Bassassin

When I first decided to sell basses I didn't play much (some of which I'd owned for 10+ years) what amazed me was how I didn't miss them at all. I thought I'd be way more attached/regretful than I turned out to be. Jon.

Blimey. And to think back in the 70s they used to be Ayn Rand-indoctrinated crypto-fascists. Well,according to the NME, anyway. Jon.

On Ebay there's always the occasional out-of-hand bidding war leading to crazy prices or under-the-radar bargain, but there's usually a sort of median price range - I don't think it's changed much for Thunders. I had a nice T1 guitar which sold for exactly £150, about 6 years ago! Regarding current disparities, I refer my learned friend to [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/7473-japcrap-spotting/page__view__findpost__p__2636357"]my earlier post [/url]contrasting the same seller's Washburn Force 40 & (poxy) Westone Thunder! J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1421329084' post='2659904'] Given that Mick didn't get the credit nor money that he deserved from his work with Japan, I'm not too displeased to see his estate benefitting in this way. [/quote] Fair point, no problem with that. I still think the buyer's exhibiting weapons-grade stupidity. J.

Prices for Thunder IIs & IIIs have always been higher (unless you drop lucky), I guess because of the Matsumoku through-neck thing, which seems to be something people will pay a fair amount for - look at the prices of Aria Pro SBs & SB-Rs. Bolt-neck Thunders have held their prices surprisingly well while much of the rest of vintage MIJ has been in freefall. They never went for much more than £150, and many still do - surprising considering how common they are. J.

Good lord, that's stunning. Until you get a hernia trying to pick it up. J.

Very early Rush tribute band? [sharedmedia=core:attachments:45167] Jon.

No, but it's unauthorised (or at least I strongly suspect it is) use of a protected registered trade mark of Rickenbacker International Corp, and as such the infringers will be dealt with by THE FULL FORCE OF UNITED STATES TRADEMARK LEGISLATION. UNTIL THEY BLEED!!!! Jon.

[quote name='Shabbs' timestamp='1421228049' post='2658551'] Cheers Jon, haven't even heard it yet, unstrung and needing a good clean and fret dress. Is it purely personal preference or is passive generally more desirable? [/quote] I'd say personal preference - never ben much of a fan of actives. J.

I think all the early Hohner headlesses had those EMG Select humbuckers, active or passive. If it's the same as the B2/B2A Steinberger copy, then the 2 versions are identical apart from the preamp, XLR out & on/off microswitch on the active version. My B2A sounds better with the pre switched off, anyway. Jon.

Keep the Rick, Keep the VMJ, read this thread! http://basschat.co.uk/topic/252421-ditching-fender-for-squier/ Having had a bunch of excellent Squiers over the years, I think you'd be paying for the name & not a lot else. And these days Fender's a franchise, not a manufacturer. Jon.

[quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1421054169' post='2656490'] Who is Laura Doggett? [/quote] She was on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday Morning. Ed Milipede didn't stick around to watch. [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30766997"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-30766997[/url] Quite like her voice, but the song barely exists. J.

In fairness, it probably depends what sort of tone you're after. I struggled to nail the sort of bright/snarly/touch of overdrive racket I usually favour without getting microphonic feedback, chances are it'd be fine with more neutral amp EQ & no effects. I didn't perservere with it, it's surprisingly heavy for a hollow/light metal body bass so I only gigged it twice. Looks ace on the wall though! J.

I believe it was an Italia Mondial.

Tokai Talbo FTW..... ...until you plug it in & it starts squealing like a piggy. Most resonant, microphonic body ever. Jon.

Or that the world is full of very stupid people with far too much money. Which is a good thing, if you can find one. J.

Musky's right about the bridges - this seems to be a flaw on a few early 80s Matsumokus with 3-point bridges, but they are interchangeable with any 3-point design so finding a replacement (if necessary) shouldn't be a problem. This is mine when I got it: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:45688] On a bass like a Track 4 I might feel inclined to replace it with something like a Hipshot Supertone or the new Babicz 3-point. Pickups were DiMarzio as standard, again something found on a lot of Mat basses at the time, should be wired for series/parallel switching which makes them quite versatile. Cream covers should be standard, you can check authenticity by hex key size (DiMarzios are imperial) or wiring colour, which will be white & green/black & red. The Ebay sale at £190 is an indication how far vintage MIJ prices have fallen in the last few years, the Track 4 is pretty high spec (set neck/carved top etc) and 5 or 6 years ago £350-£400 would be more usual for a good original bass. These are actually pretty scarce, much less common than the single-pickup/bolt neck Track 2 like mine. Jon.

That Vantage is quite special - they don't come up in the UK very often & I'm pretty sure I've never seen that model in real life. Quite relieved I've got past my "have to have it" phase... J.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1420763132' post='2653290'] I bet its not a very cheap retro-fit [/quote] It's not available to buy yet, (mid-January, apparently) but it's probably not going to be much dearer than the standard Fender-fit Babicz - £79.00 from Bass Centre. Not really too expensive then, probably end up a bit cheaper than the Supertone. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1420735638' post='2652815'] I wonder if this will inspire Rickenbacker to have a bit of a rethink. [/quote] Just demonstrates the difference in corporate mentality - Babicz make a modern, improved update on Gibson's traditional design, Gibson start factory-fitting them. Hipshot make a modern, improved update to Rickenbacker's traditional design - Rickenbacker threaten legal action. Jon.

Looks like he's tried to clean the control plate by dipping it in the bog. In fairness, the logo actually does look a lot more like it says "Squizz" than "Squire". Jon.

Pretty sure I remember a bunch of nice-looking Marleaux knockoffs on Ebay 5 or 6 years back - that would've been around the same time the German HK brand started turning up, so this is likely one of that batch. Some of their other basses were quite interesting too - seem to remember a double-neck Steinberger copy. Jon.

Found a couple more pics: [url="http://blog.pupilo.com.mx/http://blog.pupilo.com.mx/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tumblr_ml7s8oXWb31qj6juso3_1280.png"]http://blog.pupilo.c...6juso3_1280.png[/url] (weird - pic shows in the editor but not when posted. Link should work) Lovely grain on that fretboard. I stand by my original assessment - it's a proper one-off, fully functioning bass. Never noticed the 24-fret neck, I'd also say it looks like it tapers less than a Fender, quite narrow string spacing, and it's square at the end of the fingerboard. The extended heel of the neck seems to go right up to the pickup. The bridge looks like some sort of 2-point Gibson-type fitting, presumably to go with the Mudbucker - that would account for the tight string spacing. The body has a clear scratchplate, unlike the wood used on Armstrongs, and the routing (which you can see better in the original pics) is clearly for just the existing pickup & controls, so the body isn't from any donor bass I'm aware of. Dunno what it is,but I want one. J.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1420464367' post='2649568'] As far as I know the only Acrylic basses that went into production were made by Dan Armstrong. The rest are probably one-offs. I've seen several acrylic P basses, John Entwistle had one and I saw one being used in Goldfrapp. [/quote] Most of the 70s Japanese factories did a Dan copy - really good article here: [url="http://www.danarmstrong.org/copies.html"]http://www.danarmstr...org/copies.html[/url] As far as other production seethroughs is concerned, budget brand Axl did a P a few years back, I built a rather lovely but too heavy to actually lift project based around the body of one of these: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:57742] Neck's a bit rubbish too, but it looks great! Off to read the TDPRI thread now... J.