Bassassin

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='971051' date='Sep 28 2010, 07:29 PM']Tino is otherwise engaged at the moment so on his behalf I will say "Big poppa has corrupted the world with his snake oil and silly hair!" .I know im not as good at it as the man himself but in his absense thats all we have. 48 hours and counting Tino. [/quote] What's he done now? He mentioned the "b" word in a PM but I didn't like to ask! J.

[quote name='maxrossell' post='970510' date='Sep 28 2010, 11:40 AM']I just took delivery of a Les Paul, and after about two minutes on the strap, the top strap button popped out because the hole had stripped. As common a problem as this is, I've never actually had it before so I've never fixed one. What I did was take a couple of cocktail sticks and jam them into the whole, then add enough superglue to fill the hole almost to the top, then screwed the strap button in place and left it overnight. Seems pretty solid now, is this a decent enough fix?[/quote] That should work. If the glue was still liquid when you screwed the button back on, hope you never want to take it out again... Jon.

Just as long as they don't start making unverifiable claims beyond "it looks really pretty". Which it does. Jon.

Interesting, looks like yours has a sandwich body with front & back veneers, you find these on a lot of middle-range JapCraps. Mine was proper stripy, splintery plywood, but otherwise identical. I've turned my nose up at a good few of these because I assumed the bodies were rubbish! J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='969923' date='Sep 27 2010, 07:37 PM']Edit: Weirdly modified Antoria. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANTORIA-FENDER-JAZZ-68-REPLICA-FRETLESS-BASS-GUITAR-/110590613811?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19bfb6d933"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANTORIA-FENDER-JAZZ-...=item19bfb6d933[/url][/quote] No evidence it's an Antoria at all, or even JapCrap, for that matter. Bit alarmed at the idea that to de-fret it rather than removing the frets & filling the slots, he prised the old fretboard off & replaced it with a mahogany one. Not a material commonly used for fretless boards, this and the general tone of his ad don't give me a lot of confidence that he knows a great deal about basses. String separator? J.

[quote name='tino' post='969767' date='Sep 27 2010, 05:49 PM']weighs a bloody tonne[/quote] I'll be surprised if that's not one of their Precision copies, then! If it is, they're halfway decent after a setup - but right bloody backbreakers. Can fetch £70 - £90ish on Thiefbay, too. J.

He's updated his listing now to reflect the fact that it's a bit (of) rubbish. Still very pretty from the back, though. J.

[quote name='tino' post='968854' date='Sep 26 2010, 09:30 PM']Lets hope that was £107 well spent then ....the pups look ropey....wonder what will end up in there??? She said """ Can it be done up in pink flock" to match her jukebox...lol[/quote] Good stuff! These pups - the square single-coil things with 2 rows of pole pieces like in your Rickenfaker - can be a mixed bag, so wait & see. You might get a pair of the 11k ones like in my Faker. J.

[quote name='tino' post='968540' date='Sep 26 2010, 04:49 PM']Jon....... any idea on this ebay item 270635291014,Im computer illiterate so cant do the link bit....my daughter fancies it though.. Cheers T[/quote] Here's the link: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270635291014"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270635291014[/url] Looks nice, obviously depending on condition. I think it's a Fujigen J copy, fairly early 70s going on the tuners, pickups & trc. It's had a headstock pin badge, which from the outline I'm fairly sure was Eros (compare it to the one on [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=31025502980"]this rather nice EB-3 copy[/url]), which would support the age & the Fujigen theory. Early Eros guitars were sourced form Fujigen & Matsumoku - I had a Fujigen Tele & Mat LP, and the EB-3 is a Mat. I think if you can get it for around the £100 mark it would be something of a bargain, assuming everything's OK. J.

[quote name='noelk27' post='968615' date='Sep 26 2010, 05:54 PM']If you're defining worth purely in monetary terms, sure. But the worth of early SB designs, to my mind, is more intrinsical than financial, hence the distinction.[/quote] Of course - I understand completely & concur. Realistically this is the basis of my obsession with vintage MIJ basses & guitars. J.

[quote name='noelk27' post='968028' date='Sep 25 2010, 10:38 PM']What it's worth and what it'll sell for are two different things.[/quote] Surely any secondhand instrument, rare or otherwise, is worth [i]precisely[/i] what a buyer will pay for it! J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='967287' date='Sep 25 2010, 01:39 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar-walnut-project-/180565950877?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2a0a91c19d"]Oooh, a variation to break the monotony.[/url][/quote] Pretty sure I remember seeing that a few weeks back - not sure if this is a re-list after being pulled or the next buyer moving it on. I'm guessing it doesn't work, he claims he[quote]have not amp to check that this bass works[/quote]but I don't know if there's a particular mystical reason why he couldn't plug it into this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Orange-Crush-PiX-35LDX-Guitar-Combo-Amp-/180565957390"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Orange-Crush-PiX-35L...p-/180565957390[/url] Oh - but there's me trying to be rational and forgetting this is Ebay. [i]Ebay[/i]! Stupid me. J.

Horrifying posed mugshot warning: [attachment=59640:seethrough1.jpg] :ph34r: Jon.

[quote name='Jigster' post='967299' date='Sep 25 2010, 08:00 AM']great name for a band![/quote] It's got potential... Aural Gloop Consortium - prog supergroup? J.

Grinderman/Nick Cave was the best thing by a long way for me (although Scissor Sisters were occasionally fun) - the show needed something feral & demented to counterbalance the po-faced, sickly aural gloop that the rest of it was. Just awful. Jon.

Was mucking around with some covers in the practice room last night, basically my originals band & a different drummer. Red Barchetta Free Will Ghost Rider La Villa Strangiato (sort of!) YYZ Secret Touch And just as a theme was appearing we ended up playing Whole Lotta Rosie, which is quite odd with a female singer. It was f@cking excellent and we might have a new drummer. I bloody hope so. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='966146' date='Sep 23 2010, 09:36 PM']Is it just me, or is there something fundamentally odd about this Maya. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-MAYA-P-BASS-70s-BADASS-BRIDGE-SCHALLERS-MIJ-/330476397258?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4cf1eda2ca"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-MAYA-P-BASS-...=item4cf1eda2ca[/url] The bridge seems a bit close to the end of the body. And the shape seems slightly off. Might be the angle of the photo, I dunno. Edit: After going through the photos, I think it's just the badass bridge being a bit bigger than a bent metal bridge that makes it look odd. 99p start price though.[/quote] Why on earth would someone stick a BAIII on a bit of crumbly plywood guff like that? And he's totally, utterly and absolutely lying about the "Lipstick Dano" (what?) pickup. 99p yes, undisclosed reserve - anyone's guess. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='965900' date='Sep 23 2010, 06:09 PM']I'd buy that just to part it out.[/quote] Agree. Bonus if it plays well. Can't be more specific about age than 80s, probably. But Cort built some very nice stuff in the 80s. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='965992' date='Sep 23 2010, 07:31 PM']Just spotted this one myself ... I was going to put it under JapCrap but for all I know it's his uncle's vintage Fender that he found in the attic. [/quote] It's JapCrap or KoreaDiarrhoea - looks a lot like the suspected Columbus I had a few months back & flogged chez BC, only a bit more cracky. Baseball bat neck on that one but it played really nice. Actually, looking at the inlays & square heel, might be an early MIK Hohner. J.

If you post a lot of basses & guitars, supermarket fruit boxes are the business: [attachment=59500:fruitbox.jpg] Your local Lidl will be delighted to let you take away as many of these as you can carry (they have to dispose of hundreds every day), and four of these & a hot-melt glue gun will build you a bomb-proof bass box. These are extremely rigid, with reinforced corners - they're designed to be stacked while filled with fruit & veg so they have to be sturdy. You have to unstick a couple of ends to make them overlap, bubble-wrap the bass, pack the box out with newspaper/whatever to stop it moving about inside and glue the top on by undoing ends to make it overlap. Cover any holes (these often have perforations/carrying handles) with sticky tape. They're adaptable too - use fewer boxes for guitars or instruments posted with the neck off. They come in half-sizes too which are useful for different sized instruments. I'll do a photo tutorial next time I pack a bass! Jon.

[quote name='Johnston' post='964831' date='Sep 22 2010, 07:48 PM']That has to be a shilled auction!![/quote] He's claiming it's graphite composite - that might encourage a few people. Never seen one of these before either but I seriously, [i]seriously[/i] doubt it. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='964197' date='Sep 22 2010, 10:18 AM']I'm not going to be buying one of these. But I see them coming up and wonder how good they are. Does anyone have any direct experience? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HK-7-string-bass-guitar-walnut-body-and-KA-PUs-/330467333347?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4cf16354e3"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HK-7-string-bass-gui...=item4cf16354e3[/url] Oh, construction not so good it appears. Unless they've improved in quality over the last year. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=63819&hl=hk"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=63819&hl=hk[/url][/quote] Still doing the cheeky [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HK-5-string-bass-guitar-fretless-masurpop-ash-top-/330474766269"]Marleaux looky-likey[/url] - but bloody hell, that's some inflation in 11 months! That was £199 last October! Jon.

[quote name='stevie' post='964241' date='Sep 22 2010, 11:08 AM']I just tried to make a payment to a fellow Basschatter using the usual "gift" option and they've now changed it. It looks like they won't let you transfer funds for free any more. I expect Ebay is not making enough money.[/quote] The personal payment/gift option's still there, just checked. I sent a tenner yesterday as a gift, worked no problem. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='964171' date='Sep 22 2010, 10:02 AM']the first few links talked about them being "lawsuit" models and made in the "Hashino factory" (sic) I started losing the will to live[/quote] There are a few Ventura enthusiast pages out there and they seem to feel the same way - they're at pains to point out that the copy-era stuff was Matsumoku and nothing to do with bloody Ibanez! J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='963877' date='Sep 21 2010, 10:18 PM']Ventura Jazz Bass. Not sure where these were made. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-VENTURA-BASS-GUITAR-SUNBURST-PLEASE-TAKE-LOOK-/400156128105?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item5d2b29f369"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-VENTURA-BASS...=item5d2b29f369[/url][/quote] In China, about three years ago, by the looks of it! I've seen a few modern cheapos with the Ventura brand, they're no relation of the 60s/70s Ventura, owned by US importer C. Bruno & Co. Not exactly surprising that Ebay sellers would try & fob them off as such, though. Jon.