Bassassin

Very nice, I do like a nice pearl block neck, works well with the body colour. I'd have gone for DiMarzio Model Js and a Schaller 3D myself, though. And a pearl plate to match the blocks. No sticker. Jon.

About 5 years ago I had a 70s Satellite Jazz copy for £25 - it was up for £50 but one of the pups was dead & the guy wanted it out of the shop. Re-soldered the pup cable to the pot, cleaned it up and gyppo-flipped it for £100. Easy. A few years back the Newcastle branch had a very tidy Ibanez SR506 6-er up for £120, but I was too skint to take advantage. More recently my local one had a Yamaha SBV500 (exactly like the one I have, apart from the grime) for £60. I had no cash or card on me at the time - should've asked them to stick it out the back for me, because it was gone a few hours later! Jon.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1407700691' post='2523192'] I would've thought the bridge would be different, probably not strung-through on the Mats version - different tuner ears too possibly? [/quote] Quite right - massive Chushin bridge and Schaller M4S (or bang-on copies) tuners. Still has through-body stringing, also pickup positions are a bit more sensible, the P is midway between the J unit & the fretboard, and reversed. J.

I seriously seriously hope someone on BC got it for the £37 it sold for. Bargain of the month, possibly year. Jon.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1407678992' post='2522898'] This guy has a LOT of very sexy Japanese basses for sale on eBay - I want about 8 of them! [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&item=111430412627&pt=Guitar&_osacat=0&hash=item19f1c52953&_ssn=solemettere&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xbass&_nkw=bass&_sacat=0&_from=R40"]http://www.ebay.co.u...cat=0&_from=R40[/url] [/quote] I do like his Yamaki-era [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Washburn-Vulture-Bass-Made-in-Japan-Very-Rare-late-70s-or-early-80s-Neck-Thru-/111420771006"]Washburn Vulture II[/url] - never seen a blue one before, & it's interesting to see the differences between this & the later Matsumoku build, like mine. J.

[quote name='MB1' timestamp='1407593416' post='2522139'] MB1. Looks like a hohner jack made to look like a Washburn Status copy? [/quote] I wondered about that but I don't think so, mostly because Cort made several weird & wonderful headlesses with this hardware, most of which never made it to the UK. This would fit right in alongside the headless Flying V, through-neck P/J Steiny copy & 2-tone headless Precision! J.

Actually Jack, it's a 2366B - the 2369 was the white P/J with the maple/black blocks board. As luck would have it, I own an Ibanez 2366B and as a result I've done some digging regarding these. Here's mine: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:43162] [sharedmedia=core:attachments:43163] MIne's pre-serial, meaning pre-76 but in many respects is quite different to Dik's. I'd say his is very early, probably '71 or '72, because it has a number of features not found on the majority of Ibanez Fender clones. These are the 8-pole Maxon single-coil pickup, tuners with small chrome keys, broad chrome truss cover, and dot inlays which stop at the 17th position. The last feature is the only one shared with my 2366, and that dates mine to approximately '72/'73. The Maxon pickup will have a serial number stamped on its reverse - these can be decoded to give a manufacturing date for the pickup, and therefore an approximate age for the bass. Anyway yes, [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/"]these are collectable[/url], rarity depends on where you are (there aren't too many in the UK) and value is determined only by who else wants it and how hard their GASmonkey is riding them that day. KevB - Fujigen Gakki, and believe it or not - bubble & squeak. Funny old world. Jon.

I had a fretless Ibanez SR800, lovely bass, and always had GAS for a fretted version. Ibanez do change the specs of their basses regularly but eventually I was lucky enough to find a fretted SR800 from the same model year. Apart from the neck & colour, it was identical - same weight, balance, pickups, EQ, hardware etc, so it did feel very similar & familiar in most ways. Sound & feel were different only because fretted & fretless are inherently different instruments. I don't have either of them any more (which I regret to a certain degree) but I did learn that while I prefer a skinny J-width neck on a fretted bass, I'm a lot more comfortable with a wider, flatter board on a fretless. Jon.

Ain't a Washburn. Washburns used hardware that was the same, or similar looking, to "real" Statii. On the other hand, this is actually the same bass as the Hohner Jack, or even Hohner's licensed Steinberger copy, only with Status-y body wings. It's even got the "licensed by Steinberger" tuners/tailpiece. The Hohners were made by Cort, so it's my speculation that it's a Cort Status copy, possibly a prototype or something never imported to the UK. If he'd post it - and if I wasn't skint - I might well be bidding, quite fancy a lined fretless headless with a body! Jon.

Typically if it's a Fleabay or Scumtree ad which starts in this way, I'll often know significantly more than the seller - specifically that yes, you do want three times more than it 's worth, and no, it really wasn't made by Matsumoku. Jon.

Headstock looks like a Dean, perhaps. Nice looking bass but not MIJ or particularly old, I wouldn't say. J.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1406884710' post='2515533'] Somebody on BC knows. I think I remember the logo from a thread two to three years ago, and back then it was solved. I tried searching, but to no avail.[/quote] That's exactly what I thought when I saw the headstock pic - pretty sure I've seen that squiggle before, and for my money it's a stylised "M". Something beginning with M, then... Jon.

Not really my sort of JapCrap, but that's a quite amazing looking 60s Kawai/Guyatone/Teisco/Whatever that would have the early MIJ aficionados having a crisis in their boxers. Looks completely original to me, don't remember ever seeing gold foil bass pickups before. Jon.

Cool - haven't seen one of these in years. Didn't want one back then, don't have GAS for one now but that's a pretty unique piece of vintage JapCrap. I think these were built by Fujigen - well, the bass bit anyhow. If I remember, Roland had a deal with Kanda Shokai, and certain Roland controllers are pretty much re-badged Grecos with extra electronics. Not this one, obviously, but it still ends up being strangely related to MIJ Fenders. Funny old world...

I have a chrome one of these in my spares box! No idea what mine came from but I've seen them on a few late 80s/90s middle-range basses, probably mostly MIK. The design is aesthetically, if not functionally, derived from Schaller's excellent 3D bridge: Still a solid-looking bridge, even if it ain't a Schaller. The only reason I haven't used the one I have is because the string spacing seems a bit wide. Jon.

Traded my Peavey T-40 for a quite incredible Gordy Blueshift twin-neck, Ash is a total gent, the deal went smoother than a gravy sandwich and I'll happily do business with him anytime. Highly recommended! Jon.

That's a great price for what looks like a tidy, original example of a Mk1 Blazer. Someone get it bought! Jon.

Would be a good price in original condition, unfortunately this one's not. De-frets on basses like this tend to hail from an era when they were regarded as throwaway junk, and treated as such. It's unlikely to be a great job, and massively devalues the bass. Hardware isn't original (although the bridges used by Matsumoku at this point were crap) and Schaller tuners weren't standard, it should have Westbury-logo'd Gotohs. The case isn't really a selling point, but this would have been sold in a hard case with a Westbury logo, not some padded plastic bag, no matter how "original" it is. Far too expensive and far too much of a project. Which is a shame as I have a bit of Westy Track IV GAS (to go with my Track 2 & Westbury Standard) - but not this one, even if it is just down the road from me. And what the hell is a "Gibson Clipper"? Jon.

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I owned 2 MIJ early 90s SR800s, fretted & fretless. Superb basses, miss both of them and now have nagging SR GAS. Not much help, really! Jon.