Bassassin

On aesthetics alone, I'd lose the Lakland. They're both stunners but the other (whatever it is) is a proper head-turner. Jon.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1394448938' post='2391333'] YUMMY Quest [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARIA-QUEST-BASS-exhibition-RARE-neck-through-UNIKA-/230474918619?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=p2056016.l4276[/url] [/quote] Very nice, very expensive, and very not an Aria. Where do people get these ideas? J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1394370687' post='2390720'] Jon - active? The bass, not you. [/quote] I want no part of this so-called "activity"! Too much like hard work... The through-neck Force 40 in the Washburn ad has 2-band parametric eq so this might be the same although it looks like it lacks one of the switches. Looks like the seller's correct about the model number - after uncharacteristically paying attention I noticed the actual bass itself is in this catalogue pic: [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/1985/pg4.html"]http://www.matsumoku...s/1985/pg4.html[/url] No info on the circuitry, though. J.

Gorgeous, that. You'd have to lose the selector switch & wire it v/v/t or stick a pan pot in, though. J.

[quote name='wotsy' timestamp='1394330870' post='2390430'] If you drop it down to, let's say 130-ish, you might have a buyer! [/quote] A fight, more like! J.

Oh - price now dropped to £270 - looks like someone's earwigging! Still too dear, if you're listening.... J.

That's a two-pickup version of a Force 8 BBR: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/bbr/bbr_pg2_web.jpg.html £300 is somewhat steep, he'd realistically get £200-ish in a straight £1 start auction, I should think. I do love the BBR colour scheme but it's so 80s it hurts! Jon.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1394141406' post='2388477'] If it was an SGV rather than an SBV, I'd be on it! [/quote] You wouldn't, 'cos I'd have bought it & not told you... J.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1394114806' post='2388069'] From what I've read, the Kay/Satellite brand were likely from the same maker as the Silvertones, ie. Teisco? [/quote] Some post-US manufacture Kays might have come from Teisco (more likely Kawai, who acquired Teisco in 1969) but most of them were Taiwanese & Korean. A Kay is only a Kay when it says Kay on the end, so this bass isn't a Kay. 'Kay? Regarding Satellite. This was a low-end UK brand owned by FCN music, who also owned Columbus & Kimbara. As far as I can tell all Satellites were Korean and absolutely nothing to do with Teisco. I have never seen an example of this type of bass badged as Satellite, and as far as how we identify a Satellite, refer to my handy guide to recognising a Kay, and substitute the word "Satellite". Pretty much everything that Ebay sellers & other assorted internet experts claim is a Teisco isn't one. J.

Like the title says, Yam SBV for a half ton, on Edinburgh Scumtree: http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/yamaha-bass-guitar/1051481212 Needless to say, if I didn't already have one, I'd be having this one. If it was a different colour I might anyway. But that way madness lies. Jon.

[quote name='MB1' timestamp='1394037373' post='2387229'] MB1. Tiesco Silvertone 1490 it is... [/quote] Isn't. Actually these come up very frequently, and were made by various factories in at least two different countries (Japan & Korea) and really all you can say is that it's a generic 70s short-scale bass with a design influenced by Burns. Silvertone was a US importer brand so it's monumentally unlikely that one would turn up in the UK (assuming the OP's from the UK), and if Teisco ever made this model, it wasn't sold either under their name or any other brand exclusively connected to Teisco. If I had one of these & wanted to profiteer from it, I'd likely direct anyone interested to this page: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/catalogs/75_aria/75_aria_catalog_pg1.jpg.html Although I very seriously doubt these were made by Matsumoku. But you never know... Jon.

Hi Chris, just checked out the site and it's a good start. I'll get some pics & info together of my 3 (Kasuga bolt-neck, Matsumoku-made through-neck/dual truss, & unknown (possibly originally a Shaftesbury) through-neck. I've also got numerous 70s catalogues which feature pics & model numbers (including the Hondo) so if I can get my laptop to talk to my ancient scanner, I can get these to you as well. BTW the Hondo's Korean, not Japanese. Jon.

Well, that ain't something you see every day... Functionless but demonstrating some rudimentary creativity I suppose - and don't mourn the donor bass, it was one of those Taiwanese Kay P copies from the 70s - not exactly a classic. Jon.

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-icon-distressed-bass-guitar-/151246137787"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/151246137787[/url] £80 BIN, £15 postage. If I hadn't recently picked up a Squier VMJ I'd be all over this. Get in, as they say. Jon.

Never had my hands on a Morris Hurricane, but the factory, Moridaira, did make some good-quality instruments. 70s & early 80s Hohners were made by Moridaira, I have a Hohner-branded Washburn Wing copy guitar which is extremely well-made and quite lovely - or it was before I played it to death & stupidly modified it! Looks like a pretty bass, if it's a sensible price why not go & have a look, if the seller's local? J.

[quote name='NightGoat' timestamp='1393871666' post='2385343'] I am still digging a little bit into the local Dutch brand ¨Gerrinez¨ also one of those vague brand names where there is little to find about. I still think it is possible that on a day in the 70s a local music shop here in the netherlands ordered a batch of 4001s copies from some japannese factory and sold them with the ¨Gerrinez¨ brand. [/quote] I remember Gerrinez being discussed on one of the vintage guitar boards - can't remember which one, though. I think you're right, it was a dealer called Gerritsen, if I remember correctly. J.

Just to add a bit more confusion to the mix, it wasn't only the Japanese factories making high-quality, accurate copies. Italian manufacturer Gherson made a very nice neck-through bass with twin truss rods (quite easy to ID, though) but for me the proper widcard is Brazilian acoustic guitar builder Giannini, whose 70s Fakers were near-indistiguishable from the best-quality MIJ examples: [url="http://hisonic.blogspot.co.uk/"]http://hisonic.blogspot.co.uk/[/url] Regarding Japanese factories, I could reel off a list of about 20-odd who were making & exporting copy guitars under various different brands in the 70s, and I'm confident there were any number of other, smaller manufacturers doing the same thing. All of them were copying the popular American instruments of the era, so it's entirely reasonable to assume they all made Rick 4001 copies. We will never be able to identify them all! J.

Bugger! That makes me wish I'd just nabbed it & flipped it when I had the chance. Would've been good to see someone on here get it for a good price though. What a git. J.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1393583843' post='2382156'] What are you selling? [/quote] Not entirely sure yet, but off the top of my head: Cimar XR2065 P/J bass (needs rewiring & fret fettling) Ibanez 2366B Precision (pre '75) Unbranded 70s Bitsa Jazz Eros Mk II 1970-ish Jazz copy (dodgy neck) Ibanez RS924 Roadster (maybe) Kawai Sleekline J-type (maybe) Westbury Track 2 (maybe) Also: Squier 1985-ish E-serial Strat Hohner Revelation guitar Peavey T-40 Plus a bunch of old backline I'll never use again. That's for a start, there's probably a lot more I'll be parting with - A brief head count tells me I have roughly 40 basses & guitars plus various amps, cabs & pedals. In fairness I don't actually [i]want[/i] to sell very much of this stuff, but a house move within the next 6 months leaves me with no alternative. FAO mods - this isn't a "for sale" list, I have no prices for any of this and am not soliciting offers. In due course I'll put stuff up on BC in the appropriate fashion. J.

If this is getting dragged OT then I'm in! Kimbara (Matsumoku) Rickenfaker, from International Musician mag, mid-70s: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:35642] Doesn't look like it's the whole review, unfortunately. J.

Missed this thread at the time but I've had a few Satellites over the years and done a bit of research about them. Satellite was FCN music's low-end brand, they also owned the mid-range Columbus and the high-quality Kimbara brands. As far as I can tell all Satellites were Korean-made, at a time whan Korean quality was universally poor. I've owned a Satellite Jazz, Precision, Geoff Byrne's old neck-through P and two Les Pauls (there may be others I've forgotten) and they were all poorly made & finished and most had issues which compromised their useability. Out of that lot the bolt-neck P was a nice, playable bass, and one of the LPs was OK - apart from the dreadful pickups - but both suffered from extremely shoddy construction. Like all cheapos, I'm sure there were a few good ones, but back in the 70s/early 80s when these were around, quality control at this end of the market was practically non-existent. Satellite as a brand has a poor reputation which in my experience is pretty much justified. I'd say walk away from anything priced over £50, and be very, very sceptical about what's left! Jon.

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1393502867' post='2381048'] Well he contacted me and said 'cash and pickup only sorry' so unless anyone here fancies picking it up for me from Glasgow and posting it to Lancaster I'll pay them for it........ [/quote] Amazed it's still there! If you get it, will you have a go at fixing the broken bit of headstock? It should look like this: Looks like it should be straightforward enough - a donor Fender-shape head would provide the missing bit. Still tempted by this myself - but I'd never play it, I'd just gyppo-flip it for profit, because I'm a bad person. J.

Pretty sure it's not a Kasuga - I'd expect checked binding & a toaster style neck pup with some very fancy routing. As with a lot of these, it's easier to say what it's not than what it is - so this definitely isn't either a Matsumoku or a Fujigen build. I've said in the past that the problem with 70s copies is that a lot of them do tend to look very similar and there are a lot of Fakers at the higher end of the food chain (solid timber bodies, through-neck construction, accurate hardware & pups) where it's really hard to identify them. Basses branded Shaftesbury, CMI, Cimar, Fresher, Maya, Arbiter etc all fall into this category & so far I'm at a loss to say which factories actually made them. Jon.

Antoria Black Eagle - with an Ibanez logo on it this is pretty much the Holy Grail of 70s JapCrap basses, and you could expect to get £500-odd for it, even with the broken headstock & general dilapidation. With an Antoria logo (it's otherwise completely identical) it would fetch a little bit less, but this is still ridiculous bargain of the decade. I'm in the unfortunate position where I really do need to downsize the hoard of basses & guitars I'm sitting on, so I passed this up a couple of days ago when it first appeared. I would imagine it's now long-gone, but I'm sure you'll see it on Ebay very soon. Jon.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1393445791' post='2380482'] Quest bass - anyone know anything about these? Looks like a Washburn Force 4 with a Westone Spectrum neck. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291089571490?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649"]http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1423.l2649[/url] [/quote] Well - Quest is a Vantage sub-brand, and early Vantages (and Quests) were Matsumoku-built. There's a Quest catalogue [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/vantage/catalogs/atak-manhattan/catalog_th.html"]here[/url] and this looks like it [i]might[/i] be the model Q-B, although it's kinda hard to tell! If anyone wants to sell me a Manhattan M-3BZ I'd be very willing to re-engage with my "problem"... J.