Bassassin

He's claiming it's an '85 MIJ Fender, it appears to be "A" serial, which would be '85-86, so far so good... I know my MIJ Squiers better than Fenders but I think the same rules apply - the A-serial makes this a "4th generation" MIJ Fender, so MIJ on the headstock rather than the heel should be right for '85. I presume the 3-bolt plate & bullet adjuster are also correct if this is a 70s reissue. However, it's somewhat modded - Schaller 3D & battery box etc. Not too up on 80s MIJ Fender values, but this seems a bit pricey to me considering it's been mucked about with. Jon.

[quote name='bassus_play' timestamp='1426516203' post='2718686'] [url="http://guitarz.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/1980s-era-arbor-bass.html"]http://guitarz.blogs...arbor-bass.html[/url] [/quote] Pretty sure that's nothing to do with Hohner (the name's probably a coincidence) and the content of the article's complete rubbish. And so's the assesment of the bass - those are DiMarzio pickups? I'm aware of "Arbor" as a medium/low-end Korean-made US rebrand from the early 80s, and that's what this bass is, I'm sure. Aaaanyway... Hohner Arbor. These appear to be a sort of stop-gap range between the Japanese-made (Moridaira) Hohners of the 70s/early 80s and the long-lived Hohner Professional range, which kicked off around 1985, and were initially made in Korea by Cort. I think the Hohner Arbors were probably Cort-made too, quality looks pretty decent on a lot of them, and I'd guess they were around from about '83-ish which seems to be when the Moridaira Hohners disappeared. Nice abalone inlays on some of the basses. The brand may have continued alongside the Professionals as a lower-tier range, but I don't really know - 80s MIK ain't my speciality. Jon.

Same bass with a different finish. Not a "Precision Jazz" (wotever that might be!) or an Ibanez rebrand (there's no such thing) but worth a look - still got its ashtrays on so might well be in good condition. Doubt it's a mahogany body on this one though. J.

Hall "worked for the British government"? What have I missed? J.

Two words- do, and it. J.

Yep - the finish is original. This is from about 1980, the headstock is the same shape as the first gen Ibanez Blazers, and these Js were also sold as Cimar. Not sure if they're Fujigen builds though. Body is solid mahogany so it's a bit hefty, the neck is a glued-on fretboard job but utterly lovely - assuming you get a good one. Pickups are weedy round-end MIJ stock, and the tuners are the torque adjutable types used on Tokais & Yamahas. I bought one of these about 10 years ago for £60, intending to tidy it & flip it - the neck was so damn nice it's been my go-to Jazz ever since. It's been pimped with DiMarzio Model Js, Schaller bridge & a vulgar scratchplate - but that neck's the thing. [sharedmedia=core:attachments:66973] Wish I could justify having two... J.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1426156262' post='2714951'] Why can he act the bully boy over here but not in the US? [/quote] Because he's [i]scary[/i] and we [i]let him[/i]. Not going to attempt to revive an old argument, but there is not, never has been, and never will be a Rickenbacker copy that is indistinguishable from the real thing. Particularly not this current Chickenbacker garbage. J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1425933392' post='2712529'] Blimey - you haven't seen one since then?! [/quote] I've seen a few, but they ain't exactly like buses! Especially not the pink ones... J.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1426070371' post='2713941'] No, my pick up line is, 'HELLO, I'M ON THE SEX-OFFENDERS' REGISTER!!' [/quote] Well, that's what happens when you go on the internet talking about fingering A Minor. Jon.

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1426013379' post='2713461'] Greco 'fakers were made by Matsumoku (bolt on necks) and Fuji Gen (through neck). Both good manufacturers. [/quote] Close, but not quite that clear-cut! 1974 Greco catalogue - the top two are Fujigens (the same delightfully inaccurate instruments as the Ibanez, which was from the same production line), the through-neck on the left, bolt neck on the right. The Matsumoku is on the bottom row, it's a through-neck, as far as I know Greco didn't do a Mat bolt-on. The Mat is an incredibly accurate copy (I have one) but is mysteriously cheaper than the rather idiosyncratic Fujigen. Odd chaps, the Japanese. Later Grecos were Fujigen builds, as Kanda Shokai (Greco brand owner) moved all its business to Fujigen - including of course MIJ Fenders. It's worth remembering that Greco is a Japanese home market brand, and has never been officially exported. This means that manufacture of MIJ Greco-branded Rick copies continued well beyond the 70s "lawsuit" era - in fact Fujigen were still making Greco Rick copies in the late 90s. J.

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1425996714' post='2713200'] They were on of the few copies that could get the body thickness and headstock pitch angle about right. [/quote] They really weren't. Ever seen one? The least accurate 4001 copy marketed by any Japanese brand. Lovely old basses but f-all like a Rick beyond the basic shape. [sharedmedia=core:attachments:48534] Most vintage MIJ 4001 copies were not concerned with spot-on accuracy, compare them side-by-side and they're different shapes & sizes from each other, never mind a real Rick. And real 4001s were never exactly consistent. And it's worth mentioning that most "Ibanez" copies are nothing of the sort. Jon.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1425912716' post='2712100'] Needless to say I have terrible GAS for one now. [/quote] Me an' all. I tried one of these in the Bass Centre in Wapping (for those with long memories) in 1980-something. Had GAS for one ever since. A pink one, specifically. Jon.

Now relisted. New, improved error-free listing here: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bass-guitar-SB-Humbucker-willy-strong-punch-/201301863127"]www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bass-guitar-SB-Humbucker-willy-strong-punch-/201301863127[/url] Jon.

Never seen an 8-string version before. I'm guessing they never made it to the UK! J.

It's an interesting curiosity nonetheless. The German-carved body looks closely related to the Jedson EB-type basses which come up quite regularly, these also frequently have that shield-shaped neckplate. Beyond that I can't place it - the offset half-oval position markers are unlike anything I've previously seen on an MIJ instrument. The seller talks about Kapa as though it's a known brand. I'd not heard of it, but it turns out it was originally a US-made brand from the 50s/60s which produced affordable instruments, a bit like Kay once was. Like Kay, production moved to the far east by the mid/late 60s and clearly this bass is from that era. I guess the name might justify the price to some collectors (and Kapa must be properly rare in the UK) but otherwise it's well over the odds. J.

[quote name='Moi' timestamp='1425569040' post='2708708'] There was another brand (the name escapes me but there's a thread about them buried somewhere in the Ebay topic) who were trying to flog these as some sort of hand-made US originals, with a 4-figure price tag. Chancers! [/quote] ...And quite randomly, I found the thread in question - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/3046-dcmontana-fakes/page__view__findpost__p__33226"]DC Montana, they were called[/url]. J.

There were quite a few of these knocking about a few years back - I actually remember these "Flying" brand things being on Ebay. There was another brand (the name escapes me but there's a thread about them buried somewhere in the Ebay topic) who were trying to flog these as some sort of hand-made US originals, with a 4-figure price tag. Chancers! And I actually had one similar to the "Flying" - think I bought it right here. Can't remember the name (might have been a no-brand) but it was OK, not great, and could've done with a fret dress: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:14743] Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425567297' post='2708681'] However, how many four string fretted basses does one need? [/quote] I don't know - how many are there? My excuse would be that I've never had a semi. So to speak. J.

Very nice, and a potential bargain. If I didn't already have one I'd be very interested. Basically an odd-looking MIJ Jazz with a P-shaped neck, and very nicely made, if mine's anything to go on. Not a Matsumoku, Kawai was a manufacturer in its own right as far as I know (apparently they bought out Teisco in the 60s to get into guitar manufacturing), they were responsible for a lot of 80s Fernandes - including the rather amazing Alembic clones. Jon.

That's quite interesting. Some nice details but it's got that wonky, not-quite-right look that home-made basses always seem to have. The bridge is the same sort used on the budget Chinese-made headlesses that sometimes turn up (actually a copy of the Steinberger licesed bridges used by Hohner) so I wonder if there was a donor bass for this. The fingerboard looks a bit like it was originaly fretted, rather than being made lined, and that output jack is just plain cheap & nasty. A bit too rustic & bargain-basement to merit £1500, imo. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425533994' post='2708244'] [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hb_60_wb_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._60_wb_deko.htm[/url] semi-hollow 60s style bass. Edit: gone. Was available for half an hour. I was tempted, but I'm thinking about whether I want to save my music allocation for a Yourock Gen2 MIDI controller. And I'm still waiting for a deko ukulele. (I may wait forever and buy a non-deko ) [/quote] Oh, I like that a lot. Quite relieved it's sold out! J.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1425513973' post='2708211'] Guess why. All it said to me was that TB can be so f***ing bland. [/quote] Well yeah. At least we've got a bit of spirit here. The Mumsnet of the bass playing world. J.