Bassassin

[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.

I honestly don't know what it is! I've come across "Artist" as a brand, with that logo, a couple of times and in fact used a very similar "Artist" neck on my see-through boat-anchor P project: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:71956] To be honest this neck (which originally had a standard Fender shape headstock) wasn't particularly good and was one reason why I was a bit dubious about the quality of the Ebay bass & wasn't prepared to drop much on it. The neck on this bass looks suspiciously similar to mine apart from the headstock. Based on the neck I had, pics of this bass and a few others I've seen, I'm inclined to think "Artist" might have been a short-lived Korean brand, maybe early/mid 80s and likely not particularly great quality. I did like the look of this (especially that edge-binding) and I was bidding on it really out of curiosity - never seen anything quite like that before and quite likely won't see another. Anyway, saved me £60 and a trip! J.

These were the first version of the Blazer, only around for a few months in 1980 as far as I can tell. I have one, in bits and awaiting a refin (body had been stripped & stained horribly) and the pup's a single-coil as Kennyrodg says. These were also sold as the Cimar Stinger - Cimar was a brand owned by Ibanez' parent company, Hoshino. Stinger/Blazer shape headstocks appeared on other Cimar-branded basses & guitars, and also on some CSL-branded instruments. Jon.

The Jedson's a Matsumoku Jazz, likely the same bass as the Aria Pro J copies of the mid/late 70s. The pickups, which are "normal" J types only with height adjusters at the ends, only seem to appear on Matsumoku Jazzes. Aside from that it's very similar to most decent quality later Jazz copies ie pretty accurate - soilid timber body, full-size tuners etc. I have a couple of old Jedson catalogues and it looks like they sold instruments of a range of quality & prices, the Matsumokus being the higher end. Jedson's another UK importer brand - J.E. Dallas & Sons. Wonder how they came up with the name? Later on, J.E. Dallas merged into Dallas-Arbiter & gave rise to the Arbiter brand, as seen on JapCrap & I think is still around on some musical bits & bobs. By the way - anyone here bid on this? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/34-Electric-Bass-Guitar-/201017111061"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/201017111061[/url] Interesting looking thing a few miles up the road from me - my satanic punt of £66.66 was beaten by £2 - anyone on here? If so, let's see some good pics when you get it! J.

Another +1 from me for the Squier VMJ - just got one through a trade on here & it's lovely. Quite intrigued by the Harley Benton for so little money, if I'd seen that before getting the Squier I might well have taken a chance on it. Jon.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1389894701' post='2339276'] I`ve always liked Rickenbacker basses but the way they do this type of stuff, I doubt I will ever buy one now as I wouldn`t want them to get any of my money. [/quote] An increasing number of people on here think that way. The only Rick I'd consider would be an old 4001 that pre-dates Hall's Rickenbacker International Corp. Preferably one with checked binding, full width inlays, exploding wavy Grovers, toaster.... J.

No - you don't need a new/better bass. What you need is a [i]different[/i] one. Or preferably, several different ones, in a permutation of scale lengths, pickup layouts, string numbers, weight distributions, construction materials, circuitry types and fingerboard types. And colours. Lots of different colours. But if you must to limit yourself to a single bass, you really can't go far wrong with a Jazz. Jon.

[quote name='tonyf' timestamp='1389862581' post='2338687'] Re the T-Cut on the neck, was it already glossed/sealed or was it just the wood? [/quote] It's an ebonol board, which I understand is a resin/paper laminate material, so I presume the finished surface is the resin itself. T-Cut is my go-to polish for a lot of different instrument cleaning & renovation jobs - I strongly recommend it it on scruffy poly lacquer, scratchplates & other plastics. So after trying it on an inconspicuous area (heel end of the board) I went for it. It's a very mild abrasive and there is potential for making a mess - you don't need much, I use just a dab from the inside of the lid. Mike - doubt very strongly that I'll part this, there doesn't seem to be much point! Glad you like the Yam, but it is a hefty brute and that's my main reason for parting with it - I'd like a fretless I can gig with! I have a T-40 as well, makes my back hurt just looking at it! J.

Well - yesterday (14th) actually, but I've fancied one of these for a while: Did a straight swap with BC member alcytes for my [url="http://www.maya29.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/yambb/BBfrontfull.jpg"]1984 Yamaha BB400S fretless[/url] - the Yam was a great-playing bass & ticked the right vintage JapCrap boxes, but was ridiculously heavy and had a Precisionish character that I just wasn't after. I did wonder for a while if I'd done the right thing, but after getting my hands on the VMJ and giving it some light fettling, I'm proper happy! It arrived in a hefty tweed case & suffering from some slight earthing issues which I had already been informed of. It was also wearing a Badass II, which I found I didn't have the right hex key for, so simply to get it playing better, I stuck on a Wilkinson BBOT from the parts bin. This sorted out the hum, too - looks like the earth wire hadn't been making contact. At some point it had been strung with rounds and there's some light marking on the board - on a whim I attacked the neck with T-Cut, which reduced the marks & as can be seen, brought out a lovely gloss on the board. It's not quite epoxy-shiny but gives it a nice slippery feel. I did have the ulterior motive of using the neck for a J project, using a body I've had for ages - but now I'm not sure, this is a sweet little bass in its own right, & it would seem a shame to part it. Jon.

Well, Captain Twit - I'm here to tell you that yes it is (as far as I know depending on the year) a Fujigen, and also that £100 for an MIJ SR is an absolute steal. Well done that man! If I remember right, an F at the beginning of the serial's Fujigen - at least that was the case on my 2 early 90s SR800s. I think this one might be a bit more recent based on the hardware & serial number style, but I don't know if later MIJ SRs were built in other factories. Anyway, great score and just goes to show all that lowballing can pay off. If you still have 70s Artist GAS - you've probably already seen this: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-Artist-Bass-Guitar-/261371159257"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/261371159257[/url] Jon.

Matsumokus were easier to spot up to the mid-70s, when they bore "Steel Adjustable Neck" plates. Most of these had a serial number, and these appear to be completely random & don't give a year. Subsequently a variety of different plates were used as well as several different serialisation methods. The number on yours is consistent with Mat serials from the early 80s, where the first digit indicates the year - hence 1981, which would be about right. Looking at that, and the 3-part neck I'd be 90% confident that your bass is a Matsumoku. I don't associate plates/serials like that or that type of build with Tokai, plus there are confirmed Hondos with "Product Of Matsumoku" plates. From my perspective the suggestion of Tokai (or any as yet unidentified builder) making Hondos is entirely anecdotal - the MIJ Hondos I've seen look like Matsumokus. I have a Westbury Track 2 bass which has a similar plate to yours, except it's stamped Made In Japan, rather than stckered. The serial number's the same style and there's nothing else on it - however there's no suggestion (even from Matsumoku/Westbury forum geeks) that Westburys were made anywhere else. Identical basses turn up with both "Steel Adjustable" and "Product Of" plates. Understanding these old instruments is part archaeology & part detective work - none of the factories, importers, distributors kept any kind of record & most of them shut down decades ago, so there's usually nothing much to go on other than remaining relics & a few old catalogues. Matsumoku's way better documented/understood than lesser-known factories & brands like Kasuga, Maya, Chushin, Moridaira & so on. J.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1389708341' post='2337071'] I've got one of these, with the original pickups, there seems to be some doubt whether it is a Matsumoku [/quote] I suppose unless it says "Matsumoku" on the neckplate (and a few Hondos do) it's hard to be 100% sure. It seems MIJ Hondos were either Mat or Tokai, the examples of these I've seen have features in common with a number of late 70s/early 80s Mat basses including Westburys, Vantages, Washburns and even some early Aria Pro models. Matsumoku made several different basses with double cut bodies, 3-part quarter-sawn necks, DiMarzio pickups & 3-point bridges - the Hondo strikes me as a variation on a particular type they were making at the time. J.

Very odd - looks right up BigRedX's street. Bet he's already got one! Jon.

Did a straight swap with mike - my Yamaha BB400S fretless for his Squier VMJ Fretless. Very happy with how everything went, Mike's a top guy to deal with and I'll happily do business with him again. Jon.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1389689392' post='2336855'] The brother they are selling for isn't a bass player? Why buy a bass. It's like buying a car........when you can't drive. [/quote] Some people seemingly buy instruments just to have something interesting or "cool" - looking sitting around in their home. I have a Lace Helix bass (retail about £800) which I picked up for less than £200 on Ebay. It had never been played, still had the protective plastic on various components - the seller wasn't a musician, had just bought this because it was unusual-looking and he thought it would look good in his flat. At the moment, there's a guy trying to sell a R*ck*nb*ck*r (no link for obvious reasons) which looks like it's had a hard life as an ornament, the seller says it's never been played or even tuned. I'm increasingly fascinated by this phenomenon - if I can find a way into this market, I could make a fortune with some of the rotten old tat I've got lying around... Jon.

It was either a Columbus, or the same bass with some other name, so not a Matsumoku. Opinions vary about Columbus - the ones I've had were OK but not wonderful - and I'd say £150 was a tad optimistic. J.

A lot of Top Twentys were rebranded Teiscos, made in Japan, so unlikely to be more than cosmetically similar to the Kays, which I think started appearing 10 or so years later. For anyone with a genuine interest (or a morbidly perverse curiosity) about these crude & faintly disturbing instruments, there is, as there is for any slightly unsavoury personal predilection, a website: [url="http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/"]Teisco Twangers[/url] J.

I like it - would prefer to see it in the flesh though, can't really get my head around some of what's going on in the photos. On the whole I liked it a lot better when it was [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RMI-Expression-5-String-Bass-by-Mark-Ramsay-Design-/141143764878"]£250 cheaper[/url]. Jon.

Might be more appropriate to relocate this thread out of the Marketplace and perhaps sticky it in the Bass Guitars section purely for reference. Question for personal clarification - can we still post pics of owned instruments that are not for sale? Not sure about the breadth of JH's litigious hissy-fit! Jon.

Shame he's changed the logo - makes it look shonky. Never had a 90s MIJ Squier but I've had a late 80s A-serial, very nice bass. Jon.