Bassassin

I think the break-angle over the nut will be what makes a difference to tension rather than the length of string behind the nut. Fender types often suffer from a shallow angle on the E & A because of the headstock design, I think a second string tree for these two strings would help. Also make sure when you string up that the windings go from top to bottom of the post, so the string comes out at the lowest point. This should help make the angle sharper & improve tension. I really wouldn't advocate using superglue to attach a nut - if it needs to be replaced there's every possibility that it'll take lumps of wood with it when you try & remove it! Use a good-quality wood glue like Titebond. I'll agree with Mog's DiMarzio suggestion - just dropped a set of old PAF-stickered Model Js into mine & it sounds lovely. Jon.

Easy. This: [attachment=61130:csledit.jpg] The current incarnation of my 1979-ish CSL JapCrap Jazz, now wearing DiMarzio Model Js & sexy stack knobs. Simply the most comfortable, playable and (with its new pups) most useable-sounding bass I've owned. I have a ridiculous & unnecessary number of basses, but all the rest can get flung on the fire to warm me through the coming nuclear winter, apart from this one. Jon.

[quote name='FlatEric' post='984601' date='Oct 11 2010, 04:54 PM']Jon, you have a lovely looking bass - if it's OK with you, I'll stick the pics up on the T-40 section in Gear Porn. Did anyone on here get this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170548310933&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]T-40 Tanburst[/url] I know a couple of you were looking at it. Cheers. [/quote] By all means post the pics Eric! That Tanburst's an absolute stunner, & in a way I'm not too surprised at the price given the finish & condition. T-40s seem to be on the up at the moment, one like mine only quite a lot rougher went for £340 a week or two ago. Definitely hanging onto mine - it really is a delight to play. By the way Eric, completely forgot to get those Tele Thinline bits off to you - I'll get it sorted! J.

[quote name='Slipperydick' post='984921' date='Oct 11 2010, 09:16 PM']What wood is it-any idea ? Very heavy thats fer sure ![/quote] This sort of body tends to be mahogany butcher-block sandwich with front & back veneers. Not sure what wood but apparently birch on the Fujigen-built J copies, which were made the same way. J.

[quote name='Slipperydick' post='984540' date='Oct 11 2010, 04:03 PM']Sure does look a lot like this.. Which is my old 73 Eros. Only one I ever saw with these pups, which aint humbuckers, but they have a lovely deep growl. Bit microphonic, but I filled em with hot wax years ago, and that more or less eliminated it. Often thought they looked more Gibson-ish though, same with the machine heads. Anyone know if there is/was any connection between Eros and MIJ Matsumoko ? [attachment=61062:b.jpg] [attachment=61067:c.jpg] [attachment=61065:d.jpg] [attachment=61069:e.jpg][/quote] Yours is the same bass as Tino's. When he got it, the silhouette of the Eros badge was clearly visible on the headstock. Anyway - Eros. First of all there's no connection to the Italian E-Ros brand (whatever the Ebay "experts" might say), Eros & Eros Mk II were names used by UK distributor Rosetti, and some of their guitars were indeed from Matsumoku - including this Jazz. They also sourced from Fujigen (I had an Eros Tele identical to the equivalent Ibanez) and later ones - particularly the garish LP copies - were Korean & not very good. The MIJ ones however are typically good quality. J.

Fair enough - thought they tended to go for £150ish + postage round here. J.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar-/270647663827"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar-/270647663827[/url] I don't need this at all - so someone pull the trigger & save me from myself! Jon.

[quote name='Soliloquy' post='983714' date='Oct 10 2010, 08:01 PM']Having good technical ability and playing something 'inappropiate are two entirely different things. Having good technique enables you to play what you are hearing, or what the band/MD/producer/artiste wants you to play. Playing something inappropiate is just showing off or not caring about the music. Good technical ability is as important in music as it is in football, snooker, tennis or anuthing else 'physical'. It is not and cannot possibly be a hindrance to your creativity if you are able to play comfortably what you are hearing in your mind. Anyone who says otherwise is talking rubbish.[/quote] This, 100%. Jon.

[quote name='umph' post='983932' date='Oct 10 2010, 11:12 PM']any advantage to this? do you just end up with an extremely hot, dark pup?[/quote] The one I have is certainly cooking for a single-coil - it reads about 10.7k, if memory serves. This ended up in a Rick copy and actually sounds really authentic, especially with the cap bypass mod & paired with a real Rick hi-gain in the neck. I have a feeling these were originally designed to go in EB-3 copies, they appear paired with single-coil mudbucker lookalikes in these, & a good few other basses - including Fujigen-built through-neck Rick copies, and the original Ibanez Artist bass. J.

[quote name='2x18' post='983162' date='Oct 10 2010, 10:47 AM']Ricky project with chequered binding [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-rickenbacker-replica-70s-classic-project-/320601221202?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4aa5526852"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-rickenbacker-...=item4aa5526852[/url] Will.[/quote] Why's it a project, I wonder? Anyway an interesting example - and not just for the spectacularly erm, interesting spelling. Check out the tailpiece, with its very square string holes - these appeared on the very earliest Fujigen Fakers, and construction-wise have more in common with the original Ricky sandcast aluminium units than the later hollow ones - they're thick, rock-solid & very unlikely to lift. According to the pickup date codes the bass is 1974 - these tailpieces usually appear on much earlier examples. J.

[quote name='noelk27' post='983208' date='Oct 10 2010, 11:46 AM']They don't call it JapCrap without reason. The bridge, though, is good clue to its origin.[/quote] The bridge is identical to the one fitted to my Cimar XR2065: [attachment=61025:bridge.jpg] All the evidence points to the original(ish) design Cimars being Fujigen-made, but no idea where hardware was sourced from. The Shiro's almost certainly not a Fujigen & definitely not a Mat - what were you thinking? Have to say if that was mine, I'd have to do something about the bridge angle - it would annoy me every time I looked at it! J.

[quote name='tino' post='983261' date='Oct 10 2010, 12:40 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180572516527&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...=STRK:MESELX:IT[/url] Now that could be sexy [/quote] Could be if it had a neck! Tino - those Maxons ain't humbuckers - I've stripped one & they're singles with 2 rows of poles: [attachment=61018:pupsurround.jpg] [attachment=61017:pupcoveroff.jpg] [attachment=61019:pupexploded.jpg] J.

No probs - assuming it's coming to me & not another resident of the Northern Wastes. J.

Totally forgot about it this week. Looks like that might have been fortuitous. Jon.

Oli - if I get it I can pass it on to you if you want it - I'm only really interested in using it as a template anyway. J.

Seriously - wouldn't mind seeing some pics of the bass, I do have a certain amount of GAS for one of these. J.

PM'd Jon.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='981943' date='Oct 8 2010, 07:40 PM']As in the IT Crowd...[/quote] Right! Haven't seen it since the second series (not sure why, liked it a lot) think I vaguely remember him - Chris Morris' character's wayward/useless son? J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='981389' date='Oct 8 2010, 11:08 AM']Was it made between 1895 and 1945? :conspiritorial wink:[/quote] That must be it! proper vintage, then! J.

[quote name='silddx' post='980691' date='Oct 7 2010, 04:40 PM'] I like it! Very David Bailey style. You do kind of look resigned to the fact you are having your posed mugshot taken, a passport photo expression [/quote] Trust me - that was the best of several hundred! I don't do animated facial expressions very well - at least not in photos, I tend to either look like a psychopath or a simpering idiot! Accurate perhaps, but not flattering... Bh2 - See-through P pics & creation details here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=100767"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=100767[/url] And who on Earth's Matt Bury - apart from being pudgy-faced & even uglier than me? And not a ginger tosser, which is what I am when not monochrome. J.

There's not much to identify about the bass, unfortunately - there were many generic Precision copies made in Japan & Korea, and without the original neck and brand name it's really anyone's guess what this was originally. The body looks like typical budget/mid-range construction, The way it's sprayed, with big black oversprays on the contours, shows that it's made from either plywood or veneered butcher-block, and finished like this to disguise the laminations. If it's particularly heavy, then it's most likely ply. It looks like somebody's tried to "relic" the body - the thick poly finish on this sort of bass isn't likely to wear like that naturally. The square notch in the scratchplate suggests the original neck had a wheel-type truss adjuster (as used on Music Man basses these days) and I have seen this type on Hondo Precision copies, which were Korean in origin. However the same system's used on a lot of MIJ Strat copies so it probably appears on some Jap Ps too. The central scratchplate screw is a bit of a mystery - I don't remember ever noticing this on a 70s era copy before. The bridge isn't original to this bass, and unfortunately there's not a whole lot to be gleaned from the pickup or scratchplate. As I've said before, the big problem with identifying 70s Jap & Korean copies is that they all have this odd tendency to look the same... Jon.

[quote name='fireblademalc' post='981075' date='Oct 7 2010, 11:26 PM']Well whaddaya know, I've got one of these as well, same as the translucent red one. Yes they are DiMarzio's (nothing else sounds as good passive!!!). I still play mine from time to time and it sounds f*****g awesome!! but I'm a 6 string bass player now - Yamaha TRB6JP Sig. and other high-enders. But none of them sound as incredible as the Attila - shame it's only 4 strings!! I paid £150 for the Attila with a tatty but servicable had case. Anyone any idea what they're worth?? Peace.[/quote] I'll give you £150! Jon.

[quote name='leschirons' post='980596' date='Oct 7 2010, 02:51 PM']I once bought a guitar because it was the only musical instrument at a boot-sale and sort of felt I had to.[/quote] I once bought a nice nylon-strung classical guitar at the Boot because I was sorry for it - I though some pikey would buy it & wreck it. Ended up giving it to a drummer mate for his kids to play with! I bought a sort-of Rick copy in the midst of a family crisis, to cheer myself up. It didn't work, but at least I got a bass. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='980822' date='Oct 7 2010, 06:43 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Truely-Hideous-Lump-Wood-Maya-/270645589608?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f03bbf668"]Sorry guys, this is a six string, but when I saw the listing my drink went down the wrong way.[/url][/quote] That has been in the wars. Tuners (not original, look nice) body & pups (if they work) are probably worth salvaging if it stays under £20. Which it probably won't. J.

Didn't bother reading this one before - curiously the seller thinks it's both Taiwanese & Japanese at the same time. How does that work? I'm confused now - Help me, BassChat! Jon.