Bassassin

Memphis wasn't a manufacturer, it was a brand used by a US importer, much as Satellite was a brand used by UK importer Fletcher, Coppock & Newman Ltd, alongside their Columbus & Kimbara brands. Memphis as a brand would never have been sold in the UK. I wouldn't swear this fretless was definitely a Satellite, though, there were numerous short-run rebrands (plenty of local music shops imported their own ranges back then), and no-name guitars were pretty common too. These basses would have been sold all around the world with a variety of different rebrands and detail differences. The bridge design on the fretless bass turns up on various string-through basses from both Japanese & Korean manufacturers, however by the time these basses were in the shops (I can remember looking at them in 1980!) Japanese factories had pretty much abandoned the copy market, at least for export. Korean factories were upping their game & jumping on the through-neck bandwagon, which was very popular at the time, and factories like Cor-tek (Cort) produced some great quality original designs based around that template. There's not as much available history on this period of the Korean industry as there is in Japan, so I've never been able to pin down which factory made these though-neck Satellite/Memphis/Whoever P copies - having owned one myself, I'd certainly like to know. J.

I'd recommend buying another Ibanez SR and leaving the Precision where it belongs. In 1957. Seriously, trying a J neck is probably the way to go, but it's interesting that you talk about general discomfort & fatigue when playing, as well as not getting on with the neck shape. I've had 2 SRs as well as various Precisions & P-derived basses, and they're vastly different in more than just neck dimensions. Body shape, balance and overall weight are all factors that will be contributing to how the bass feels & plays, and you might find simply swapping the neck doesn't improve matters as much as you might expect. I'd be inclined to think you might be better looking at a lighter bass with a slim neck that gives you the sound you want, (perhaps Zero9's Squier Jag suggestion), or perhaps an older Ibanez SR with P/J pickups. Jon.

Sorry, not MIJ, and not Memphis, as that was a US importer/distributor. What you have was likely sold as a Satellite: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:53548] These were Korean-made & from around 1980, there were fretted & fretless versions & also a Strat-shaped guitar with twin humbuckers. I had the fretted version of this bass, very solidly-built, if not quite to contemporary Japanese quality, and weighed like a boat anchor! [sharedmedia=core:attachments:53512] Jon.

Agreed. Utterly wrecked, only original parts left are the wood, looks like it's been de-fretted with a cold chisel. I wouldn't pay £40 for it. Jon.

£25 for a Westone Thunder, albeit with one shonky replacement tuner? Nicked. J.

[quote name='cocco' timestamp='1416340599' post='2609244'] Defiantly an ibanez! [/quote] Finding one will be the problem, 'cos copy era stuff's not too common in the UK, then accurately dating it. Ibby serials didn't start properly until late '75-76. Jon.

Lucky git! Pictures or it didn't happen, as they used to say on the internets. J.

Old Vince has definitely still got it. Never as good without Dunaway, Smith, Bruce & Buxton though. Jon.

That's MIJ - these were long gone before Matsumoku went under. I know MIJ prices aren't what they once were, but that's a silly, silly bargain! J.

John Hall's on record saying the 4000 series scratchplate isn't trademarked, the other hardware only bears a passing resemblance to Rick parts & couldn't be considered counterfeits by any stretch of the imagination!. Would've looked better with different hardware anyway. J.

The identical Antoria-badged version is much more common in the UK, although still pretty scarce. Cheaper too, probably £350-£450ish, at a guess. Essentially it's a Jazz copy with curly horns, easy-to-break headstock & rather silly country & western scratchplate & inlays, so expect it to sound & play like a good 70s J copy, and look like a cowboy's wet dream! I like 'em. Jon.

I quite like it as an attempt to do a blatantly Rick-inspired bass that infringes no trademarks, and can't attract JH's litigiousness. That said, it's a missed opportunity imo - if it had a cateye soundhole, big inlays & checked binding, I might buy one... Not a fan of the shonky-looking Chickenbacker hardware, though. Jon.

[quote name='bagsieblue' timestamp='1415568612' post='2601606'] So the truss rod tool would fit into the teeth and adjust the rod? [/quote] They're not teeth - that's a standard hex key truss nut. The bits that look like teeth are caused by the manufacturing process & don't actually do anything. Jon.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1415276994' post='2598655'] Careful, Jon - you live in Scotland........ G. [/quote] Indeed - and I blend in quite well until I open my gob! Weirdly there are two ginger tossers in my band - & neither of us are Scottish. J.

They probably felt that was more politically correct than simply saying "NO GINGERS!" Jon.

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1415128513' post='2597054'] Yes I've seen those decals too! Here's some info about domestic JVs from 21 Frets - [url="http://www.21frets.com/squier_jv/domesticjv.htm"]http://www.21frets.c.../domesticjv.htm[/url] [/quote] Thanks for the link - interesting though, scroll to the bottom of the page & there's a J headstock with the same decals as the Ebay one. No MIJ label. And - on [url="http://www.21frets.com/squier_jv/jv_quick_guide.htm"]this page[/url], discussing "second issue decal" guitars there's this: [quote]Another very sought after domestic model, especially the first JV0xxxx guitars. During mid 1983 the decal style changed to a slightly smaller and less bold script (as per the original pre-CBS decals), the 'Made in Japan' designation also moved to the back of the neck where it meets the body. [/quote] So maybe it's real after all. I think I'd want to see electrics/neck pocket etc though. J.

I do indeed have a Sleekline: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:46249] Anyway, these are MIJ circa 1980 or thereabouts, and quality is consistent with other Fender-derived original designs of the era, like Ibanez Blazers & Aria RSBs. Kawai was a manufacturer as well as a brand, having acquired the Teisco factory in the 60s, and I always felt the styling of the Sleekline reflects some of those odd early Japanese designs. These are nicely-made basses, sen ash body, one-piece maple neck & decent hardware. Despite basically being a Jazz derivative, the Sleekline has a Precision-ish neck shape with quite a curved fretboard radius. Probably the only real weak point was the pickups - useable but a bit thin on my example. Mine's mildly (and reversibly) modified - basically when I got it, it was a bit of a wreck & I gave it a full stripdown & cleanup - I liked it so much with the scratchplate off that I made a cutdown version & stuck some different knobs on it. Swapped the pickups for some from the spares box, which beefed it up a little, & also ended up sticking on a Schaller bridge & some old Ibanez tuners I had lying around... Jon.

Pretty certain that Japan-market JV Fenders (not Squiers) should say Made In Japan on the headstock, not the heel. You can buy those Made In Japan heel decals on Ebay, funnily enough. Jon.

Both Korean & MIJ Hondos had DiMarzios as standard - not all of them by any means though. Quite a lot of Matsumoku-built instruments did too, not Westones, but Vox & Westbury did, and it also turns out [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/248491-1979-matsumoku-aria-pb-550-fretless-maple-neck/"]some Arias did too[/url]. I'm sitting here next to a Kasuga Scorpion which has a Model P as standard - once MIJ stuff started to be taken seriously, a lot of the manufacturers upped their game by using good-quality branded components, including Badass bridges & Schaller tuners as well. These Cort-made Kays came fitted with pickups called "Powersound" (see pic 3 in [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/82420-can-anyone-identify-this-bass/"]this thread[/url]) so the cream coloured unit on the Ebay one isn't original, which is what leads me to suspect it's a pukka DiMarzio in it. It's surprising what they turn up in - I once bought a Satellite P copy off Gumtree for £35 simply on a hunch that the non-original cream P pup was a DiMarzio - and it was. J.

TRC's been flipped to conceal the "Kay" logo, I'd say. I do like these, they're pretty much the first attempt by a Korean manufacturer to produce a serious decent-quality original design. Wonder if it's DiMarzio in the P position? J.

It's also a shoddily flung together, bodged-up piece of crap. [i]How [/i]much??? J.

That's pretty disturbing. I may have nightmares. Jon.