Bassassin

Indeed - Kay "Kelvinator" style, US-made & rare as rocking-horse poo. Not a lot to do with the plywood Taiwanese tat from the 70s that many of us shudder at the thought of. Jon.

So is a luthier building the bass for the OP, using the Jap Faker he got here? Just trying to clarify what's going on, having missed this when the first post was up. Although I don't know why he doesn't just come on the thread & tell us! J.

Anecdotally, most of Geddy's best-known stuff - from Permanent Waves up until he started using a Wal in the studio - was apparently recorded using his Jazz. I think his problems with the Rick were size/shape/weight related. He's only little! J.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1030289' date='Nov 20 2010, 11:53 AM']I saw VW earlier this year and he really is an amazing player, but even so, I prefer his playing in a band context.[/quote] My feelings exactly - having seen him with The Flecktones I loved his playing as part an excellent virtuoso band. While the stunt-bass stuff is blindingly impressive when he's actually doing it 15 feet away from you, it's questionable (to me, at least) how musical most of it is. Unfortunately I can't help getting the feeling it's the pyrotechnics, rather than his ability & taste as a consummate ensemble player which have people bandying around words like "best". I take exception to "best" in the context of music. It implies a creative art is some kind of competition. Jon.

[quote name='danbowskill' post='1030180' date='Nov 20 2010, 09:56 AM']oh dear that looks proper sh.te(prob sound wonderful)...but what was he thinking?? ..[/quote] He was bassist in the original Alice Cooper band back in the 70s - it probably went with the rest of the look! I'm guessing you've never seen his EB-3? [attachment=64450:dunaway_frogbass.jpg] J.

[quote name='SS73' post='1030230' date='Nov 20 2010, 10:54 AM']oh hang on my mistake, he modified his with non Ric parts, a proper bridge and decent tuners, silly me. [/quote] There is that! Also it would require his endorsement & he's always said he never actually enjoyed playing Ricks, it was only ever about the sound. Not the best publicity for RIC. J.

If it plays well & you like it, then why not make it sound better? What are you considering upgrading? Unless the tuners & bridge don't actually work properly, changing these would probably be a waste of money, but if the existing pickups don't sound great, then replacing these (& possibly the pots & cap) is a worthwhile upgrade if you want to hang on to the bass. There's plenty of choice of decent, well-priced Jazz pups out there, you'll probably find some decent, well-priced sets for sale on here if you're patient. Jon.

Dennis Dunaway tribute project? [attachment=64438:dunaway_jazz.jpg] I've had worse ideas... Jon.

Either this, or something very similar, has been on before. The way it's been done looks to me like a conversion to headless, possibly the result of a headstock break. I did something similar to a guitar I maimed back in the 80s. Otherwise it looks like a generic late 70s/early 80s Japanese or Korean through-neck. I don't recognise the shape, but if I'm right about the headless mod, the body could have been reshaped at the same time. Or it could just be something obscure in the first place. It does look pretty cool for £150 BIN, as far as one can tell from the little pic. Not sure where you'd put it when you weren't playing it, though - apart from a couch or a case! Jon.

Quite rare, but loses points for changed pickups & bodged jack repair. The Greco versions seem to come up a lot more often, they're set-neck but otherwise identical. Probably cheaper too. Jon.

[quote name='paul h' post='1029782' date='Nov 19 2010, 07:05 PM']Late to the party again. Anyone care to summarize the last 10 pages for me? Did shouty man get his comeuppance?[/quote] I think he's pretty much guaranteed that he'll never sell his bass, or anything else on here, that probably counts as comeuppance. We've also seen the birth of a new forum celebrity - TIM. J.

Well, I don't suppose the poor sod's feeling any too happy about this at the moment. But really - what the hell did he [i]think[/i] was going to happen? He might think twice about chucking his rattle around & having a paddy next time - both online & out there. I'm kind of of the opinion that on the whole, the world might be a slightly better place if more people had it explained to them when they were acting like a right twat. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1029503' date='Nov 19 2010, 03:50 PM']Wipe down with meths and electrical tape. Electrical tape has fooled Bassassin in photos of a Rickenfaker.[/quote] If you're talking about your CMI pre-restoration, I think that was down to the pic quality rather than the artistry of the work! If it's not, then I blame short-term memory loss. I think electrical tape would have a tendency to peel off, particularly the lower side. I've seen painted-on "binding" on cheap 70s Korean tat, looked OK apart from where it was chipped. I think that's the best idea, if you can mask it accurately. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1029485' date='Nov 19 2010, 03:38 PM']That's rather nice, Jon, but the perspex fingerpull is a stylistic disaster.[/quote] Must admit I quite like it, although I doubt I'd have one on my (theoretical) copy because they get in the way of my artless right-hand flailing. J.

[quote name='tino' post='1029551' date='Nov 19 2010, 04:25 PM']Im happy enough buying bits and peices off here ....................never had a problem.........................................BUT SELLING( foget it) CHEAP WADS on HERE [/quote] Tino mate, I think you'll find that's your rather ambitious pricing structure. Some people have to accept that they're just life's natural Ebayers - I mean no insult or disrespect, after all it takes one to know one! J.

Interesting and strange, this. I missed this thread when it was new so I missed the first post, but I presume the OP has a vintage Faker he wants to modify into a 4005 clone. Of the handful of 4005 Faker projects I've seen, a donor neck from a different copy has been the most common starting point. So I don't know why it's been deleted (hopefully he'll post to explain) but I really don't think the threat of legal action from Uncle John's anything to do with it - unless it's sheer paranoia. This is the UK and last time I checked was not subject to US trademark laws, besides RIC is a business with better things to do than poke around personal projects on little UK bass forums. Read my post in the thread about this thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=111252&view=findpost&p=1028126"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...t&p=1028126[/url] I'm more concerned that he fears being lynched by a bunch of pitchfork-wielding JapCrappers! While I do think there are better & cheaper sources of parts than a near-pristine 35-year-old CMI 4001 (like a bolt-neck Hondo - the rest of which is rubbish - or any of the much cheaper modern copies), this sounded like an interesting and serious project, and it's a pity to see coverage of it shelved. For the record, if I'm ever lucky enough to come across a cheap, beater 4001S copy, I want to build a 1950s 4000 clone: Jon.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1029265' date='Nov 19 2010, 01:15 PM']A brief review as I haven't had it long. Finish is really excellent. Hardware is good quality. Neck is like a very slightly shallower Precision. Fretwork is good. The frets are low and thin vintage stylee. Weight is about 8 1/2 lbs. It's very easy to play. Pickups have a lot of output. Lots of growl and a nice snarly rasp too if you get my drift. Really pushes an amp without being boomy. The neck took a while to settle but it had been travelling in different temperatures for a while before I got it. Thanks Parcelfarce for the additional 3 days in an unheated depot. Slight niggles. Vol & Tone do nothing much until they hit zero. I'll replace these. Side dots on the neck are tiny and done in MOP so I can barely see them. I'll get stickers. Fingerboard was dry as a bone. Gave it a bit of oil. Apart from that it's great. I'll probably swap the pickups as I can never resist doing this even when I don't need to. A bargain at £249.[/quote] Cheers for that - now, can I resist buying myself a nice red one for Christmas? Even though I don't do Christmas? J.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1029179' date='Nov 19 2010, 12:35 PM']I bought one. It deviates a fair bit from a Ric. It's very nice though. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=109268&view=findpost&p=1028717"]Retrovibe RV4[/url][/quote] He does these in red with black binding/scratchplate now - can't say I'm not tempted. Any danger of a brief review? J.

Having looked at the bass in question, it's OK, I have no idea what it would cost new, but the realistically the market on BC for spooky goth kid basses is inevitably a small one. I've bought & sold a good few things on BC, never had a bad experience, and met some splendid people. Most importantly I have found that when you are trying to sell an instrument with niche interest (vintage JapCrap in my case) then you need patience, a realistic start price, a willingness to consider reasonable offers and haggle, and to be willing to post to the UK & Europe for a reasonable cost. I've never actually tried bellowing insults & accusations at my potential customers. Worth a go? Jon.

There's always sw@nky - works a treat when you're effing & blinding too! Jon.

Two Horrible Hondos, both sellers batsh!t mental in their own special ways: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230552367536"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230552367536[/url] - this really won't be around long. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200544984534"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=200544984534[/url] - and this one will be there until he has a a reality check, or Hell freezes over. J.

Eh up, Captain Shoutychops. So you're bellowing at everyone and making huge, inaccurate generalisations about this community because no-one's buying your bass. I can think of three possible reasons for this scenario, which are as follows: i) Your bass is rubbish. ii) You want far too much money for it. iii) A combination of points i and ii. Since opening this thread on the subject you have successfully added another reason: iv) Behaving like a cock. I hope this has clarified things for you, unfortunately at this point I can offer no advice about how you could possibly rectify this situation, but I strongly suspect that ranting and shouting won't suddenly start being the best approach. Jon.

Got a look at it before the listing was pulled - definitely very shonky. Not certain, but didn't it say "Marcus Miller [b]style[/b]"? Wonder if it was one of these with a dodgy sticker: [url="http://www.bachmusik.com/en/music-instruments/bass-guitars/model-bach-bjb-s"]http://www.bachmusik.com/en/music-instrume...odel-bach-bjb-s[/url] Jon.

Is it really better than a Wal, or did he drag it out of a skip last week and make all that crap up? I wonder... Jon.