Bassassin

Never had an FGN but have owned many, many Fujigen Gakki - built basses & guitars. My current faviourite recording bass is my recently rediscovered Ibanez RS924 Roadster, which has the punchiest, best-balanced PJ growl of any bass I've ever played, and if I need a Strat my £70 car-boot E-serial MIJ Squier remains the go-to.

Apropos of nothing, Fujigen was the factory originally contracted to produce MIJ Fenders & Squiers when Fender Japan was established. Fender Japan was a collaboration between Kanda Shokai (owner of the Greco brand) and Yamano Gakki, and Fujigen was used because of the existing relationship with Kanda to produce Greco guitars - which were the instruments that sufficiently impressed FMIC to want to manufacture in Japan in the first place. The contract lasted until the mid 90s, after which most Japanese Fenders were made by Tokai Gakki & Dyna Gakki, labelled as CIJ to differentiate them from MIJ Fujigens.

23 minutes ago, Tim2291 said:

TBH, this is just the place to come when you want encouragement to buy something you don't really need (but also totally need and can't live without honest) and don't want to talk to your partner first as you know they will probably say no!

My partner's away at the moment so not available for consultation - but she is at the same time the best and the worst person in the world about this sort of thing because I know for a fact she'd say BUY IT!!!

...And I probably will...

Struggling with my trigger-finger over a Shimano 105 7020 hydraulic groupset for £499 over at Wiggle/Chain Reaction. About half what it was 18 months ago...

Bugger, for a moment I though this was BikeChat.

Hard to tell much from the pics, but based on the bridge (screw in each corner) & the domed string retainer, I'd say it's Korean. I've never seen these components on an MIJ bass but most late 70s/80s MIK Fender types have them.

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Paging @Bassassin

J'arrive!

I've actually got the guitar version of this, which means I've ended up finding out quite a bit of info about these.

These are among the earliest Japanese copies and probably first appeared around 1969-70, and were likely available for three or four years around that time. As was mentioned upthread, they're quite common in the UK branded as Jedson, also sold as Vox, plus numerous other names. Like many old MIJ instruments, plenty were sold unbranded.

Most names on instruments like these are just brands, not manufacturers, but these also come up labelled Sakai, which was a 60s/early 70s Japanese manufacturer.

HW builds some incredible basses.

Ric was Rick until Rick became RIC.

See?

17 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Short scale RIC copy for those who struggle with normal scale. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403989822983

'Short scale Rickenbacker International Corporation copy' is an odd sales description, particularly considering that the company did not exist at the time this instrument was made.

[/pedant]

BC needs a 'Weirdest First Post' thread.

Repro Guitar Parts in the States do one. I've had a few bits & peices off them before (Ibby Musician trc & Aria SB knobs) and they're excellent quality, fast delivery & reasonable postage.

https://reproguitarparts.com/#!/Westone-Thunder-II-Bass-Truss-Rod-Cover/p/356714735/category=1385115

On 08/11/2022 at 20:35, Cato said:

 

There's a chap called @Bassassin on here who will almost certainly be able to help, but it would probably help if you could post some pics of the bass.

There is - would have popped in sooner if I'd had a notification that I'd been tagged here. Will have to have a look at my settings...

Anyway, while I don't have any specific knowledge of these, I'd say either date - '78 or '80 - is feasible (I would be inclined to think the headstock number is the dateable one) and they definitely pre-date 1985 whatever the manufacturer thinks now! Very small images but here's a 1980 Kawai catalogue showing the range. It's also understood that that Kawai made Alembic copies for Fernandes, and these appear starting in their 1981 catalogue (p.18). They may have been around earlier but there's a bit of a gap in the fossil catalogue record!

Now - about these pics...

I played bass for about 3 years & had reached a reasonable standard before picking up a guitar - I was having musical ideas I couldn't really express properly on bass & wanted to start to compose my own stuff. I never got that good on guitar - not consistent enough to gig with it, but I can play anything I can think up & with enough takes can (IMO) sound reasonably convincing! That's maybe more of a reflection on my compositional skills than my playing ability though.

Having spent various long periods over the years out of gigging bands (like now), I definitely play guitar more than bass, although I'd never consider it my main instrument. I've been told both that I play guitar like a bassist, and that I play bass like a guitarist. Which obviously means I'm doing everything wrong...

4 hours ago, Sambrook said:

Thanks chaps. The serial number might be appearing soon...

Just had a PM chat with @eubassix, looks like it's 1992, which looks about right!

4 hours ago, dieseldalziel said:

It's really is a lovely instrument...and just to be clear the £100 was just a deposit to show my commitment to buying it, I paid £345 which is well worth it in the condition it is and to my door!

 TBH that's a bit fairer on the seller, you'd be robbing him at £100!

Gorgeous little thing & a total bargain, I have a V7 fretless & it's a superb bass.

I do have a bit of short-curious GAS & a U5 is high on my (very theoretical!) list - I can tell you there's a blue one for sale on BC at the moment for a LOT more than you paid for that...

Mid 80s to 90s, made by Cort in Korea if it's an early one. Shame the serial's not visible as it should be dateable from that.

Very pretty bass & looks in excellent condition for its presumed age. The Hohner Pro range were generally extremely well-made & playable instruments, +1 to @Lfalex v1.1's comments about the pre, I have a B2A with a similar setup.

3 hours ago, ianmac said:

Thanks for that - so it seems to be a Hohner but made under licence in Japan

Not so much made under license, as simply a rebrand of a model made by Moridaira. This was very common during the Japanese guitar-making boom in the 70s, a variety of identical instruments, usually copies but also original designs like this, appearing under numerous different names.

I don't think Hohner ever manufactured guitars & basses in-house, in the 70s & early 80s they came from Moridaira, and from maybe 1983, production moved to Cort in Korea. Most of the output from those factories would have been sold under other brands too.

JJ Burnel was the reason I picked up a bass. Heard The Stranglers & thought - I want to make that noise.

Me & a bunch of school pals decided to form a band (none of us could play anything!) and no-one else wanted to play bass... Oh good!

Aside from the pickups it looks like it could be the bass this guy on TB is talking about:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/riverhead-by-headway-spector-model.937983/

It's not the short-lived Spector knockoff he mentions, but it's the closest thing I can find to the OP's pic.

I'd say the chances of easily finding one of these on Ebay or Reverb etc is incredibly low, Riverhead was never a major brand & even the most common models are like the proverbial rocking horse poo.

Best bet would probably be keeping an eye on Japanese sellers like Ishibashi - inevitably, obscure 80s MIJ stuff is much more common in Japan.

Stockbridge? Eye-wateringly expensive and packed with hipsters!

Anyway.

Years ago someone on here did the same A/B with a BA2 (which the hi-mass is a clone of) and a standard BBOT. The consensus was that the standard bridge sounded better - and listening to this I think that bears it out. Noticeably much more top-end and definition with the BBOT, slap sounds tighter & more focused, and despite all the claims made about cast bridges the sustained notes, while not necessarily longer on the standard bridge, certainly sound fuller & seem not to fade so quickly. I suspect comparing the waveforms would bear that out.

In fairness though, not different enough that you'd notice in a mix, and nothing you couldn't fix with EQ if you cared enough.

Yep - exactly the same as my first-ever bass, which I bought brand new in 1978. Mine was branded Grant, which was the name of the retailer which imported & distributed them.

Not mine but this is identical:

Mine was really a piece of junk & not an ideal bass for a beginner - I got a better instrument a year or so later & the Grant became a project/beater. Likely a lot of its problems were setup - shops would sell these without any kind of setup & adjustment, and the likes of teenage me had no idea how to make it better.

Anyway - old Japanese basses are something of an interest of mine & I do know a bit about these. Made in the mid 70s by Chushin Gakki, which was a very large-scale manufacturer, and sold worldwide under hundreds of different brand names.  Body is ply & pickups are single-coil copies of Hofner 'Staple' humbuckers.

Old Japanese stuff like this is becoming pretty collectable and yours looks like it might be in pretty decent condition for a 45+ year old bass. They do have some value these days so I'd avoid making any irreversible modifications to it if you think you're likely to sell it later.

I might be wrong but it doesn't exactly scream 'handmade in Italy' to me, with its scarf-jointed neck, generic hardware (inc Schaller knockoff bridge), wonky tuner positioning etc. I'd say AliExpress Special with its headstock messily 'refinished' and a little tin medallion (held on with a B&Q brass woodscrew) stuck on the back.

Ambitious but (probably) rubbish.

Just checked the seller's other items/sold listings & he has a few other suspiciously generic & knockoffy basses & guitars with the same stickers & tin badges.

14 hours ago, Grimalkin said:

Tony Butler who played for Big Country. 

Tony played on 8 BC albums & dozens of non-album tracks. Great player (and certainly an influence of mine) but that's a significant output.

On 13/10/2022 at 11:43, Ralf1e said:

Would that limit your choice of strings? I had a nasty experience of wrecking some Labella flats turning them too tight

It would, and it's not really practical. There's not a huge amout of travel on the tuners so having a straight pull through the clamp, and being able to haul on the string with pliers while you clamp it is useful. Would be a lot more awkward if they were bending to go through the headstock & into the clamp.

Late 70s/early 80s MIJ, made by Moridaira Gakki, best known as the manufacturer of Prince's Hohner MadCat Tele copy. Not much info around about the bass, but the same thing would have also been sold branded Morris (Moridaira's house-brand), Lotus (US) and probably Bill Lawrence & H.S. Anderson.

Can't find any info on the bass but some nice pics (& German text, if you're multi-lingual) of the guitar version here:

https://best-vintage-guitars.de/morris_global_sound_neck_through.html

There's an FB group for owners & enthusiasts of Moridaira - you may get more info there, & they'll certainly be interested in seeing it.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1978659485756691

Edit - turns out the German site has the same bass as the Hohner branded Tacoma, which would have been an importer/distributor rebrand:

https://best-vintage-guitars.de/tacoma_neckthrough_grand_bass.html

Search 'Morris Grand Bass' & you'll find more pics.