Bassassin

Lovely, that. I'd be interested if the seller wasn't an apathetic git who's too lazy to post it. Jon.

[quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1390855808' post='2350565'] This one's near me. Not sure what he means by look after neck but hey, a bit for me. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Japan-Cimar-Jazz-Bass-early-70er-/261365108973?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cda9310ed"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3cda9310ed[/url] [/quote] No reason to think it's a Cimar - there's nothing on the headstock. I suspect just he pulled the name Cimar out of [s]his arse[/s] thin air. I don't think this ever said Cimar on the headstock, more likely a Columbus, as they're far more common - I've had both and there are some differences, this looks more like the Columbus to me. £300 for this is ridiculous, dunno what he means by "look after neck" but the neck does look like it's spent about a decade underwater. J.

I've had 3 of these, all car boot specials, the dearest one cost me £28. Sold that one & really regretted it - it was the nicest-playing Strat I've owned. Guitarist in my band has one I bought water-damaged for £5, I dried it out, tidied up some peeling lacquer, re-strung it & gave him it for his birthday! He loves it & gigs it regularly. The third one is still in bits in the Bassment, awaiting rewiring & reassembly. Think it was a tenner but I don't really remember. All of mine have been the Indian FMIC ones, and I did do some research about these. It seems Sunn Mustang was UK or EU only - in the US these are Squier IIs, and fairly sought-after. They are late 80s/early 90s and there are some interesting - but of course unsubstantiated - internet claims, including the suggestion that bodies & necks were actually Japanese-made (end of Japanese Squier production or some such tosh) and assembled in India with budget, locally-produced components. I take this with a massive pinch of salt but there is a huge difference between the excellent quality necks & solid timber bodies, and the rather ratty electronics & crumbly hardware. On balance they are super little guitars for the money, never make more than £70-odd on Ebay and if you have one & like it, it's definitely worth hot-rodding with decent pickups electronics & hardware. Do keep the old bits if you ever intend to sell it, though. Jon.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1390814858' post='2349699'] Ah yes, I was fancying that one too. I had no idea what it was, but for £30 it would have been worth buying and then researching later! These things do always go fast though... [/quote] I think the sad thing about that Odyssey is that it's such an obscure instrument that chances are whoever bought it has no idea what it is, and will just treat it as a cheapsh!t beater, presumably like the seller did. J.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1390748782' post='2348923'] May look (a bit) like a Ritter, but it certainly isn't going to perform like one..I wonder how long before these appear in the UK [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Guitar-Unique-5-String-new-/171184187008?pt=Guitar&hash=item27db5f6680"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item27db5f6680[/url] [/quote] I'm tempted to import some & brand them Rotter. Jon.

Very nice body - looks like it didn't sell, though. Wolf is another brand I remember from Ebay from maybe 7 or 8 years back, they had some other interesting designs too if I remember right. Jon.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1390769284' post='2349343'] Was just gonna pm you this one Jon. Band always says my timing is sh*te [/quote] Never mind, too much firewood 'round the place anyway! Hope someone on here got it & it doesn't just pop up on FleaBay for £150. J.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1390747814' post='2348910'] I don't need it myself and I'm trying not to fill the house with stuff [/quote] Likewise - but I've just sent him a message anyway... £40? Rude not to... J. EDIT - Too late, its gorn. That's the second ludicrous local Gumtree bargain I've missed in the last month or two. The previous one was more upsetting though - a Canadian Balogh Odyssey guitar for £30. Just ask Flat Eric about these...

Maya/El Maya are a bit of an enigma. There are a couple of confirmed facts about their origin - the brands are owned by a Japanese trading company called Rokkomann, which is based in Kobe. Anecdotally, Rokkomann operated their own manufacturing plant which (again anecdotally) was destroyed in the Hanshin earthquake in 1995. I have been able to find no confirmation of this, so the origin of Mayas & El Mayas still remains a mystery. El Maya is usually understood to be the higher-quality tier of the Maya brand, although you do see a fair bit of crossover of models. Regarding the age of the bass, I'd say it's probably pre-1980. Really, by the end of the 70s, most Japanese brands (including Maya) were focusing more on exporting good-quality original designs, while the copy market was fulfilled by the emerging Korean & Taiwanese manufacturers. Home-grown copies remained popular in the Japanese home market, probably due to less pressure from copyright owners than the US & European markets experienced. I'm not knowledgeable enough to be able to either identify or translate the heel stamp from your bass - however, there are a couple of Japanese-speaking BC members (Annoying Twit & noelk27) who might have an idea what the Kanji means. J.

Greco as a brand was never officially imported to the UK - for that reason alone, this almost certainly isn't one. I'd say it was possibly originally branded Maya or El Maya - unbound, dot-neck examples of these do turn up, in fact a BC member had/has one. Can't remember who, though - curse my failing memory! That said, there were dozens of UK importer brands and like any old MIJ bass with no name, it could have been any number of them. J. EDIT - sorry NightGoat - just realised you're in NL. Having said that, I'm not sure Greco went to Europe at all, and I'm afraid the only Dutch 70s brands I know are Gerrinez and (I think) Custom.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1390438665' post='2345566'] Don't hold back, Jon - tell us if you think it's any good or not. [/quote] Hang on - it wasn't me who described it as "ply junk"! Some of those old MIJ bodies were veneered butcher-block, which is at least a little bit more "woody". Anyway, ain't a Fender, & I doubt the neck was born with that sticker on it, & the only bit that's what it says it is is the bridge. J.

Bitsa fom hell. The body's low-end 70s JapCrap/KoreaDiarrhoea - you can see it's originally had those round-end pickups found on Columbus & Satellites. Dunno what the neck is - Squier Affinity if you're lucky, the whole thing's worth about £80 for the BadAss & a few bits. Jon.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1390426786' post='2345437'] Never heard of Mazetti, but I do like that. I take it they're not Italian . [/quote] Ebay brand from a few years ago, and almost certainly Chinese! I remember these - actually looks like a nice plank apart from the fact someone's clearly drilled the string-through holes & screwed on the saddles in the dark! Jon.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1390392156' post='2344788'] Wonder if it was a very early one, before the new logo? If you look at this it shows a Cimar one that looks very similar ( Cimar were an Ibanez brand I think) from 1980 [url="http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=52&now=1"]http://www.ibanez.co...cat_id=52&now=1[/url] [/quote] Cimar Stinger & Ibanez Blazer mk1 were the same bass. Not sure what happened, looks like the later, more P-like Blazer appeared just a few months after the debut of the original one. Maybe the remaining Mk1 Blazers were re-badged as Cimar to sell off the production run. Anyway the Ibbys are fairly common, but you hardly ever see a Stinger. To clarify the Ibanez/Cimar thing - both are just brand names owned by Hoshino Gakki, who contract various factories to make their instruments. Not 100% sure but I think Hoshino owns the Tama brand too. Most 70s & 80s Ibanez were from Fujigen Gakki but from what I've seen of Cimars I don't think they were made there. The Stinger looks like an exception, having the same hardware common to Fujigen-built Ibbys from this era. Either way, the Cimars I've had my hands on are good-quality instruments, wherever they're from. In the mid-80s Hoshino used the Cimar brand on what I think were Korean-made cheapos - I seem to remember Strat copies - sold as "Cimar by Ibanez". Jon.

Just thinking I quite like it in white - shows off the German carve much better than black. I can imagine mine in a sort of subtle pearl blue-white, with the neck stripped & lacquered and the headstock face painted to match the body... No! Stop! J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1390398399' post='2344915'] Anyone recognise this thing? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-guitar-made-in-Japan-/321304112158?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4acf37ac1e"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4acf37ac1e[/url] Looks kind of nice. I wonder how heavy/how wide the neck is etc? [/quote] Westbury Track 2, slightly modded & refinished. These are usually black with a DiMarzio pickup, they were Matsumoku-made and this one would appear to be from '81 assuming that's a known Mat serial. Tidier/more original ones don't tend to go for much more than £150 so I wouldn't drop too much on this. Weight 4kg/8.75lbs, nut width 40mm. Noel - do you remember if your Artist Jazz had the same logo as that Ebay thing? Really racking my brains to remember where else (and when) I've seen this brand. J.

Hardly use 'em these days, but when I do it's a Jim Dunlop 1mm nylon. Slightly flexible for more feel & a textured gripping area for sweat resistance. Jon.

I've always lusted after Yam SG, and was a big McGeoch fan - probably saw him play this one with The Armoury Show several thousand years ago. Five grand's a little bit steep, though - doubt I'd be tempted even if I had it burning a hole in my pocket. If it was Stuart Adamson's green SG2000, though... Jon.

I have multiple basses & have gone through a ridiculous number - but yeah - a Jazz does the lot, doesn't it? Looks great too. I still like different basses and will no doubt continue to buy stuff I don't need, but always end up with a J of one sort or another. Jon.

Best way to spot a Mat is the "Steel Adjustable" neckplate. These disappeared on later ones (late 70s-ish) but as far as is known, no other factory used them. Helpfully, a lot of the later Matsumokus had "Product Of Matsumoku" plates - if only they'd thought of that 15 years earlier! J.

I have a Peavey C5, which is a very similar bass. The Grind was the successor model and has a different finish & inlays, slightly different hardware plus the cutaway area under the neck pickup. I got my C5 new around 2001/2002, so I would be quite inclined to think the "04" bit of this Grind's s/n is 2004. That would seem about right. Peaveys from this era are very nice, quite closely based on the US-made Cirrus models - I'd expect one like this to be in the £200+ ballpark. Jon.

I have an aluminium body/ wooden neck Tokai Talbo - it's very microphonic & prone to feedback, particularly if you use any effects with it. It also weights a ton, despite being hollow-bodied. Really not sure about this thing. Design is basically a long-necked guitar - doublecut body, toggle switch, guitar-ish pickup placement. Plus it's an awful lot of money for a hollow screw-together body decked out with cheap Chinese parts, like that nasty scarf-joint neck. I suppose the reversible design is an interesting touch but not really much use for too many people - plus I can see the control layout being awkward, particularly if you play with a pick near the bridge. Quite like the finish, though. Jon.

A lot of them do but by no means all. Japanese manufacturers started doing this when early export instruments were plagued by badly warped necks, when unseasoned timbers reacted with a change of climate. The quick solution to this was the 3-piece quarter sawn necks seen on many Mats and also on a lot of other 60s/70s MIJ instruments, including Teiscos, Fujigens & Kasugas. I guess as manufacturing became more sophisticated, better quality woods were used & it became less of a necessity - I'm sure I've read about imported maple being used for necks. I'd say you see 3-piece necks more often on Fujigen Fender copies than Matsumoku - most of the pre-serial Ibanez & Antoria Ps & Js have them. J.

[quote name='patrikmarky' timestamp='1390145595' post='2341884'] ..so why do I keep rehearsing and gigging my cheap aria gt???? [/quote]Probably because it's a great (and great-looking) little bass. Mine is - I have lots of "better" ones but my SBT-GT is a keeper. Jon.

Undisclosed reserve on that TSB so unfortunately it's not going to go for any £250. Ask him what his reserve is, for a laugh - chances are he won't tell you. J.