Bassassin

[quote name='iconic' post='1074350' date='Jan 1 2011, 01:39 PM']hmmm, so that means if I fit an Ivory top nut to my bass I'll have [b]Jumbo Nuts[/b]?[/quote] You most certainly will. And if that's not worth being murdered by Animal Rights protesters for, then I don't know what is. J.

It's an arcane term which originates from the era when ivory was widely used in musical instrument construction & finishing - for example piano keys, nuts & bridge saddles on stringed instruments - and of course frets. At the time animal gut was used to manufacture strings so wear was not an issue, hence frets made from ivory - Jumbo Frets.* *[spoiler]This may be a lie. [/spoiler] Jon.

[quote name='SS73' post='1074103' date='Jan 1 2011, 01:18 AM']No crime, at least it survived, my 72 Jazz needed incinerating as it was the deadist dead piece of junk going, Fender needed suing. Saying that mine was mint and probably has survived in the same state, pitty the poor sucker who owns it now and plays it .[/quote] How can you say that??? [i]Jesus[/i] played a 72 Jazz. Probably. J.

[quote name='tino' post='1073864' date='Dec 31 2010, 05:33 PM']And that skip will hopefully end up at my tip.....god bless spring cleaning???? Happy new year BA and all at BC[/quote] It's got to happen - just keep your eyes peeled... All the best to you & yours, Mr T. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1073889' date='Dec 31 2010, 05:58 PM']Unknown brand MIJ EB0 [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EB0-EB-0-style-short-scale-60-s-70-s-bass-MIJ-Jedson-/300509706599?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item45f7c63967"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EB0-EB-0-style-short...=item45f7c63967[/url][/quote] This had a £75 BIN last night - can't understand why people start bidding on things that are obvious bargains. I was quite tempted myself - I have the guitar version of this and it would be sort of cool to have the pair. If the guitar's anything to go on, these are pretty decent - proper humbuckers, veneered timber bodies, nice binding & inlays etc. Certainly a long way ahead of many of the EB-0 copies you see. J.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1073555' date='Dec 31 2010, 10:57 AM']'pretend offended' I don't think anyone was offended. It just seemed a little out-of-place in a civil discussion. That's all. And there we have it - the point of this thread. Glad we got there eventually. [/quote] But cost is only relative (to wealth & stupidity, which are often strangely interlinked) - and there was a hell of a lot less choice in 1973, no £90 Squiers, MIMs MIJs and at that point not even many JapCrap copies. J.

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='1073513' date='Dec 31 2010, 10:17 AM']dont get cheeky mate A thought we were past folk being smart arses on here. Turns out we are lined up for it again in 2011.[/quote] Well. From where I'm standing it's not me who's getting shirty and failing to contribute constructive points to the discussion. If you happen to disagree with my opinion (as well as being pretend-offended by words such as "bollocks") then we have the potential for conversation, if not - we don't. To answer WoT, I was responding to this: [quote]a dont think anyone really cares what it was to start with,,,we are more disgusted at what its become.[/quote] Which does appear to imply that a £90 Squier should constitute a similar level of desecration. Personally I don't see how one mass-produced bass has any more intrinsic value than another, the only quantifiable factor would be the stupidity of doing something like this to a fairly costly bass. But then again, despite being grotesque the standard of work here isn't rubbish, so it would seem money wasn't an object for whoever did this. J.

I thought Gritta was a simple typo - for "gittar", clearly. Jon.

[quote name='silentbob' post='1073144' date='Dec 30 2010, 08:51 PM']Received this today, thanks Jon.[/quote] Good stuff - took its time (posted on the 23rd) but got there in the end! J.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='1073299' date='Dec 30 2010, 11:45 PM']I like it. ...It makes me feel somewhat smug & superior [/quote] Has to be said, it's really well-crafted. Such a waste of effort though. J.

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='1073194' date='Dec 30 2010, 09:52 PM']a dont think anyone really cares what it was to start with,,,we are more disgusted at what its become.[/quote] With all due respect - bollocks! If this had been a 5-year old Squier the worst it would've got is a bit if pointing & sniggering. J.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1073043' date='Dec 30 2010, 07:33 PM']...and you wouldn't be slightly dismayed if someone did this to a 2010 Jazz?[/quote] At the poor taste, certainly. But I wouldn't react as though a sacred relic was being desecrated - it's just a mass-produced bass, there are thousands exactly the same. Different story if someone had decided to do this to a '72 Jazz in 2010, though. That would be incredibly crass. J.

It's ugly, but other than that, so what? A 1972 Fender Jazz was of absolutely zero consequence in 1973, no-one would have thought twice about customising one. Chances are if this one hadn't been modified, it would have ended up chucked in a skip, presumably like 75% of all the other 1972 Fender Js. Jon.

[quote name='4000' post='1072215' date='Dec 29 2010, 10:22 PM']Jon, hence the wink, which was aimed at you.......I know you're on there quite a bit. So am I! [/quote] Far too subtle for me! J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1071904' date='Dec 29 2010, 04:38 PM']Once again, I'm allotting "honorary JapCrap" status to the Gherson brand. This is quite interesting: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1970S-ITALIAN-BASS-GUITAR-GHERSON-WELL-BUILT-GREATSOUND-/320636191805?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4aa768043d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1970S-ITALIAN-BASS-G...=item4aa768043d[/url][/quote] That's a remarkable looking thing. Why are the pictures always so guff for the most interesting-looking basses? I'd love a good look at that. Unfortunately not enough to actually buy it though... J.

[quote name='4000' post='1071515' date='Dec 29 2010, 10:14 AM']They are, however, not keen to talk about fakes. [/quote] Well - actually... In my experience they're generally quite interested - there are a few hard-liners who take a quite alarming level of personal offence, but on the whole if you're factual & constructive about copies, they're largely quite amenable to discussion. I post fairly often on RR and they actually seem to value the knowledge I have, not just because it's useful in telling real ones from copies, but some genuine interest and even a level of (grudging) appreciation for some Fakers from certain members. There's even a (well-hidden) sub-forum devoted to copies now. As far as general Rickenbacker info is concerned, there really is no better place, and on the topic of their favourite instruments, the RR guys are uniformly helpful, informative & very friendly. Jon.

Hi - as far as I know, all of the MIJ 70s copies of the Armstrong have standard guitar-sized 4-pole humbuckers, so it shouldn't be impossible to find exact-fit replacements. You don't see the exact same type too often these days (although vintage MIJ basses with the right pups do come up on Ebay) but you can still get the likes of these: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Emg-Select-Bass-humbucker-pick-up-New-/380303089191"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Emg-Select-Bass-humb...w-/380303089191[/url] Which, fitted in a pair of standard flat humbucker mounting rings, should drop straight into your bass. It would be very useful - not to mention interesting to the vintage JapCrap fans like me - to see some pics of your bass. Is the bridge the Gibson EB-0 type with just a pressed steel bar for a saddle? If you don't mind spending a bit of cash on the bass, a worthwhile upgrade might be something like a [url="http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=326"]Hipshot Supertone.[/url] FWIW the first Ibanez catalogue to feature the 2364B was 1971, so yours is very unlikely to be any older than that - Ibanez didn't really make copy guitars before that. If your bass is an Ibanez I would strongly recommend that you don't modify it irreversibly - 70s MIJ Dan Armstrong copies are very rare & collectable to begin with and Ibanez-branded examples are pretty much unheard-of in the UK. Jon.

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='1071095' date='Dec 28 2010, 04:50 PM']Nice Washburn Vulture in Sweden - is it worth what he's asking? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150536170897"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150536170897[/url][/quote] A bit high but probably not too far off, considering this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Washburn-Force-40-Japan-1983-/110617274059"]considerably more common Force 40[/url] sold for £230-odd. Nice profit margin on that one... J.

Pics please! I'm not familiar with the B-30, but that might be one of the later Korean-made basses. B-20s were from the early 80s, vaguely Explorer-shaped, & like all of the Japanese Washburns , extremely well-made & quite collectable these days. I had one a million years ago & it's one of the few basses I regret selling. Jon.

All the 70s MIJ Antorias were Fujigen - for the most part identical to their Ibanez counterparts, right down to the catalogue numbers. Certainly never seen a Hondo Longhorn in real life, but it's in this catalogue: [url="http://www.bossarea.com/aria/hondo/page6.jpg"]http://www.bossarea.com/aria/hondo/page6.jpg[/url] Spec here: [url="http://www.bossarea.com/aria/hondo/page5.jpg"]http://www.bossarea.com/aria/hondo/page5.jpg[/url] Could well be MIJ as a few of the better quality Hondos were at this point - that said MIK quality was decent by the early 80s, so there's no way to tell from those pics. J.

I'll be interested to see what the Antoria sells for - this is actually the 3rd one of these to come up in the last month or so - the previous two didn't do particularly well, I assume mostly because the sellers were too lazy to either accurately describe the basses or to post them. I strongly suspect this is one of those two, being flipped. The Ibanez is very expensive - I can't see that getting even £300 in a straight auction. Jon.

I played in a rock covers duo in the mid 90s, we used pre-programmed drums. Me & the guitarist both had Roland drum machines (80s relics, a TR505 & a TR707) & we both programmed the drum parts. We also used pre-recorded keyboards & rhythm guitars during solos, so we went out with everything recorded on an old Tascam cassette-based 4-track. At the time it made massively good sense - no need to either transport or pay a drummer. My current original prog band has gigged with programmed drums a couple of times when we were "between drummers" - it's not ideal but was OK, and if push came to shove I'd have no problem doing it again. We often practice like that anyway. Jon.

Funny - I was sure it would be him before I clicked the link. I'm the last person to sing the praises of "stunt bassists" but Dal Farra's in another league. I was lucky enough to first encounter him busking in Barcelona a couple of years ago & was just transfixed - he manages to make what is (IMO) usually a vulgar, cluttered & unmelodic playing technique musical, expressive & captivating. Probably the best & most interesting solo bassist I've heard. Jon.

[quote name='2x18' post='1069463' date='Dec 26 2010, 08:41 AM']Back again as a "Bitsa" [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Daphne-Blue-USA-Fender-70s-Re-Issue-P-Bass-/130468802252?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e608beecc"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Daphne-Blue-USA-Fend...=item1e608beecc[/url][/quote] Another pack of lies (70s replica neck my arse) but not quite as blatant & implausible as the last lot. Are you reading this thread, Mr "Ashcustomaxes"? Stop by & say hi, why not? J.

Shonky as a shonky thing, IMO - look at the backs of the little, tinny tuners, like you'd find on any bit of £80 junk. Doesn't mean it's not a US Fender, though... J.