Bassassin

Will do. There are dozens of detailed pics linked from the ad, and apart from a bit of cracking around the skunk stripe (which is mildly alarming!) it looks very, very tidy, with just a few bits & bobs needing fixed. I will have to move something on to accomodate this - probably going to be my Ibanez 2366B P copy, as I really don't need 2 MIJ Precisions. I'm quite excited about this - never had a Daion before! J.

Actually, no, don't. Too late, I bought it. J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1453828510' post='2963214'] Daion Performer black/black/maple £110 BIN. Aren't these supposed to be quite nice? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-DAION-Yamaki-Performer-BASS-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-Black-Made-in-Japan-/201512152847?hash=item2eeb0f6f0f:g:gZkAAOSwoydWp3bT"]http://www.ebay.co.u...ZkAAOSwoydWp3bT[/url] [/quote] Errrr - yes, yes they are. This is one of the later examples with the unusual truss rod adjustment (through the neckplate) and is Yamaki-built. The (almost certainly anyway) DiMarzio Model P alone is worth a fair whack of the asking price. Someone buy this before I do something rash! J.

Actually, I think it's offensive. It offends left-handed Christians and right-handed Satanists. J.

If you scroll down, they do a range of idiotic stop-bars. Not sure which is the most hilarious - possibly the skull & crossbones-meets-dogturd. Jon.

MEKer - as always your contributions are interesting and informative, and I in no way mean to dismiss any of the conclusions you draw from your research. However I try to derive my own speculative theories from a broader awareness of the (often inexplicable!) vagaries of 70s & 80s Japanese guitar manufacture, rather than a specific interest in one particular brand. I'd find it very difficult to conclude that an unusual, possibly uncatalogued model (such as this Force 30) was some sort of fake, rather than a short-run, factory-built rarity. Particularly considering that the two - or three, if FlatEric's link is discussing the same model - have turned up as widely spread as South Africa, Bosnia and (possibly) Brooklyn! Thanks to DUPS' excellent photos and description, it's obvious that his bass is not modified (apart from the addition of DiMarzios) and the routing, screwholes, scratchplate & controls are as they left the factory. The fact that it has Washburn-specific MIJ hardware makes it immensely probable that it came from the same factory (Chushin Gakki or Matsumoku) as other Washburns of the same era, rather than being a knockoff built elsewhere. The decals on both basses we have pics of could have been amended but I think I'd need to see one with my own eyes to be certain. I'd speculate, based on the design & pickup choice, that this bass was intended to be a 4-string variant of the Force 30 guitar. As I've said numerous times in more discussions of MIJ basses & guitars than I can remember, this is basically like archaeology, and good research needs to be conducted with that in mind, constructing theories from evidence, and tying that in with established facts, where possible, to draw firm conclusions. I don't have any "beliefs" here to justify or any opinions that I want to be right about - I'm just (bizarrely) interested in this stuff, and my theories are just what seems most probable to me. And when more & better info comes along, then my conclusions change to fit that new knowledge. Washburn is an interesting brand, being a well-established US property at the time licenced for Japanese manufacture, but I don't know if there's any record of how much direct control the brand owners had over specific model production, and how much leeway the actual manufacturer had regarding model development, variations and ranges. The only direct (ish) parallel I can think of is Fender Japan - where Fender's Japanese partners Kanda Shokai had considerable influence over the range. This is largely because many models (the interesting ones!) were Japanese-market specific - but I wonder if something similar could have been the case for Washburn also, as they were sold into a variety of different global markets - including Japan, if the listings on Ishibashi & the like are anything to go by. Jon.

[quote name='wotsy' timestamp='1453693613' post='2961863'] Liking the Marine burst Ibanez Roadstar 950, if only I had a spare 250 quid. [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/ibanez-roadstar-bass-rb950-1984-made-in-japan-collectible-rare-double-humbuckers/1151931148"]https://www.gumtree....kers/1151931148[/url] [/quote] Lovely example, looks in great condition. J.

Very sad. Those Dio-era Rainbow albums - Rising particularly - were a big part of the soundtrack of my teens. Jon.

Frtom a 2016 revisionist perspective I have no idea - it was such a fertile era for music of many styles. But from the perspective of what made an impact on me at the time, and had a huge influence on me as a musician & songwriter, I'd say The Crossing by Big Country. Released in 1983 - the height of fashionista synth-pop & insipid white boy pop-funk, it was a tour de force of loud guitars used in unconventional ways, huge, emotive songs and impeccable, structured musicianship. [media]http://youtu.be/QByihCyvNJI[/media] [media]http://youtu.be/u3xcfOCqtqQ[/media]

These are good and that's particularly good for £70. The one caveat (which makes no difference in real terms) is that some of these are ply - and the big black oversprays on the contours of this one does suggest that it probably is ply. 10 minutes with a hairdryer will get all the stickers off. A gyppo like me would do that then Ebay it for £200/best offer... Jon.

And they're Les Paul copies. Apparently. Anyway, never encountered Orlando before (I'd say not a UK brand) and this is actually fairly interesting. I'm about 99.9% certain the bass is a Kasuga, making it a lot more interesting than the plethora of plywood Chushin rebrands that most old EB clones are. It's likely a pretty decent bass, too. J.

Someone on the [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/"]Ibanez Collector's World[/url] board restored one of these with very similar damage a few years ago - I think he shaped a piece of maple to replace the missing bit. Jon.

Looks like one of David Konig's Retrovibes to me. Is it completely unrouted? I'd like to do something 4002 or 4004-ish with one of these. Jon.

Interesting, quite like the look... but that's a [i]lot[/i] of money for a Les Paul copy with bit of metal stuck on the front. Jon.

[quote]...and it is easy to flip it.[/quote] Well - he's confident, I'll say that for him. Jon.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1452948526' post='2954949'] Where's Bassassin when you need him? [/quote] Off being unhelpful elsewhere! Anyroad up, It's broadly similar to one o' these: [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/bass/a-100_200.html"]http://www.matsumoku.../a-100_200.html[/url] However - because these were sold under the Aria name it doesn't follow that it's either a Matsumoku, or even any good. Or even MIJ (although I think this one is). There were various different versions of this design seemingly from several different factories sold through the 70s & early 80s, later ones being Korean-made. If it has "Steel Adjustable Neck" on the neckplate, that would confirm it as a Matsumoku, otherwise there's no real way of IDing or dating it, apart from in the broadest terms. Still kinda cool, though... Jon.

Sitting here looking at an Ibby SR500 which I've just rescued. Mine's one of the earlier, Korean-made examples & the spec sheet tells me it has US-made Bart MK1s, and Bart three-band pre. It seems the current SR500s still have the same setup, but no longer US-made, if that counts for anything. Not played it in anger yet but it does sound lovely, and seems very versatile. If you get on with a very skinny neck, I'd definitely recommend an SR - very light & comfortable, and tend to come up at good prices. Jon.

I had one of these a while back. The pickups used on these basses are the same ones the Japanese manufacturer (Chushin Gakki, likely) put in their Tele copies - they're not a specific bass pickup. One of he pickups on mine was dud, I simply took the coil out of a cheapo Tele pickup (which was slightly smaller) and popped it into the case from the Avon. It didn't exactly sound awesome - but then, neither did the original! If I was going to hot-rod one of these to use as a gigging bass, I'd probably consider a pair of Artec mini bass humbuckers: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Artec-Mini-Humbucker-Violin-Bass-Bridge-Pickup-Chrome-/371531876119"]http://www.ebay.co.u...e-/371531876119[/url] You'd need to modify the scratchplate/bridge pup surround but I think they'd fit the body routing. They are 4 conductor so you could wire them with push/pull pots for single coil/out-of-phase options. Jon.

Too half-arsed and lazy to even take out the ferrules... Jon.

Not got a problem with tributes, really. Would struggle to think of a band I'd be interested in doing a trib to, admittedly. Never gone out of my way to see a tribute band either, but have managed to inadvertantly catch a few. Those I've seen seen seemed to broadly divide between stunningly, disturbingly accurate and utterly, tragically embarrassing. Jon.

[quote name='Vinny' timestamp='1452840862' post='2953904'] But does it have as dubious a label as this one? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BadAax-4-String-Headless-Bass-Guitar-/231810901633?hash=item35f901a681:g:-XAAAOSwKtlWlBEh"]http://www.ebay.co.u...XAAAOSwKtlWlBEh[/url] Looks a lot like a B2 to my eyes. [/quote] It's close but not quite a B2. It has a set neck & conventional soapbars - B2s have through necks & guitar-type pickups. This looks the same, as far as I remember, as a German brand that was on Ebay a few years back selling B2-alikes. Can't recall the name, I think it was 2 initials. They even did a twin neck version. J.

The cheap hardware would suggest Hondo (or a differently badged version of the same bass) to me. The Kramers I've seen had Schaller tuners & bridge. Jon.

Well, that's incomprehensible. Pretty rare bass in the UK but I can't imagine why he thinks it's worth that much. Also why he's claiming it's 1976 (it's a lot earlier, likely pre '71-ish) and why he's referencing Framus. Then again, I've never understood why people selling stuff so often can't be arsed to do even the most cursory research. And then assume no-one else does, either. Jon.