Bassassin

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1386157973' post='2296456'] 'High end' is anything over 100 notes for you though Jon [/quote] That's a fair point. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1386154875' post='2296391'] You appear to be coming into your stride in terms of buying stuff :)I If you search on "Old Bass Guitar" on ebay, and find the red (I think) one with that title, are you tempted? [/quote] Fortunately having just changed energy supplier, I have a reasonable deal (for a month or two at least) and less of a need for firewood! I normally only post stuff I don't intend buying - the Matsumoku J was a rare exception due to a moment of weakness. If that Daion had a J pup as well as the P, it wouldn't be on here! J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1386157310' post='2296440'] Incidentally, can anyone explain how you can look at a piece of sawn wood and confidently announce that it was done with a "surgical saw"? [/quote] Probably when you'd used your very own "surgical saw" that morning to hack bits off your Aria Laser Heritage! J.

Having been away from BC for a couple of years I admit I was not pleasantly surprised to find selling gear is no longer free. However I appreciate the reasons and will, like NAS, pay the £20 in the new year, when people might have money to spend on old Japanese basses rather than figgy pudding, mince pies and iPads! The marketplace feels different, though - dunno if it's a result of the fees or just the changing membership on BC, but there seems to be proportionately a lot more high-end stuff, and less of the sort of [s]shonky tat[/s] - sorry - modestly priced vintage curiosities - that I'm usually drawn to. Speaking from a seller's perspective though, a fee's a lot easier to comfortably accept when the bass in question's £500+ rather than £60. Jon.

Moving on, this really is something you don't see every day: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121228649213"]Daion Power Mark X-B[/url] These are the proverbial rocking horse poo and £300 is probably pretty reasonable. Made by Yamaki, have a close look at the hardware & build details and you can see why a lot of JapCrap anoraks believe the early MIJ Washburns (like that lovely Vulture) came from the same factory. Slightly more modest but getting quite rare, a Vantage VS600 (I think), looks pretty tidy: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141132131797"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141132131797[/url] J.

If this stays cheap, I might have a punt on it for the neck - my old RSB Deluxe 2 has a horrible & uncorrectable twist and I have a hunch this would be a straight swap. Looks like the end of the headstock's been lopped off too, but that's not too noticeable & could be reshaped. Jon.

I like these, which is just as well 'cos I've got one. These appeared around 1985 at the same time as the Hohner B2 licensed Steiny copies, which were also made by Cort. They have the same licensed Steinberger hardware and neck-through construction, but the neck's a bit more porky feeling and the finish not quite as good. I think I prefer the P/J setup to the rather sterile-sounding EMGs on the Hohner - and this one's worth keeping an eye on, if only for the Barts. Jon.

Well - he dropped the price to £75 so I had no choice. Bought it. And so it begins again... J.

I picked up a scruffy '63 Watkins Rapier 3 guitar at my local car boot a few years back. I bought it along with a wreck of a Strat copy & paid 15 quid for the pair - after a good clean up, the Rapier fetched £250 on Ebay. If you bung the bass in a skip, make sure it's the one down the bottom of my road! Jon.

Buy this instead: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASS-GUITAR-JAPANESE-EROS-II-/261344010689?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cd95121c1 Early 70s Matsumoku Jazz copy, Eros Mk II brand, £98 BIN. Someone buy this so I don't have to! J.

Remember that names like Avon, Columbus etc were importer's names stuck on the heads of generic no-brand instruments, which is all this one is. Electra was a US importer brand who sourced from Matsumoku, Fujigen and Kasuga. This little LP bass really isn't anything special - cheap ply body, junk hardware and single-coil pups in humbucker cases. J.

Doesn't need much info - that's an early 80s MIJ Yamaha, missing the pickup surround - probably because the pup's not original - but otherwise complete & fairly tidy. £30 is ridiculous & I'd be taking a trip to Ayrshire if I wasn't off to Birmingham this afternoon! Jon.

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1385470524' post='2288570'] Consider punt made then in that case! Just spotted this too.... [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Washburn-B-20-Stage-Series-Bass-Guitar-Cherry-Sunburst-MIJ-1980s/321255048977"]http://www.ebay.co.u...0s/321255048977[/url] Now THAT is gorgeous. [/quote] B20 Stage Series - had one of them back in the 80s - beautifully made but neck-dive from hell! Still wish I'd never sold it, though... Very best of luck with the Vulture then, hope you get it for £150! BigRedX - three of those tuners are original - early ones of these & other MIJ Washburns hd these tuners (AFAIK the ones assumed to be made by Yamaki) and later Matsumoku builds had very nice Schaller M4S clones. J.

Jolana D! Had Faker GAS for one of these for a good few years, missed a few on Ebay back in the day, but never seen one in the flesh. We played in Prague a few years back & I had high hopes of picking one up cheap but no joy. The shops were all full of bloody Rickenbackers! Jon.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1385379655' post='2287458'] What about this Washburn Vulture? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111224594009?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649"]http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1423.l2649[/url] [/quote] I want that so much it hurts. Worst GAS I've had since coming back to BC - I'll have to drop him a note & see if he'll post it! Anyway - decent project JapCrap Jazz for £45 BIN: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Grant-Jazz-Bass-MIJ-Lawsuit-Copy-/251388708480"]http://www.ebay.co.u...y-/251388708480[/url] He reckons it's a Grant, might be, but more likely a Columbus. J.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1385307452' post='2286644'] Overpriced by at least £31... [/quote] Shocking, the price of firewood these days! Jon.

£280 is tongue-swallowingly mental for that, pretty or otherwise. They don't come up too often but when they do they tend to be well under £200 - essentially Ibanez Blazer or Westy Thunder money. After all, it's really just a Precision copy with a skinny top horn! Jon.

Late to the party on this one - and I do like that a lot, hideous or otherwise! Dunno if I'd've twigged it was an MIJ Vox but not surprised seeing the logo. Never seen one of these before and tbh had no idea there was ever an MIJ Vox 5er. It's reckoned these came from Matsumoku, I'd say confirmed by the fact the Vox 24 guitar was pretty much the same instrument as the Westbury Standard guitar, and the Vox neck-through basses are very, very Aria-esque. As has been mentioned, a number of similarities to late Westones, I'd be inclined to put this around 1986/7, that being when Matsumoku packed in instrument manufacture. Jon.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1385312807' post='2286743'] The 'top nut'. Meaning the nut. [/quote] To the Ebay seller, it's the "knut". Which can be found at the top of the arm (or "kneck") - which can be identified by its profusion of fretts. Unless, that is, it's a "frettles". If the instrument in question (a "base", to be specific) isn't a Squire, it's quite likely to be a Tokia, made in the Ibanez Factory. Bunch of stupid knuts. J.

Or Squier/Squire. Jon.

Withdrawn, due to an "error in the listing". It's pretty beat-up but I probably would have been all over that - I have a Track 2 (single P pup, bolt-neck) and have GASsed over a Track 4 for years. Top-quality Matsumoku builds, I also have a Westy Standard guitar & it's a gem. Jon.

Excellent! If the fretless neck was 5-string & lined it would tick every personal prog box I can think of! Jon.

Not Japanese but Korean, as were 99% of Hondos. Plywood, too. Jon.

None More Orange: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:72012] Ibby EDA900 - plastic fantastic. Jon.

[quote name='badboy1984' timestamp='1384788182' post='2280699'] If Rickenbacker have some kind of cheap copies that made by them like epiphone and Squier or even made by another country, i think more people would buy them instead of third party copies [/quote] You're probably right but it's not a market RIC have any need of, or interest in supplying - as it is they struggle to fulfil demand for the "real" ones! John Hall's determination to keep RIC small & ,maintain the high quality reputation (deserved or otherwise) is a stance I respect, despite him being, err - [i]unprofessional[/i] - in other aspects of his role as CEO! [quote name='badboy1984' timestamp='1384780707' post='2280574'] Rockinbetters are pretty good actually. I personally think the Ric company are not too confident with their own products against the copies ...... [/quote] As far as some of the old MIJ basses are concerned, it's a fair point - the Matsumoku neck-through Fakers were head & shoulders above what Rickenbacker were typically producing in the early/mid 70s - there's even a 70s review of a Kimbara-branded copy knocking around that says as much. These copies had functional dual truss rods, necks & body wings that didn't de-laminate, tuners that didn't explode, and even tailpieces that didn't bend. I have limited experience with the current Chinese & Korean copies but imagine them to have the same manufacturing consistency as other good-quality mass-produced instruments from similar sources - plus the benefit of more modern hardware & components than RIC's products. The main reason though that Hall makes a public display of Faker-chasing is the US trademark legislation, which requires that a trademark owner must be seen to be pursuing and challenging infringements. If any copy, old or new, goes unchallenged, ultimately the trademark will enter the public domain, meaning that anybody & everybody is free to use it. Fender & Gibson did not take Japanese copies seriously in the 70s until it was too late, which is why there has been 4 decades of relentless Precision, Jazz, Strat, LP etc cloning. J.