'm pretty sure he'll tell me it's going to need a guide vocal before everything falls into place. Which is tricky as Lovely Singer has a horrid cold and is croaking more than talking. Never mind singing.

The real mess is, as ever, in my head.

This is sort of my specialist nerd subject. Basically, it's quite a collectable bass - Japanese instruments from the 70s & 80s are sought after, yours dates from between 1984 & 1987 and was made by one of Japan's most respeted factories, Fujigen Gakki. Despite Squier being a budget brand, it's a very high quality bass.

The fact you've had it since '95 and haven't played it means it's almost certainly in original condition & that's important in vintage instruments - it's 40-ish years old so that's what the market considers it to be. Condition looks pretty good, with a few cosmetic knocks & chips, and it probably doesn't have a great deal of play wear.

I did a search to see if I could find any examples for sale or sold - there weren't many but what was interesting was that those that did appear (a couple were in Japan) seemed to be 32" scale. That's not a standard scale length for a Precision bass, which is typically a standard 34" scale. The scale length is the open-string distance between the fixed points (bridge & nut) at either end - it would be useful to know which yours is, as a 32" is uncommon & may make it more interesting to purchasers.

Do bear in mind that if you hang around here, you may end up remembering just how cool the bass is as an instrument, & decide to start playing again. If you do - that's a pretty damn good bass you've got there. Might be a shame to flog it. 😎

2 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

We don't allow What's it worth threads so they get pulled. They get a friendly message explaining why. 

Cool - that's why I didn't speculate about value.

On 26/08/2025 at 08:58, BTops said:

Incorrect title, but anyone in London may be interested in this Japanese 87 Squier precision...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396993609106?_skw=squier+bass&itmmeta=01K3JNNWFZ84XY2CN0HWDB6XRP&hash=item5c6ea9bd92%3Ag%3ARicAAeSwY4VorHiu&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1dOncymAAfEsS9UJdtDtKewo1hj6n42kgZsym8k6CTMLWc%2BD%2BO%2BTHVysVeOVky1I7UzGILTR0WLXwbVWsIGFj3CROU%2BCquLpB%2BcXz2oqIVcDs6pKfF2b0QKi5kXf76qYUJw6x21LRkK5FOClwpzMq2TTl018GPftAfhMUDg7VGDZzoZyRAA5UjvYdLoB7ip7d6LUwHA7uE7k%2FBaoblCLcmIskJnBQFPJO7JlHRHiDXS1%2FwCd9btGaQ4gs%2BpUQ8Ryyk%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR6DI19WcZg&LH_ItemCondition=7000|3000|1500

Weird. There was a thread in Bass Guitars about this (which I assume was posted by the seller), looking for info & advice about the bass. I do know a little about MIJ Squiers so I contributed, but the thread seems to have vanished now.

Hope the seller didn't accept £43 for it...

Bands that make me question why I ever thought I could write music No. 537548684748t57475 (not really)

Lowen, a London band fronted by the daughter of Iranian refugees, who describe themselves as 'crushing progressive doom steeped in the history of the ancient middle-east and the empty vistas of space'. My description - the most gloriously apocalyptic, emotive, powerful, ethereal & downright beautiful music I have heard in a very long time.

1 hour ago, JazzyJ said:

The saddles slide in the bridge assembly, locked in place with the allen screws.

 

Thanks for that - that's what I guessed it must be doing! 👍

Double post nightmare! Will it happen again? No-one ever knows...

On 23/08/2025 at 11:43, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

 

What was used to shape that? His teeth?

Someone else's.

What a curious design - never had a close look at one of these before. So - I'm assuming the saddle blocks have tabs which sit in slots either side of the channels in the bridge base, so tightening the grub screws locks them in position in the channel?

A pair of button-head allens for saddles/height adjustment is an interesting solution - I've absolutely never seen that anywhere before.

Mazeti is - or probably was - a brand from 15-20 years back & may have been exclusively sold on Ebay, back before it was complete sh!te. As well as the usual stuff I remember some nice-looking Jazz types with hippy-sandwich type bodies in nice woods - and I always had inexplicable GAS for this odd singlecut semi thing with a bizarre headstock & laminated fretboard. They likely pre-date the Chinese invasion so were possibly Korean, Indonesian or Taiwanese.

44 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

I see, perhaps @sascha peakman your name was confused innocently with Sascha Bennett. I get why you were upset though, not taking away any of your righteous anger about Lorne 

 

I agree, that's almost certainly the case - it's an unusual spelling of a fairly uncommon name, easy to see how confusion could arise.

Looks like someone heard about an 'oiled finish' and assumed that meant the stuff that dribbles out of the sump of their '98 diesel Astra.

30 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

By Jazz do you mean something with the same body shape and neck width or something with the same pickup configuration and electronics but any shape? Or does it have to have both to be considered a Jazz Bass?

Either/or, I guess. If I (for some reason) suddenly didn't have any of the ridiculous number & variety of basses I currently have & was plonked in a shop & told to pick something from a typical not particularly exciting selection of basses, there would probably be a J or two I'd get on with.

But yeah, the neck proportions & pickups on a different-looking bass work equally well - I have a Yam SBV & a Kawai Sleekline which are both just funny shaped Jazz basses.

2 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

I'm glad that so many subsequent manufacturers have improved immeasurably on that bass guitar design.

Leo himself did in 1960.

If I was forced to choose just one bass for the rest of my life, it'd be some variety of Jazz. Not much you can't do with a J.

2 hours ago, Hellzero said:

For those not knowing it, it's the very first electric bass, an Audiovox Model 736 Bass Fiddle, invented by Paul Tutmarc in 1935.

 

I wrote a mémoire about the subject that I've been putting here countless times...

 

While I was looking for a decent Audiovox pic, I came across an interesting luthier who appears to have created a range of contemporary Tutmarc designs from a Leoless alternate reality!

Liking the one in the middle...

Indeed.

We'd all be playing variations on this:

Gorgeous. I've got a V7 fretless, and it's superb. Mine pre-dates the passive V5 or I probably would've gone for that rather than actives I tend to switch off!

I feel sufficiently out-of-place in 'my' age group/generation without subjecting myself to anything like that!

Will not be joining.

6 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Which gives us the tag line of: “Slap-up Curry or Fender Tax..?” 🤔

Or perhaps 'Fender Tax or another two personally-spec'd bass builds?'

I'm not a fan of brands in general, particularly slapped on what amount to little more than mix & match parts-box basses - as all Fender designs have become.

Buy a body with the timber, finish & routing you want.

Buy a neck with the woods, inlays & proportions you want.

Buy the hardware & electronics you want.

Nail the lot together.

Go out for a slap-up curry with the change.