Bassassin

Black, black scratchplate & cream covers. Proper 70s rock monster look.

Let's not overlook his towering genius as both songwriter and performer. Warning: if you have any insecurity around your own abilities - don't watch this!

I've washered a few metric rods and it tends to be the outer diameter that's tricky. Having a garage full of random bike bits, I found caliper brake shoe washers to be a good fit. Don't know the size offhand but I'll measure one up tomorrow.

That's a stunning Rick, always liked the black hardware/binding combination & it looks great with the blue. Tuner's an easy fix if you're careful. If you have access to a bench vice, remove the tuner from the bass and clamp the leaf in the vice. Protecting the finish, perhaps with a piece of thin card, would be a good idea. You'll be able to hold the tuner body and bend it straight. Don't worry, it won't break! If you don't have a vice, an adjustable spanner will do the same. I'd still recommend removing it from the bass. The string mute is adjustable, the screws should lower the foam away from the strings. Having said that, it does look as though someone might have put an extra bit inside the mute assembly - if so you should be able to just pull it free, no need to cut anything. Rickenbacker truss rods (even on 4003 models) can be temperamental things, hopefully one of our Rick specialists will be along in a minute!

What's interesting (to me, anyway!) is that the near-identical Shaftesbury versions were Italian & made by Eko. https://reverb.com/uk/item/4524297-shaftesbury-telecaster-bass-early-seventies-butterscotch

This is interesting - it turned up on the FB Westbury group a week or so ago. It's someone's £10 (or thereabouts) car boot find, & appears to be a Track 4 which has been re-shaped for upper fret access, repainted & had a bodge defret. The reshaping's been nicely done to maintain the German carve, but the blue Dulux & hack defret are probably later. It also seems to have an additional microswitch, no idea why, should be v/t, selector & 2x series/parallel. As a cheap car boot blag it'd be worth sorting out & getting re-fretted - the Track 4 was the top of the line Westbury bass and good condition examples go for decent money - but Ebay being Ebay it could get silly.

I think you should go full Type O with that. 🤘

Early 70s MIJ no-name Tele type. Not an Ibanez (although they did do similar basses) & looks to be the same as the ones that come up with names like Columbus & Grant. Looks like the same bass as this one in our own @FlatEric's blog: http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.com/2010/11/columbus-telecaster-bass.html

I've built/assembled/constructed tons of guitars & basses. Obtain the necessary bits, nail them together, some mild fettling might occasionally be required. However I lack the necessary skills (or time & motivation to learn them) to actually make/create a functioning musical instrument from scratch. Projects like my headless Rickish mess and, for example, @Andyjr1515's incredible Psilos bass are on completely different planets. I am in both awe and envy of the creativity displayed in BC's' Build Diaries folder.

First slap line I ever learned to play - or at least tried. I might have to accept I was playing it spectacularly wrong...

Not a super bargain then but still a reasonable price, especially if that's a DiMarzio in it.

Headstock & body proportions don't look right for an Ibby. Likely one of the numerous similar basses that were around when SRs were new & exciting. Looks like the basis of a cool project for £65.

I did not know that!

I think the idea was to approximate a 60s/70s-era instrument that had been tweaked or upgraded as many were back in't day. Ther Vintage Modified fretless Jazz (the only VM I've had) was basically a Jaco copy - lined, no pickguard, siver knobs etc.

Didn't notice that. Might explain why there's only one crap pic.

Not an Aria & not worth £450, never mind the £800 it apparently previously was. As it's unbranded the factory's the only way of IDing it - the offset neck dots are usually a Matsumoku trait, but the truss cover, wooden bridge & pickups look like late 60s/early 70s Sakai, as do the metal knobs. Collaboration between factories was a thing at this point in Japanese guitar manufacture so that's possibly what this is. Looks in OK condition for its age, if it was £200-£300 it might be worth a punt if it's your sort of thing. Personally I think it's vile, as are all fiddle-shaped basses.

Obviously a bit of a project, & a shame about the pickup bodge, but these are very, very good - made by Yamaki Gakki & replica-standard, up there with Tokai, Fernandes, ESP etc. Same thing turns up as Daion & Yamaki (I have a Daion version) and they don't tend to go for huge money, as the names aren't too well-known.

Interesting, looks nice & could be a bargain. I'd be very surprised if that wasn't a DiMarzio Model P (early one, from the silver poles) as this wouldn't have been fitted with that style of P pickup as standard. Looks like a solid timber body too, from the lack of big contour oversprays.

That's a pretty decent price for a Jack these days. Looks tidy from the pics.

It's not Matsumoku. FYI Matsumoku typically used 'Steel Adjustable Neck' stamped plates or (helpfully) Matsumoku-stamped plates. Other than brand-specific (Aria Pro, for example) they are not known to have used other styles, including the lower-half MIJ type on your bass. The tuners used on your bass did make me wonder if it was from a different factory as I've not seen these previously on a Moridaira instrument - this style is common on late 70s/early 80s Tokais, Yamaha from the same era (usually with a cast key rather than the cloverleaf) and randomly on Fender-types from some as-yet unidentified manufacturers - possibly Nagoya Suzuki. However manufacturers would often use whichever compatible components were available at the time so it's not a reliable ID. Terada's a manufacturer often mentioned in relation to particular brands but as yet there's no evidence they built anything other than acoustic guitars.

I bought it in 1996, original ltd. ed lenticular cover, too. Saw them on the Aenima tour at the Astoria in Feb '97 - a long trek from Edinburgh but their only UK gig that time round. I'm not the guy in Hooker With A Penis but have been a Tool fan for almost as long!

Long-gone. I only bought it on a whim because it looked cool, kept it for a couple of months then popped it on Ebay. Quite enjoyed the experience of making a half-decent player.

When I learned it I just played along with the CD over & over until I got it right/got bored. THAT WAS ALL WE HAD IN 1996!