Bassassin

Good spot, watching - more out of curiosity than anything else. A little bit disconcerted by the high-ish looking action (certainly up the Dusty End) and the saddles appearing to be adjusted right down. Points to a couple of possibilities - excessive neck bow, (worst case scenario shagged trussrod) or - which I think is more likely - that's as low as it goes with that bridge. I've encountered a few Japanese & Korean neckthrough builds from the same era with this issue, particularly after big chunky bridges became fashionable. My Washburn SB40 was like that - nothing that couldn't be sorted after 20 minutes with a small round file - but in this instance I think I'd want a look before handing over money. Unless it was a proper stupid bargain. Jon.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1472339102' post='3120509'] There is a Greco for sale at Bass Direct at the moment. It is a P-style bass with PJ pickups, albeit with the P pickup way closer to the neck. I think Ibanez had a similar bass as part of their silver series. [/quote] This one: [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Greco_PJ.html"]http://www.bassdirec...s/Greco_PJ.html[/url] It's a PB750S, looks like 1976 from what I can see of the s/n. Same bass in a 1978 catalogue: Tuners aren't original but otherwise it looks tidy. I'm guessing Mr Bass Direct doesn't know a whole lot about these judging from both the lack of any info and the surprisingly uninflated price tag. This was a Japanese market bass so very uncommon in the UK - or anywhere else for that matter. If I was selling one I think I'd cross my fingers & go for a bit more than BD are asking. The Ibanez you mention is very probably the 2369B-WH, broadly the same deal but white with black or pearl blocks, there were various versions of this including a Silver Series around 1977. Both the Ibby & Greco were made by Fujigen during the same period.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1472331444' post='3120446'] Keef tended to remove the low E string and play them as a five string guitar, he did it with the famous Micawber Telelcaster if you google images of it [/quote] I never knew that. Shows how much attention I pay...

Only just twigged that the hideous Keef guitar's a 5-string. Strange.

God, that's horrific, surprised Tony Z put his name to anything that shonky-looking. I suppose he just made what the customer asked for though. Apart from the ridiculous inlays that guitar looks like one of Zematis' £200 student models.

Stranglers. By a complete lack of coincidence, I got my first bass at 16 and learned by playing along to IV: Rattus Norvegicus. Pretty much lost interest after they released The Raven, but JJ Burnel is one of the main reasons I play bass and doubtless why I remain drawn towards upfront, aggressive bass.

Hard to gauge price on something so uncommon - Vantages seldom turn up in the UK and I can't remember the last time I saw a set-neck twin P. Think this is a VP-710B, if Google's correct. Sub - £300 would be nice but this is pretty much unplayed-looking - looks like it's lived in its case under someone's bed for the last 35 years. Jon.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1472021175' post='3117663'] LOL. This started out as a blatant attempt to buy, do up and sell for profit.... I know, I'm BAD!! [/quote] I feel your pain. Last year I bought a proper beater of an SR500 for £80, quick tart-up & flip, I thought. Before: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Ibanez%20SR500/sr500original01_zpspxs6c5sn.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Ibanez%20SR500/sr500original02_zpsww0scrli.jpg.html"][/url] And after: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Ibanez%20SR500/sr500refin01_zpsnkckqift.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Ibanez%20SR500/sr500refin02_zps0kjzon1a.jpg.html"][/url] My first go at a Danish Oil finish, amazed by how well it came up. And - surprise surprise, it's a keeper. SRs are lovely! J.

Funny what people will do to a bass to "improve" it. Maybe he made a simple schoolboy error and got his treatments for body & fretboard arse-about-face! Decent components I suppose. But having owned a couple of 90s MIJ SRs, the originals would have been top quality - including the original Gotoh tuners.

Hats. Used to be all about the hats.

Moridaira serial sticker. You'll find the same serials on Morris, HS Anderson & MIJ Hohners, all of which came from Moridaira. Not sure how the serials work, but I'm inclined to think they're sequential rather than date-coded. Did you buy it new? It looks late 70s/early 80s to me. Anyway yeah - your bass came from the same factory as Prince's MadCat Tele copy. Jon.

This has been doing the rounds for long enough for Meg to have learned to play like Peart.

This trend for making everything (not just basses) look like a filthy, ruined pice of cheap crap that's been dragged out the wreckage of a burned-out slum - is that a hipster thing?

Compared to many of [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&rmvSB=true&_ssn=rockinbilly&item=222099989762&clk_rvr_id=1079609985183&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xbass.TRS0&_nkw=bass&_sacat=0"]the same seller's other designs[/url], that one's both tasteful and restrained.

Same guy does a triple J too, and also sells bodies separately without control dillings: [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/guitar-alliance?_trksid=p2047675.l2563"]http://stores.ebay.c...=p2047675.l2563[/url] I'm disturbingly tempted by the idea of building a Triple P with a maple/pearl blocks J neck. Possibly with inverted Tele-style headstock... Better not, eh?

Fender Japan came about because CBS-era US Fenders couldn't compete with the high-end, replica-standard copies coming out of Japan in the late 70s and early 80s. Fender Japan was set up as a collaboration with Kanda Shokai, owner of the Greco brand - and anecdotally the very first JV Squiers began their manufacture as high-end Greco copies. Never owned a JV but I've had SQ and A-serial Squier Precisions. The SQ was superb and one of the few basses I've had second thoughts about selling. The A-serial was very good but a bit later ('87 or so) and slightly more obviously a budget instrument, in terms of finish and hardware. I also have an E-serial Strat which is a lovely guitar. I do think there's a massive premium attached to the JV serials these days which is more reflective of the mythology that's grown up around these instruments than anything else. Japanese manufacturing is nothing if not consistent and later serial Squiers (in my view!) offer better value - as do the plethora of 80s replica-strandard copies from the likes of Tokai, Fernandes, ESP, Greco etc. I recently acquired a Daion P copy from around 1980, which is the nicest Precision I've played since my old SQ. Jon.

If you look, the headstock's been modified from a 4 inline, so it could've been a Squier. Hope it wasn't a JV...

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1471111696' post='3110643'] 'Kawai Teisco Satellite',60s, through neck. Looks interesting, though not for me. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASS-GUITAR-/232047205716?hash=item3607175d54:g:bRYAAOSwMtxXrsj8"]http://www.ebay.co.u...RYAAOSwMtxXrsj8[/url] [/quote] Hilariously inept description. It's Korean, from about 1980. As you'd assume from looking at it! These are OK - I had one, it had a treetrunk neck, was was incredibly heavy and the timber under the brown lacquer was a bunch of random knotty offcuts. Quite playable but built to survive the nuclear apocalypse we all expected in the 80s. If it stays around £70, that's a decent price. J.

Sorry. I should definitely get out more...

Pretty wood on the FB, alright. Not familiar with the brand but it's a US ad, so that's not unusual. Also can't put a builder to the bass - quite an interesting one with a bunch of uncommon & contradictory features. Seller claims it's Fujigen, I'm pretty sure it's not - although the 3-part neck was used by FGN. The body has me a bit concerned that it's a big old slab of ply - literally a slab as it has no discernable contours. Pics are a bit coy about showing what's under the ashtrays - but what you can just about see under the pickup cover looks like a little chrome Tele-type single coil, not uncommon on low-end 70s MIJ. The bridge looks brand-new and is probably a replacement for what I expect to have been a rusty 2-saddle BBOT. The tuners are similarly low-end. That neck is nice though, I like the 3-part build and it's a very attractive piece of rosewood - also pretty uncommon in an era when most Fender copies had maple boards. There are several accounts of early 70s MIJ production being shared between different manufacturers, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the neck on this came from a builder of a somewhat higher standard than the body & hardware. J.

[quote name='tom skool' timestamp='1470603823' post='3107086'] On trickier sections I work out what syllables land on particular notes. For example you might need to hit an f as you sing the 'lo' part of the word 'hello'. If that makes sense [/quote] This. You need to look a the vocal part from a rhythmic perspective and work out where syllables, pitch changes, pauses etc fit in over & around the notes you're playing. When I first started trying to sing & play, I found it easier when I didn't look at what my hands were doing. Dunno why! Jon.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1470464762' post='3106131'] I'd love to see a decapitated Fender (P [i]or[/i] J) with Steinberger bridge done by someone who cares. [Ducks behind flameproof sofa] [/quote] Turns out Cort were reading this thread for inspiration, then jumped into their time machine and popped back to 1985 to create this: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Random/CortHeadlessP_zpsgrgxb6eb.jpg.html"][/url] Including genuine Steinberger-licensed bridge! But yes, looks are very important. Fortunately I like basses in general so can find something to love in most styles, colours and designs. Not seen too many singlecuts that I like, but I think that's down to trend-led aesthetics rather than the underlying concept. There is no intrinsic need for a singlecut to look like the misbegotten offspring of Snoopy and a sperm whale. But most of them somehow do. Jon.

They seem to know it's being discussed on BC... [quote]... And it is located on low-pitch site...[/quote]

Just had a quick Google of Tom Clement basses & my god, he's made some horrors. Now I'm sure as musical instruments they're impeccable, but he appears to have made an art-form of that wonky, cock-eyed, slightly queasy wrongness that usually typifies the home-made bass. Taste is a curious and unquantifiable thing, innit? Jon.