Bassassin

1 minute ago, prowla said:

I was half-inclined to make an offer, but I just plain don't get the idea of a headless with regular tuners at the opposite end; I thought the same about a real Kramer I saw a while back.

Back when these came out, I had no idea the Duke existed, never mind that the Alien was a knockoff - I just assumed it was a cheap, low-effort way of making a headless bass.

To be fair, I 'borrowed' that concept with my first guitar (originally a Columbus SG copy) after it had a minor accident...

Looks really tidy. If it was local to me, I'd be half-tempted to make a cheeky lowball offer just out of curiosity.

Although I did play one of these in a shop when they were new (first headless I ever touched, in fact) and my initial impression was that it was rubbish. IIRC the guy in the shop apologised & said it "wasn't exactly a Steinberger".

Would make several hundred times more sense with proper headless bridge/tuners

7 hours ago, Bass Wielder said:

Looks like an ABM.

German if so. Good quality!

Good luck with the sale!

 That's exactly what it is. Bargain!

http://www.luthimate.fr/en/bridges/1573-chevalet-basse-abm-3d-4-cordes-chrome.html

1 hour ago, eubassix said:

Thanks bassassin - that's really great & helpful info ! .... nice to see the actual / complete intrument. The neck's very different to the one I received, but good to see that all the body parts/fittings are correct.

If you dig (like what I do) there are versions of this with maple/black block necks as well. Mostly in the EU & branded 'Leyanda' (which seems to be related to Hohner), they don't have the string through bridge & some have 'proper' Fender shaped heads. There are probably other variants with different names too.

https://reverb.com/uk/item/67039741-hohner-leyanda-bass-1970-sunburst-1970-sunburst

Total bargain! GLWTS!

37 minutes ago, Skybone said:

Stunning bass. GLWTS.

 

Think it's the Elite II, as there was a single pickup version as well, the Elite I. I'm sure @Bassassin could clarify.

 

The black Elite II was one of my dream basses back in the day.

It is an SB-ELT/RSZ, like @mihangle says. It is broadly similar to the SB-Elite II and the SB-R80, but the ELTs are post-Matsumoku basses & were around from about 1989 - 1992. I've done a fair bit of research, as I have one myself. They're incredibly good basses & easily up to the standard of the earlier instruments.

There's been debate in the online Aria/SB basses communities for years about where these were from, & it's good to finally see one with a country of manufacture sticker - most of them have no markings whatsoever, so with no region or serial they're quite hard to pin down. We know model numbers & rough dates from old catalogues but that's been all up until now.

Anyway, gorgeous bass (mine is black, so much more dull!) & GLWTS!

80s (maybe early 90s) MIK Hohner, possibly Arbor or Rockwood, not too sure. Always thought these were pretty cool, if I had a spare J neck knocking about I might ignore my complete lack of space & necessity & have a punt!

These were probably made by Cort, as that's where Hohner production went when it moved from Japan in the early 80s. Stuff like the round-end pickups & bogseat string-through bridge appear on MIJ & MIK instruments, so these were probably made under license in Korea.

GLWTS!

9 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Probably series/parallel wiring of the pickup.

That's exactly what it is. Pickup's a DiMarzio Model P.

Looking at the damage, the black's original. I'd put cream covers on it for that pukka 70s look.

Late 70s (hooky headstock shape says 1976 or later), made by Matsumoku. The pickups (or those red covers at least) & the BA2 aren't original, and it may have been refinished - 9 times out of 10 MIJ Jazz copies will be sunburst or natural.

For the most part the serials Matsumoku used on 'Steel Adjustable' neckplates are random & can't be dated. They used several different formats but weren't consistently dateable until probably around 1980.

Gorgeous! That's an MC2924, which was the last incarnation of the Ibby Musician & the first appearance (I think) of what became the Soundgear body shape. You hardly ever see these, and I don't think I've ever seen that transparent red finish before. This is almost like buses turning up - we had a fretless version just last month:

Yet again I wish I could afford/justify it, but sadly I'll just have to make do with the pics. GLWTS!

On 22/02/2024 at 10:55, bubinga5 said:

They have a poplar body roasted maple neck. Bone nut, etc. The guy that designed them is from Lithuania i believe and they are made in China. Im leaning toward the Sunburst. Does anyone own one/ played one.?

What - Leo Fender was from Lithuania?

Fwiw they do look nice & if the Shoreline Gold had a maple neck I'd be getting twitchy.

The Corts are nice but (fortunately for my GAS) there doesn't seem to be a 4, at least not yet.

That's also about twice the price of a Squeee - or would be if you could buy one anywhere1

Missed it. What was it - a Super Headless through-neck (The Gallery currently has one at £600) or a Quantum/Rail?

Wouldn't pay £650 for either of those but I'm dribbling a little at The Gallery's pics.

I think in the Real World, I'd struggle to spend that across a range of instruments/recording gear at the moment, never mind just the one bass. I've had terrible GAS in the past & have ended up with all of my musical needs over-carered for - although in fairness (to myself) my tastes aren't particularly expensive so I have an embarrassment of (mostly) cheap-but-decent gear.

In the not-so-real world, & if it had to go on just the one bass, I think it'd be time visit a few luthiers & see if my vision of a headless, lightweight, double-neck through neck(s) fretted 4/fretless 5 prog nightmare bass is actually achievable. I have drawings & everything...

Even says 'Fresher' on the headstock. Midrange mid 70s MIJ copy made by Chushin Gakki, nice enough. Decent fixer-upper for £50, particularly if you could beat them down to £40.

Cream. Needs a black scratchplate really but it just yells '70s Rock Machine'!

I used a Session 4x10 bass combo from the mid 80s to the end of the 90s. Poor man's Trace Elliots, those were. Very bright & directional, & needed an extension cab if you wanted any appreciable bottom end. In fairness it made a better guitar amp than bass amp.

5 hours ago, TheGreek said:

A cynic might say that he is trying to take advantage of John's recent passing.

One or two cynics on FB saying exactly that!

And only £3k over list price.

22 hours ago, Maude said:

This is no ordinary bass... This is an M&S bass.

 

Mint & Sparkles. 😁

 

Changed my mind.

Want that one.

41 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Mastodon went downhill after Crack The Skye. Nothing good since then. 

100% agree - that was the album where it sounded like everything they were trying to do came together, & they've not come close since. I still listen out of hope/curiosity but I don't think I even made it halfway through their last album.

Metallica - watched SKOM when it was more current & the mess of a 'band' they were at the time helped explain the mess of an album St Anger was. By then I was only really vaguely interested - Justice had been the album that brought me back to metal at the end of the 80s but I gradually lost interest as they moved towards Black Album-era corporate rock bloat & became more bland. Summed up by a mate who'd been a fan since Kill 'Em All, after seeing them touring Load - "They should change their name to 'Licker' - because they're not f*ckin' metal any more!"

They've had a couple of moments since, I quite liked Death Magnetic as a near-sequel to Justice, with a few moments of proper hostility & inventiveness (almost like they were trying to make up for St Anger!), but subsequently it's hard not to conclude their hearts really haven't been in it for a long time.

20 minutes ago, W1_Pro said:

Excellent! What does the selector swith do in the middle?

 

Top neck/bottom neck. I think the middle position mutes both but I can't remember - it hasn't been out of its case in years!

Double trouble: