Bassassin

[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.

I'm inclined to think they're like any ultra-budget bass - pot luck whether you get a decent, useable one or a hopeless piece of junk. J.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1390080958' post='2341334'] When I got my first unlined I thought this too, but you soon get used to it and your finger discipline gets better and your hearing improves. [/quote] My first fretless was unlined - had it for over 10 years & struggled to do anything presentable with it, simply down to my poor intonation. I've since had 2 lined fretlesses which I can record with & would happily gig with, if my band was in a gigging position at the moment. I suppose if I dedicated myself to mastering an unlined board, it would come eventually but I think having the lines as a near-subconscious reference, allows me to play OK without a battle. J..

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1390078459' post='2341295'] Lest we forget, Alice Cooper was, originally, the name of the band. [/quote] Precisely. All the good stuff, from Pretties For You (1969) to Muscle Of Love (1974) Alice Cooper was a band consisting of Dennis Dunaway (bass), Neal Smith (drums), Michael Bruce & Glen Buxton (guitars) and fronted by Vincent Furnier, using the stage name Alice Cooper. Michael Bruce was the band's main writer & lyricist, and pretty much all of the material Alice Cooper is known for is from this era - School's Out, Elected, 18, No More Mr Nice Guy & so on. Anecdotally, in 1975 after the Muscle Of Love album, the band was burned out & took a hiatus to record solo albums, as seemed to be traditional in the 70s. Alice Cooper the singer's solo album, Welcome To My Nightmare, was recorded, promoted & toured using session musicians and the band simply never re-formed. Shame - Alice the singer never came close to anything Alice the band did - check out Halo Of Flies, from Killer - a 10-minute garage prog epic about international espionage. Genius! Jon.

This was an Ebay cheapo brand from three or four years back - most were fretless but I think some had frets. I doubt this cost a lot more than £70 new. Jon.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1390053788' post='2340941'] How about this. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220888-aria-sb-40-fretless-bass-in-black-with-lightweight-hard-foam-case-now-l110/page__p__2333560__hl__fretless__fromsearch__1#entry2333560"]http://basschat.co.u..._1#entry2333560[/url] Worth every penny if you ask me. [/quote] Modern Arias are surprisingly good & highly underrated - if this had been a lined fretless, I've been all over it. J.

Probably worth a punt as a project. Selling it as a decoration suggests it's unplayable so I'd expect neck issues, but £40 for a J body & hardware is pretty reasonable. J.

I think Musky has it in a nutshell. For my part I think Hall & RIC are quite justified doing necessary work to protect their registered trademarks and therefore the business, but there's a lot of what comes across as personal spite, bitterness and contempt in Hall's attitude. He doesn't seem to appreciate that the people he's working so hard to insult and alienate are his potential customers. If he maintained a more businesslike attitude he'd probably actually gain support, not turn people against him & his product. J.