Bassassin

Apart from the roasted maple neck & Badass clone bridge, I struggle to see any significant difference. Oh yeah - £300. That'll be it. Buy the V7 while you still can!

There's got to be a death metal band called Imperforate Anus! And I'll be expecting to see that Tina vid pop up on some antivax nutjob's timeline sometime soon.

There's actually a fair bit of info about these online if you go to the right places... Hohner Morris Guitar Fan Page Moridaira Guitars The Original Vintage Japanese Guitar Fanclub Anyway, as the name of one of these FB groups implies, your bass was made by Moridaira Gakki (the factory which made Prince's Hohner Madcat Tele) and if you bought it in '82 it was probably one of the very last Japan-made Hohners, as manufacture went to Cort in Korea at the start of the 80s. This catalogue page is from 1980-ish (they are seldom dated) and from it we can infer that the bass came in at least 3 finishes (black, sunburst, natural) and that the model number in the old Snouds comic is almost certainly a typo: It's actually really cool that you kept the review - stuff like this hardly ever turns up & I think plenty of people on the FB groups would love to see it. There's quite a thriving vintage MIJ community out there!

One of the few occasions I've ever looked at anything with 'Fender' on the end & gone "WANT THAT ONE!" Not sure who makes Japanese Fenders these days, but if the old rules still apply, MIJ = Fujigen. And it was them responsible for the FotoFlame stickers...

I quite like it, reminds me a little of the veneered finish on some old Ibbys:

Not seen these before. I'm very put off by the string having to wind around a cam inside the bridge (replicating the behaviour of a conventional tuner) which is giving me flashbacks to this illogical, ill-conceived and overengineered thing on a cheapo bass I picked up a while back. Have a read; The second listing has head-end string clamps which would make it marginally more practical, but the fact it comes with a tiny string-cranky handle (that you'd definitely never lose!) doesn't exactly telegraph ease-of-use!

Steel Adjustable Neck plates were exclusive to Matsumoku, unfortunately the serials on these plates seem to be random so if it is '76 (and it might well be) it's probably coincidental. Your best bet will be pickup codes, which give a to-the-day date, so tend to be a good guide to the whole instrument. So hopefully they'll be date-coded! From what I've seen the plastic covers on 70s MIJs had what looks like some sort of adhesive brown paper rather than the peel-off film you get these days - looks like what's left on yours is the remnants of the glue. It'd probably clean off with something like acetone, but test a bit inside first to make sure it doesn't eat the plastic!

Maiden didn't poach Bruce 'Bruce' Dickinson from Samson to stop Samson being a threat to Maiden's success though. I'd also expect the decision to have been as much management as artist-driven, if not more. Marketing again.

Might be splitting hairs a bit. More to do with who's suitable - a bit like Croakin' Joe's Blues Stumblers getting a residency at the Dog & Slopbucket rather than my conceptual prog originals 9-piece.

I'd argue that what you're talking about is marketing rather than music itself, and the effect marketing has upon the creation of new music. Obviously a lot of music is created specifically to be marketed, and there are clear formulae for creating a successfully marketable product in those areas. Successful artists will be under various pressures to create new music that repeats & builds upon previous success, regardless of how artistically motivated they may have originally been. I'd suspect (although this is purely speculative!) that most people who get into playing and creating music aren't too motivated by the commercial success (or otherwise) of what inspired them to pick up an instrument.

Crazy bargain. Antoria White Eagles are rarer than the already ridiculously rare Ibanez Black Eagle. UK market only and probably only produced in the hundreds. Has it had a head repair? It's incredibly uncommon to see any of this design with an undamaged headstock. We had one here a couple of years ago: What details/info are you looking for? Should be dateable from the neckplate serial (1st letter = month, next 2 digits = year), manufactured by Fujigen Gakki, distributed in the UK by JT Coppock Ltd in Leeds, who owned the Antoria brand at the time. Fwiw I'd happily give you twice what you paid for it...

I'd think never exported outside Brazil - if you Google it there are quite a few pics from local listings & FB. Quality doesn't look Kay-level junk but it's obviously more budget than Giannini or most MIJ. Home-grown hardware & electronics while the Gianninis have the same Japanese parts as many other 70s copies.

Some pics of the bass you're talking about would definitely help. With many of these basses it's straightforward to ID a manufacturer from build details. As it happens there were at least two. The most common & more accurate ones are Giannini: More rare and definitely more weird - and IMO a bit more interesting for it - is Finch:

Back in t'mid '80s, my gateway into the dark and demented world of slap was Kajagoogoo's Too Shy, I learned some basic techniques by plonking along on my completely inappropriate Washburn B20. I got to meet Nick Beggs a few years ago after a Steven Wilson gig, and had the opportunity to gently rebuke him for being directly responsible for me cluttering and clattering dozens of otherwise perfectly good songs with sloppy, badly-played and entirely unnecessary slap lines. I think he was faintly amused.

Very nice - had a sneaking bit of GAS for one of these for a while. Think you're right it'll be a Matsumoku, headstock & trc look mid-70s to me, with any luck the pickups will have date codes. Earlier versions have offset position dots, open-book headstock & arrowhead trc, & Maxon 8-pole single-coil bridge pickup. This one looks like a proper humbucker which is probably why it's a bit gutsier than the neck unit, which is probably the usual single-coil. Not sure but I don't think there ever was a proper MIJ Mudbucker. The Model 1980 in this Aria blurb looks like a close relative: https://vintagejapanguitars.com/1971-aria-catalogue/

Missed it - but Eastwood will now forever be FASIWOON to me. Anyone else remember the Squier listed as a 'Squizz'?

Aria reissued their old Mosrite types a few years back, 34" scale, fitted with J type pickups & under their old Aria Diamond label: Interesting to see this new one's a closer reissue, 'correct' shortscale and more accurate looking pickups. As a vintage MIJ nerd I am amused by the use of a Univox-style font for the logo - the Univox-labelled Hi-Fliers are somewhat more sought-after than the old Arias!

Aria's Sarzo sig (the SB-RSZ) appears to have been a Japan-only rebranding of the SB-ELT, from 1989-ish. Pretty sure RS himself never played one, all the pics of him with an Aria look like a Matsumoku-era SB Elite II. I have an ELT and an '83 SB Elite B&G - the later bass is quite different when you compare them side-by side - slimmer neck, thinner body horns, different proportions. Electronics are completely different too - a simple v/v/t layout + 2x microswitches, as opposed to the stacked pots & rotary selector of the SB-Elites & SB-Rs. The RSZ & ELT definitely appear to be the same bass - can't be 100% but it even looks like the same image in both brochures. Anyway, I'll stop cluttering up a Peavey thread with gratuitous Aria guff! Lovely pair of Sarzos, @BassManGraham!

Br*x*t bonus - it's now...

Wanx Norton.

I really couldn't say...

You say that like it's a bad thing! The most hilarious (and 100% maddest) bike I had was a Yammy TDR250 - basically a proto-supermoto with a 50bhp TZR twin stuck in a lightweight street trailie chassis. Would have another in a heartbeat. If they didn't go for 7 grand these days. Not sure what the bass equivalent would be - maybe a dayglo Ibby Soundgear, if it had a knife-edge powerband, spent half its time with its nose in the air & would happily chuck you through a hedge if you weren't careful.

The 'Argos' thread in OT made me wonder if this qualifies as properly pointy: Vester Argus Always thought these were genuinely great-looking basses, 90s or early '00s I think. Rare as anything. Can't believe I passed one up on here for £99 about 10 years ago, due to being brutally skint!

I think I remember reading that he's regretful...

You're doing it wrong! This is a Geddy Pee!