Bassassin

I see where you're coming from - but the answer's not at all. The 8-string was a through-neck build, while this (and possibly all the B20s fitted with humbuckers rather than P/Js) is set neck. What it most resembles is the Steinberger-y Washburn Bantam with a B20 body. The same's true of other headless MIJ Washburns, like the Force 42, giving the impression they're all based on a similar template as far as hardware, controls & pickups are concerned. Anyway, for the sake of argument: I think that's the thread well & truly derailed!

This is the only one anyone's ever seen! Among the vintage MIJ geek community, this bass was known of only from one small cutting from an old magazine, where a tiny image with a 'coming soon' type caption appeared under the main Washburn ad: This was though to have never been launched, and never appeared in any catalogues or brochures, until the one above turned up a few months ago on Reverb. It's slightly different, the changed hardware suggesting it's later & possibly from a different factory, but likely a prototype or part of a very short production run. Odd MIJ Washburns do turn up - a UK shop recently advertised a headless version of the 80s B20 Stage bass (I had an original when i was in my teens) which has never been seen before & appears in no catalogue: Most people who've seen this insist it's a modified standard bass, but the construction, components and proportions say otherwise. Weird!

That's beyond shameless! The prevailing opinion among Washburn nerds (yeah, I know...) was that the Taurus borrowed its rather exaggerated proportions from a thing known as a Washburn Condor, a prototype/extreme rarity from around 1980-ish: But evidently not! Never seen that Jackson before, possibly even more shameless than the Washburn. Appears that Marleaux issued a C&D shortly after it appeared, making it a very rare bass these days. Wonder why Jerzy Drozd didn't do the same - those Washburns are everywhere.

I'd theoretically pay A Lot for Jaco's Bass Of Doom - conditional on A Lot being a) within my ability to afford it, and b) A Lot being half or less than half of what I could sell it for.

Polyurethane finishes are pretty thick, and incredibly hard - T-Cut's a mild abrasive but all it will do is polish the top of the lacquer. Would take days to wear through! And yes - if definitely works.

Re: the satin finish - it will gloss up after a bit of playing, if that's not quick enough, go at it with T-Cut, & it'll be gleaming like a very shiny thing in about 20 minutes.

I can play a bit, and for me it's massively important for songwriting, meaning I'm able to program realistic (and physically playable!) drum parts & fills on my own stuff. It's always good to be able to hand a finished song to a 'proper' drummer and hear how a musician who really understands the instrument interprets & changes it - but it's pretty cool when they decide to play that fancy fill exactly how it was programmed! 😎

Only just saw this thread - apropos of nothing in particular, 64 Spoons was the second live band 16-year old me ever saw, some point in the summer of 1978, at the White Horse on Chatham Hill, Kent. The local punky pub rock band we'd gone to see had cancelled & these guys filled in. Their weird brand of proggy jazz wasn't at all what I expected, but they were nice guys & happy to chat to me & my mates about music & the band we were planning to start. They were fronted by a prodigiously talented youth called Jakko Jakszyk, who went on to do various interesting things including playing with Level 42 & currently fronting King Crimson.

I've seen plenty of necks with cracking like that & I'm confident it's had a knock to the headstock, maybe even a drop, which had caused the glue joint between neck & fretboard to separate. If I'm correct a fix would involve simply easing the gap open sufficiently to get adhesive into the crack & then clamping. There's no way on earth anyone could know from the pics that it's not structural. Cracking like that doesn't just happen, in fact it appears to be gaping fractionally at the nut, which is likely truss rod tension pulling it open a little.

It's in lovely condition but that price is delusional to the tune of about £800. Spectacular wishful thinking there.

'Made In Japan' indicates manufactured by Fujigen Gakki, 'Crafted' refers to Tokai & Dyna Gakki, mostly late 90s onward. The 'E' prefix serial on this (mid 80s) is correct for Fujigen. I think these are original - I don't know MIJ Fenders as well as I could (working on it!) but I've seen this type before. The smaller units are Gotoh GB-1s or GB-10s and very common but not exclusive on 80s MIJ Fenders & Squiers. This does look like a very tidy mid 80s P.

Quite cool to see a proper Tony Z rather than the licensed or knockoff Zemaitises that turn up. Don't think he made many basses.

The final generation of Musician (1986) had the body shape of the SoundGears which launched the following year. Still going strong!

Kasuga Scorpion, a lot like this one: Never seen that clip before, always had a soft spot for The Shamen.

If the neck is a poly finish, the gloss will restore easily with T-Cut. I'd suggest something like a plastic scouring pad to get the satin finish - less chance of stray bits of wire wool ending up in your pickups/electronics...

Where to start? First off - you've shown a pic of 'an' Aria SB, and 'an' Ibanez Musician. Both basses were part of quite extensive ranges covering numerous features like pickup number & types, active or passive, number of frets & in the case of the Arias, physical proportions of the necks. The SB1000 & MC900 you've shown will sound and feel completely different - chances are if you're used to a conventional Fender-type neck, the near-parallel, wide-at-the-nut shape of the Aria SB series will feel very odd & possibly off-putting. The Aria SB-R & SB-Elite basses have a conventional neck shape but tend to be passive, in both single and twin pickup versions. There was an active version (SB-R150) but these are ridiculously rare. I'll have to admit my playing experience is limited to the Arias & my preference is for the SB-Rs & Elites, as I really don't get on with the SB necks. However I do know there were both passive & active versions of the Ibanez Musicians (passive defined by an 8-prefix rather than 9) and 22 & 24-fret versions. The pickups/electronics and aesthetics of the Musician basses changed quite radically over the lifespan of the range, and early ones likely sound quite different to the mid/late 80s basses. Someone who knows the MCs better than me will likely chip in, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone with experience of both ranges. These basses are all pretty rare these days - particularly the MCs - and as high-end vintage instruments, prices can get quite eye-watering too.

Same with mine - stuffed with foam & fine at low volume. At gig levels it really didn't like my standard aggressive/toppy mildly overdriven sound. Was tameable, but hard to get the grit & growl I was after.

Here's my real Talbo for good measure! Very shiny, very whiney - as in highly prone to microphonic feedback. I thought so - and some very odd-looking marking to the wood/finish under the decal on both of them.

Weird double-post thing!

Came here to nominate the Great Man for Keep Us On The Road!

It's clearly never coming off again - shame it looks like it's about 1mm out... Details aside that's a lot of (apparently) hand-crafted short-scale bass for £300. One of those fairly frequent things making me secretly glad there's no shipping & I'd have an 800-odd mile round trip to collect it.

Even the band described ESL as "live - ish"! I'm interested in hearing the live set in this release, but tbh I've heard Moving Pictures so many times since 1981 that I genuinely don't think I'll ever feel the need to listen to it again! Quite! Camera Eye is probably my favourite MP track, and Free Will might be my favourite Rush song (if there can ever be such a thing!) and I've never noticed a similarity!

MIght be worth contacting Gordon Smith through their FB page, it's likely they have records of their 80s instruments & should be able to give dates & spec. https://www.facebook.com/gordonsmithguitars There's also a Gordon Smith FB group for owners, might be more info available there - plus they'd probably like to see it! https://www.facebook.com/groups/GordonSmith