Bassassin

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1444135829' post='2880546'] That is not a 70s P-Bass decal. The one in the pic looks hand-drawn to me. [/quote] Agreed. It's a not-too-bad attempt at an early/mid 60s logo. I'm definitely no expert, but the rest looks pretty convincing. Wonder what went on here? Jon.

Seeing that video is the first thing that's made me genuinely feel a bit sad that they have, by all accounts, knocked it on the head now. Will buy the Bluray - I might even watch this one. J.

Looks like the median is still around the £150 mark, which it seems to have been for ever. Some go for a bit more, some for a bit less and a few proper bargains creep through from time to time. I don't think the daft sods asking £300-odd ever get lucky. J.

Ditto here - I'd like a nice early 70s FireGlo 4001 (with all the vintage bells & whistles) to add to the collection, but I'm not parting with any of my Fakers anytime soon. On balance though, I'd prefer a nice early 70s Fujigen dot-neck - like the one Chris Squire's tinkering with here: J.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1443991146' post='2879339'] It's a stock photo for a start. [/quote] Looks like a naff 3d render to me. Weirder & weirder... Jon.

That looks exactly like the ScumTree one, pre-mods. Does to me, anyway! J.

Never noticed the Schaller bridge. Odd thing to change, the original hi-mass thing on the Zephyr was perfectly seviceable. Those pickups surrounds are ghastly. Look like they're made from plasticene. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443957097' post='2878911'] So Bill-R wasn't you in disguise, stirring up apathy? Damn. Another conspiracy theory falls apart. [/quote] I don't know whether to be amused or hurt that you would thinks such a thing! I mean... the spelling... the... the... the [i]grammer[/i]! J.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1443953458' post='2878869'] Not a Zephyr, like I said, that has sandwich wings with a contrasting wood colour in the middle that shows up in the forearm cutaway. The wings on this are solid wood. [/quote] I have a C5 with the sandwich construction, but it looks like they didn't all have that: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peavey-Zephyr-Bass-Rare-/261947226019"]http://www.ebay.co.u...e-/261947226019[/url] Clearly the one we're discussing has had some sort of refin, but I'm confident it was born looking like this one. J.

Hilarious thread! Quite sorry I missed participating in this one during my "wilderness years" but I do not think I could have been any more persuasive and eloquent than RigRedX, Noelk27 & Musky were - all to no avail. Wonder why someone would be so desperate to convince themselves and everyone else that their cheap Chinese copy was a particular sort of cheap Chinese copy. Poor Bill-R. I feel sorry for him. And whoever had to wipe up the mess when his head exploded. Jon.

Not in real life but a few pics have turned up, including a very old Aria catalogue I saw somewhere. What I put above though is literally all I know about them. You might find one or two other owners on the [url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/55074615631/"]Vintage Japanese Guitars[/url] ot the [url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/78514186083/"]Rickenfakers[/url] FB pages, but they likely won't be able to add much info! I'm sure they'd like to see some pics though. J.

I'd say Peavey C4 Zephyr, de-fretted, soapbars binned & replaced with Js in weird-looing surrounds which cover the holes. A refin or maybe T-cut/elbow grease to make it shiny. Jon.

[quote name='Jom' timestamp='1443875315' post='2878368'] Just picked up a Hohner P bass (1972) from ebay as well. [/quote] This one? It was also for sale on here. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/265389-nbd-hohner-70s-p-bass/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/265389-nbd-hohner-70s-p-bass/[/url] That's a 1976 Moridaira build, if so, reliably dated from the Maxon pickup code. Very nice & original - don't mod it too much! J.

One of these has been my no.1 bass for about the last 10 or so years now. [sharedmedia=core:attachments:66973] Mine's been somewhat modified over the time I've had it - DiMarzio Model Js, Schaller 3D bridge, stacked pots & vulgar scratchplate - but the main thing's the neck. It's still the best-playing bass I've had my mitts on, and the one I'd grab first if the house was on fire! These actually date from around 1980 and were also sold branded as Cimar: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:15345] Cimar was owned by Hoshino Gakki, who also own the Ibanez brand. At this point Hoshino were positioning Cimar as a sub-brand of Ibanez, so they share some features with Ibby designs of this era. The headsock on these CSL/Cimars is the same as the Mk1 Ibanez Blazer (which was also sold as the Cimar Stinger!) and when the Blazer was redesigned, the Cimars got the same headstock: The Ibanez association tends to make people assume that Cimars/CSLs were made by Fujigen, but in the case of these basses, I'm not so sure. Nothing to do with the quality and more to do with the hardware & details - on a post-'75 Fujigen, I'd expect a serial number on the neckplate. Fujigen didn't tend to use those rounded-end J pups, even on their "lawsuit era" copies, also the torque-adjustable 3-screw tuners don't appear on any Fujigen builds I'm aware of. However they do appear on Tokais of the early 80s era, and (I think) some Kawai-built basses. Anyway - regardless of who made them, these are great basses and it's good to see another one turn up on BC. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1443864260' post='2878226'] Here is a nice looking Aria P2 SB1000, though the description suggests that the condition isn't quite what the photos suggest. The owner is selling it to fund a ukulele. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-2-SB1000-1980-Bass-Guitar-/161842494856?hash=item25ae907d88"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item25ae907d88[/url] [/quote] It's a bit light on pics of the rear buckle rash - but from what you can see it's nothing compared to the back of the SB-R Elite I picked up last year! The wear's in the exact same place, though. J.

Cort are OEM manufacturers for numerous big brands - my Cort-built Ibanez EDA900 plays beautifully & is faultlessly put together - even if the sound & look are an acquired taste. Over the years I've had numerous Cort-built guitars & basses, notably from the Hohner Professional range, and been very impressed. I also had a quite lovely Cort T34 bass quite recently from another BCer - very Ibanez SR-ish in sound & feel. Sadly sold now for reasons of space & money. I'd say as a brand they're a lot of bass for the money. Jon.

Coincidentally, just (10 minutes ago) found this linked on a non-music forum. How very serendipitous. So - Battle of the Fat, Middle-Aged, Rubbish Dad Bands, then? We will very probably be up for that... Jon.

Love the Ronseal headstock refin! Jon.

[quote name='basshead56' timestamp='1443650890' post='2876689'] [attachment=201797:rickyfaker.jpg] Anyone know much about these Aria's? One inbound... [/quote] Old (late 60s/early70s), made by Matsumoku, not very common at all, and them ain't the original tuners. Jon.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443437717' post='2874586'] You don't need to take it apart to see if it's ply. If the black of the sunburst extends over the belly cut as well as the forearm contour (as can be seen in the photo in the OP) then it is almost definitely ply. Not that it particularly matters if you like the sound and feel of the bass. [/quote] Well, to be pedantic, what those big oversprays tell you is that it's not a solid, single piece of timber. Many 70s MIJ basses (including an Ibanez P copy I own and a Fujigen-build J I recently traded) had this finish concealing a butcher-block build with front & back veneers - a cut above ply but not quite solid wood. Years ago I also had a Columbus Jazz with the same construction, and have seen it on numerous good-quality Gibson guitar copies. I still maintain that without any idea what's under the ashtrays, it's not possible to assess this bass in any kind of meaningful way. It may or may not be the same as Flickr Guy's bass (take the hashtag out of the link if you want it to actually work!) but personally I doubt the judgement of someone who can't even do simple & basic research regarding his main question about the CMI brand. J.

That's been a nice pre-'76 Fujigen build,same as Ibanez & Antoria. In that state, £35 is about what it's worth. Jon.

This CMI isn't necessarily a "low quality" bass. Importers tended to sell different levels of build within the same ranges. The only things I can tell from the pic are that it's probably in original condition and it really needs a clean. Value-wise, if I was selling I'd hope for £150+, buying I'd want to pay under a ton. J.

Still lots of grey areas & misinformation out there about copy-era MIJ stuff. BigRedX is on the money about CMI, a sub-brand of Marshall amps who sourced from various suppliers- including UK - built Ned Callan. However I don't think this bass is Fujigen, Matsumoku or Moridaira. Most of the CMIs I've seen have been identical to low-end Mayas, which many MIJ experts now believe to have originated from Chushin Gakki. Regarding upgrading it - that's going to depend on the original pickup routing, which may well be for the square 8-pole Maxons or little chrome Tele-style units which were both common on these basses. Jon.

I did message the guy with what I know about these, to his credit he's published my message. Hasn't re-worded the actual listing or its title, though... J.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1442998177' post='2871205'] OK I'll explain despite the fact that IMO this is just another inverse snobbery trolling thread. [/quote] Why do you think that? Genuinely interested. J.