Bassassin

Very cool bass - mojo's one thing, but give it a hose down for pity's sake - you'll catch something nasty! Seriously, that's definitely high-end, one-piece neck & solid timber (not laminate/butcher block) body makes it near-replica standard. El Mayas don't seem very common in Europe so that's a fine score there. Those tuners are interchangeable with the Yamahas - I have two basses with these, a CSL Jazz and a Cimar P/J. I had a Yamaha BB400S fretless, and swapped the CSL's tuners briefly. These torque-adjustable 3-screw cloverleafs do turn up on quite a few late 70s & early 80s MIJs - including Tokais from that era. Keep your eyes peeled on Fleabay & a set will turn up eventually. Slow progress on the Daion, mostly because my workspace is in the garage and it's freeeezin'!! Cleaned up the pickup, tuners & truss adjuster mechanism, screened the control cavity, now looking forward to cleaning up all the screws & bridge components with numb fingers! J.

If I recall correctly Roland synth basses & guitars were from Fujigen, like Ibanez, but weren't otherwise related. The Roland instruments seem to be variations Greco designs so there may have been some collaboration with Kanda Shokai, Greco's parent company. Jon.

Me, I really like basses. There are all sorts of basses, all different interesting shapes and pretty colours. Some have different components and constructions and can play or sound very different to others. Some of them speak to a deep fascination I have for the history of certain eras and parts of the musical instrument business, and some need to be restored to playability, or to be tweaked and improved to liberate their potential. I really, really like basses. For me to have more basses than sense, I'd probably need only three or four, but I have more than that. Many, many, [i]many [/i]more. It's probably not unreasonable to imagine that I have more basses than actual brain cells. My basses aren't expensive - in fact I think I have a sort of subconscious inverse snobbery which makes me a little disdainful of certain brands & types. Or maybe this is a mechanism which simply assists me to be able to afford to buy more basses, more often. I do sometimes sell basses - in fact I many of the basses I own were bought with a view to reselling for profit. But instead I just kept them, because I like them. In fairness though, I've probably sold significantly more than I own, and I don't ever experience any remorse or regret when selling. Although I'm aware that I own several basses that I wouldn't want to part with because I couldn't replace them if I did sell them and then regretted it. Which I know I wouldn't. I think that you can try to rationalise GAS until you're blue in the face, but ultimately it's not rational behaviour. I cannot rationalise mine beyond saying: I [i]really[/i] like basses. Jon.

Daion/Yamaki/Joodee spotters should keep an eye on this: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172106587098"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172106587098[/url] Identical to the one I picked up a couple of weeks back, but in much better general condition, Joodee on the headstock & original pickup. Comes with a spare neck because the truss geabox on the original is borked. However, having dismantled mine, the box unscrews and it would be child's play to just stick a nut on the threaded rod end & adjust it with a spanner. Someone might end up getting a better deal than I did... J.

The Kimbara's gorgeous, Matsumoku build and coincidentally the same as the Aria-branded ones that were around at the same time. Interesting though - I do remember being faintly excited by these Aria SB reissues (or "re-ish-ues", maybe ) but the one I tried in my local shop was horribly set-up and played like a total plank. Just goes to show what difference it makes if a shop can be bothered to make sure an instrument's playable before putting it out. It did colour my opinion a little, I have to admit - although I've subsequently had several other recent Arias and been very pleasantly surprised by the quality. Jon.

All depends on the price really. Mine was ace for £20! J.

As a regular buyer & seller myself, I've always found the idea of a secret reserve price pointless and off-putting - I tend to pass over listings with hidden reserves and I very much doubt I'm alone. As a seller, either set a BIN or start your auction at the absolute minimum you will accept for the item. Jon.

I had one of these, £20 from the local car boot. Looks like he wants £100 for this in which case absolutely no. Otherwise it's a OK-ish low/midrange MIJ 70s cheapo, worth about £40 in this condition. Pretty low-rent compared to the Antorias & Shaftesburys of the era, this was made by Chushin Gakki and is the same as many of the Columbus, Avon & CMIs that turn up - plywood body, single coil fake mudbucker, cheapo hardware, but could have a decent neck if it's not too thrashed. There's an element of historical curiosity as Grantson was a slightly cheeky brand used by defunct Scottish music chain Grants Music, who had shops in Edinburgh & Glasgow. Jon.

Iron Horse/Born To Lose was a song he wrote about an Angel.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1455826367' post='2982819'] Useful info for anyone ever bidding on quality japanese basses on eBay [/quote] Yeah, I thought that. ....just as I posted it....

There's something about that that is just Cringe Factor Eleven. Fender: utterly, totally and absolutely creatively bankrupt. Jon.

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1455754575' post='2982236'] Boy by U2 had a clear theme of adolescence. Do concept albums have to tell a story? [/quote] I think the clue's in the name - concept album. Doesn't need a story, just a deliberate overarching theme. If U2 had sat down & decided to write songs for Boy specifically about the one topic, then yes, but if it just turned out that way, then I don't think that would count. J.

The woodgrain's a bit odd for a clear-finish bass - all at strange angles, in fact the body looks like it's stuck together from random offcuts. Don't know a lot about US Fenders - is this just typical CBS-era shonky quality? Jon.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1455702999' post='2981527']...and Rickenbugger (tm Jon Price ) TRC. [/quote] Call it what you want - but there's only [b]one[/b] Rickenbugger. Hail to the Queen, baby: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Rickenfakers/rbugupscale_zpsxytutrik.jpg.html"][/url] I'm actually quite flattered. A lesser man might threaten legal action... Seen your new toy on That Other Place. It's a beauty. J.

I think this is aluminium, not steel. The neck looks fairly well-made and is incredibly close to the old 70s Kramer design - did they ever do one with 3 wooden inserts? Looks pretty old (70s/80s) and like it's had a good few mods & bodges over the years - fairly sure the messy attempts at engraving designs on the bare metal parts aren't original. Jon.

There were 4s & 5s. Never seen one in real life but I do know Heartfields were Fujigen-built basses - which probably explains the resemblance to Ibanez Soundgears. Nice paintjob: [url="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/BillPark/media/bass/bass2.jpg.html"][/url] Jon.

Quite amazing, never seen one like this before. I had one of these - my first "good" bass - in 1981. Mine was deep red stained with a burst finish flamed top Sold it when I stopped playing in metal bands but subsequently regretted that - you hardly ever see these now. So, never seen an early (this one's 1980) solid-finish before. This one's a Yamaki build (current opinion says early MIJ Washies were Yamaki, then Chushin Gakki from about 1982, so not Matsumoku) but all the examples I've seen previously have trans finishes and brass ring inlays. Interesting tuners too, different to the 2 types you tend to see on early MIJ Washboards. Like I said, these do come up very infrequently and are usually priced high. I can't help feeling £350 is a pretty reasonable price for this, it looks tidy and is an unusual variation. Jon.

I believe [url="http://www.retrovibe.co.uk/"]Retrovibe[/url] do a 5-string version - these have MM type pickups as standard. For obvious reasons, they're not on the website so you'd have to contact David Konig directly for info. Jon.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1455460623' post='2979255'] That truss rod adjustment system is a lot like the Baldwin era (70s) Gretsch truss rods. [/quote] That's clearly where Yamaki [s]stole[/s] got the idea! Cheers for that, I was unaware of the Gretsch mechanism. Seems broadly the same, except the Gretsch device needs a special adjuster tool, and appears to be integrated into the truss rod assembly. Sensible Japanese people, improving the design by using a 4mm allen key to work it, and making it replaceable if it fails. Unless it's 2016... J.

This is the gearbox removed from the truss rod: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/adjuster2_zpsx5gibpnz.jpg.html"][/url] It's in decent condition, a bit of corrosion on the worm thread but no visible wear. Spent yesterday afternoon tidying up the neck. Tempted to do a full fret dress but the bass played really nicely when it turned up, so no need just yet. Sorted out all of the flaky-looking bits of lacquer and now it looks pretty tidy: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/neck_zpsmccfv11g.jpg.html"][/url] There's some really nice figuring & flamey bits on the board - not that you can tell under the striplights in my garage! J.

Quick Daion update - it's now in bits, I'm repairing the lacquer damage and the filthy bits are getting a hosedown & re-wire. Here's that curious truss adjuster system - just a little gearbox with a worm drive: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/adjuster_zps4wkkfkp3.jpg.html"][/url] Fortunately all working properly - which is good because if it failed, it's hard to see how the rod could be accessed to adjust it. Possibly not the Japanese guitar industry's brightest idea. And here's the filth and mess under the bonnet: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/guts_zps6el99imo.jpg.html"][/url] Note the huge excavation under the bridge - whoever drilled the hole for the earth wire plainly wasn't very confident! And that ancient DiMarzio DP122: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/pups_zpsowytkrla.jpg.html"][/url] Going to take advantage of all that uncut wire and have a push/pull tone pot for phase switching. For now, it's cleaning all that muck off the body & back of scratchplate - I don't even want to think about what it is and how it got there - then shielding the cavities and tidying up the neck. J.

[quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1455278750' post='2977703'] Is it this one that's now on Gumtree? [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/1987-us-peavey-patriot-bass-guitar/1154788520"]https://www.gumtree....itar/1154788520[/url] I contacted the guy but think I might miss out on it. [/quote] Same one. I do like that. J.

In fairness, factory fretless ones aren't as common, so probably worth £23.45 more. My "odd bids" always end with £6.66. Dunno what that says about me. J.

Funnily enough £99 was what they cost brand-new in 1980 - I distinctly remember trying one in my local shop, being impressed by the build & playability, and being too much of a snotty little brand-snob to entertain the faintest idea of owning something with "Satellite" on the end. J.

Also, absolutely not, in any way, shape or form, Japanese. KoreaDiarrhoea, through & through. Decent enough, I had one for a bit, very solidly built. Downsides - neck like a treetrunk and very, very heavy. Also the through-neck means that some of these can have an unadjustably high action - mine had had rough routing under the bridge to make it playable. This one looks OK but it's hard to tell from the pics. As Eric says, they are common - I wouldn't want to pay north of £100. J.