Bassassin

Look on the bright side - the maple fingerboard at least means it won't be impounded & then destroyed by UK customs for breaching the new CITES reguations!

Interesting one - never seen a bolt-neck Jack before, or a passive p/j for that matter. Does look a bit of a state, & the active through-necks do still turn up for sub £200 prices from time to time, so this is probably a bit dear for a low-end project. Always had a bit of GAS for a j/j through-neck Jack.

I've owned 2x MIJ Squier Precisions & a more recent VMJ fretless - all excellent instruments that I'd happily gig or record with anytime. Here's a band I'm particularly fond of - OK, the song's a 9-minute prog epic but you won't need to watch too long to see what Jon Poole (Cardiacs, Wildhearts & dozens of sessions) gigs with - last time I saw them he also used a very beat-up Squier VMJ as well as the P/J. Might just be me being "inattentive" but I'd love my basses to sound like that live.

It's a 70s copy-era bass, probably MIJ. The tuners are Gotohs and incredibly common on basses from that period. Looks to be one of the better quality basses, it appears to have a solid timber body, rather than ply or butcher block - there are no big black oversprays concealing laminations on the contours. A lot of these basses originally had Gibson-type nuts & looking closely I think this did too - there's a rough-looking bit of timber poked in behind the nut on this. Looks a bit bodged. I don't think the scratchplate's original - most maple board/burst MIJ copies had tort plates. Not enough detail or pics to speculate on a manufacturer but clearly nothing to do with Fender. Depends how cheap it is - some of the old MIJ stuff was excellent & if this was sub £100 it might be worth a look anyway.

Agree with Jack - this was a pretty generic late 80s/early 90s format, the Ibanez SoundGear range being the most successful & still going strong. I think the Tune Bass Maniacs were the first but if you look through old brochures (like saddos such as me do), every Japanese & Korean manufacturer did a version of this in the early 90s. So, looks like a Hohner version of that style - looks a bit different to the B-Bass to me - weren't those basically the Hohner Jack with a headstock?

Yeah man, I need to get out more.

Interesting - never seen one of these in the UK before. Lotus was a US-only brand so someone's imported it here. Firstly it's not MIJ - these are Korean, made by Cort. Check out the sexy brass triple-dot inlays - identical to the Cort-made, Kay-branded double cut basses & guitars that frequently turn up. Cort made a variety of body styles based around the same neck-through basis & they all feature this fretboard. Confusingly, this is actually a Korean copy of a Japanese copy of a Japanese made Washburn original. In the early 80s Moridaira made a range of very good guitars & basses which were direct copies of models from the Washburn Wing range - these appeared branded as Hohner, Morris, and in the US, Lotus. It seems that when Moridaira ceased manufacture of these, Lotus' brand owner contracted Cort to build similar instruments based on the same design. II'm not as yet aware of these Cort Wings being sold under other brands, but have seen several Lotuses, both guitar & bass versions. Quite relieved it's not a P/J, might be sorely tempted to take a punt if it was!

Fernandes FRB series, 90s onward, basically Fernandes' take on the SGC Nanyo/ Ibanez SR/ Bass Maniac style thing. Think the 4-a-side headstock versions are 32" scale. Not sure about this one, would be entirely unsurprised if it was Korean rather than Japaneeese. Not American in any way, though.

If it's poly, then T-Cut does an awesome job. Never tried it on that nitrocellulose rubbish though.

That's quite hilariously hideous. Looks for all the world like some wonky home-made bodge job.

Sadly the more pertinent question might be whether the UK will receive shipment. Not all new models get released internationally and the UK is likely seen as a minor and somewhat conservative market. Unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me if they don't come here, just like all the gorgeous variations on Aria SB basses don't.

That's the 1991 original, hand-built, impossibly hi-spec, and virtually unobtainable. I missed one on Ebay about 10 years ago for stupidly little money. @alembic1989 is referring to the forthcoming reissue, described as "affordable". http://geargods.net/namm-2018/ibanez-to-reissue-affirma-bass-in-2018-namm-2018/ Looking forward to seeing some specs/pics. Might be persuaded to part with my orange plastic EDA900 & upgrade...

Young musicians looking at bands like Rush in the same way we might look at classical composers is reeeeaaaaal f*cking odd!

Immaculately performed but - the chances are those kids' parents weren't born when that album was released, in 1976. That just feels really odd...

The Chinese system pictured above is a copy of the unit used on the 80s & 90s Hohner B2 & Jack basses - which was a licensed Steinberger design. I have 2 basses with the Steingberger licensed units (which are excellent) but no experience of the copy system. If I was planning a headless build, I'd definitely be considering the Chinese system ahead of the more expensive alternatives.

I'd do a bit of research first - this looks like a generic modern J copy with an Eko decal on the head. There have been some recent Chinese-made Eko "reissues" and I strongly suspect this is from that era. No way is this a 70s Recanti classic.

Such a pity the earlier pics in the thread got lost, presumably after the recent site update. However I remember enough to say it was a variation on the same model, with chrome hardware rather than black, and a P/J pickup arrangement instead of the J/J on this bass. It had the same style of scratchplate - which is the most unusual feature of this bass. I'm 99.9% sure @pbmuenchen's bass has been defretted, I don't think a factory fretless would have a lacquered board, and all of the fretless SB and Force basses I've seen previously have been unlined and had no position dots. The Force 30 appears to be a very uncommon model - I can't find any pics anywhere else online (didn't have the presence of mind to save the old ones from this thread!) and as we've seen, even self-proclaimed Washburn experts will deny the evidence of their own eyes and claim it doesn't exist! Bit of an update from the earlier post - as I said then research on old MIJ guitars & basses is ongoing - we now know that Matsumoku were not involved in manufacturing for Washburn at any point, so this bass is, with near absolute certainty, a Chushin Gakki product. The serial number, as I understand it, dates it to 1984. "Chicago" on the headstock refers only to the Washburn brand - this bass is 100% a Japanese-made instrument. I would strongly recommend posting pics & info to the "Daions Online" FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1066707010017715/ Daion was the main brand manufactured by Yamaki Gakki, who made the initial MIJ Washburns, & this group is where the best knowledge base for all MIJ Washburns can be found.

That's genuinely, properly remarkable to see one of these turn up. Don't think I've ever seen decent , detailed pics before either. Can't help thinking Tutmarc Jr would be better off selling it in a proper auction or offering it to genuine collectors rather than through the Fleabay meatmarket.

Ironically it appears Dallas-Arbiter could've got similarly stroppy about Status, if they'd been sufficiently petty - wonder what Rob Green would've called his basses then? Don't think the seller's trying to suggest this is connected with "proper" Statii. Just not very good at being a seller...

If I'd arrived before 2am I might've been able to post something coherent. As it is you'll have to wait til th' morra.

Low-end mid 70s MIJ copy with a dodgy sticker. Quite a lot of budget Ps & Js had those little Tele-type pickups hidden under big chrome ashtrays - here's a couple that passed through my hands:

+1 to that - incredibly versatile & technical when she wants to be too - we played loads of gigs with a bizarre proggy 3-piece she was in years ago. Awesome player.

It is a lower-tier SB - certainly compared to the 900 & 1000 etc but not poorer quality by any means. It's been refurbed to some extent - the knobs & coil split switch aren't original - but genuine parts (knobs in particular) are pretty much impossible to find. Starting price was probably a bit optimistic considering it's quite bashed up & has replacement parts. What's odd is that there was an earlier, bolt-neck SB600 which is rarer & probably more collectable than the set neck.

I think it's basically one of these but with a few detail/hardware differences: Cimar was Ibanez' parent company's budget brand & shared some crossover in styling. I think most of them came from a different factory, who presumably sold slightly differently specced versions under the Seiwa brand. I've encountered Seiwa before but never seen one of these. Interesting.

Sad that some people still hold onto such negative preconceptions about these instruments. These are actually very decent early 70s copies, imported by Dallas-Arbiter & sold alongside their Jedson range. The body's not plywood but veneered mahogany butcher-block, like most 70s MIJ copies, & the remaining original pickup's an 8-pole Maxon single-coil - in my experience these sound great. The J unit in the bridge slot's not original. The same bass (Fujigen Gakki model 2365B) badged as Ibanez would probably fetch about £400 in good condition, this looks a bit of a state but would likely tidy up OK.