Bassassin

Jedsons weren't all sh!te by a long way. Things like this were definitely entry-level tat but you'll also find some quite sexy early Matsumoku stuff wearing a Jedson badge, such as (guitar content warning) this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jedson-Les-paul-copy-1970s-Vintage-MIJ-/120596488289"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jedson-Les-paul-copy...J-/120596488289[/url] I've seen some nice Mat Jazz copies badged as Jedson too, and their acoustics can fetch some quite startling money. The Jedson brand disappeared in the early 70s after J.E. Dallas & Sons (see what they did there?) merged into Dallas-Arbiter. I think the Arbiter brand broadly has a slightly better reputation too. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='897503' date='Jul 17 2010, 07:07 PM']Wow! I saw that when it was listed, and would never have expected it to sell for that little.[/quote] Me neither. I just assumed it'd go for £200+, so I didn't bother watching the auction. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='897080' date='Jul 17 2010, 08:44 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-BLACK-WESTONE-THUNDER-1A-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-82-/250667714237?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3a5cf5c6bd"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-BLACK-WESTONE-T...=item3a5cf5c6bd[/url] Thunder 1A bass, [size=3]£350 + £14.99 p&p[/size] It's "rare", donchaknow. Form an orderly queue.[/quote] After a [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rare-1983-Westone-Thunder-II-Passive-Bass-Pearl-Silver-/320559190035"]through-neck Thunder II in a genuinely uncommon finish[/url] just sold for a massive £112, this is getting into self-harmingly delusional territory! [quote name='pete.young' post='897462' date='Jul 17 2010, 06:02 PM']This looks very Japanese to me, but I'm not an expert by any means. Unbranded Les Paul copy, looks vaguely Antoria-like to me. Anyone know what it really is? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/vintage-bass-guitar-/220636502301?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item335ef5d91d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/vintage-bass-guitar-...=item335ef5d91d[/url][/quote] I can tell you it's not an Antoria but at this point neither I nor anyone else can tell you what it actually is. These basses, and the guitar version of the same thing, plus a hollowbody bass, an SG-shaped bass & guitar, and a violin bass all from the same source are one of the current ongoing mysteries of JapCrap. They are pretty decent quality and are from the very early 70s, or very late 60s, at a push. They all share a few odd features, for example the shield-shaped neckplate, plus metal pickup rings. Arch-top basses have the carved wooden height-adjustable bridge you can see on this one, and necks are made from strip ply under the paint. Most of these turn up unbranded but they appear in the wild from time to time with importer names like Jedson & Zenta, which offer no clue to their origin. I have an SG guitar from this range hanging on my wall, and I actually had an identical LP bass to the one for sale here when I was 16 - so I'd really, really like to find out a bit more about them! £200 start is a bit steep though, particularly when the seller's too lazy to even bung a set of matching knobs on it. J.

[quote name='tauzero' post='893896' date='Jul 13 2010, 04:31 PM']That's the one, perhaps with a quick check of the telly schedules to make sure it's not competing with something of significance.[/quote] Quite. My last auction finishing during the World Cup final last week possibly wasn't the best example of forward planning. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='895945' date='Jul 15 2010, 08:27 PM']The seller of this says s/he was told that this is Japanese. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-precision-good-copy-Japanese-/330451608720?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4cf0736490"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-precision-goo...=item4cf0736490[/url][/quote]This is pretty much a new bass, still has the plastic on the scratchplate, and regrettably Japan stopped producing budget no-name Fender clones some 33 years ago. So unless it gets delivered in a DeLorean, I call bullsh!t on that one. The BIN on that "Antoria"'s probably a bit much for a refin with non-original parts. Oh, and nothing to confirm the suggestion it's an Antoria in the first place. J.

I do like the look of the Rickrays, particularly the white/black binding one. If they did a red/black one I'd have trouble saying no. Jon.

Blimey - that's a [i]gorgeous[/i] bit of flame! :brow: J.

If you're talking Ebay, rather than BassChat/Scumtree/local rag then £250 - £300 is entirely realistic for the B2A. It's an early one in an uncommon colour so this will help - they're getting into the "rare & collectable" category for some people. I'm not a huge MIJ Fender expert but the E-serial & the 80s all black/no scratchplate look might well go in its favour - they're not exactly 10-a-penny. £350-£400, maybe. Having had a couple of slightly disappointing sales recently I'm inclined to think there's a bit of post-budget belt-tightening in the market at the moment. If it's not urgent to sell them it might be worth hanging fire for a month or two to see if it picks up - plus there's usually an autumn lull between summer (holidays) and winter (Xmas) when people have a bit more bass-money, in my experience. Jon.

[quote name='tauzero' post='894667' date='Jul 14 2010, 01:19 PM']Gone now, did you succumb? [/quote] Not me, squire. Luke? J.

[quote name='benebass' post='893097' date='Jul 12 2010, 07:38 PM']Have you ever bought anything from that eBay shop based in Hong Kong? There are some decent prices on there, but I'm a bit wary of buying guitar parts from the far east. Cheers, B.[/quote] I've not used that particular one as far as I remember but I've had a good few far-eastern bits & pieces over the years - pretty good quality stuff, delivery sometimes quicker than UK sellers & obviously, great prices. I'm sure there are exceptions but on the whole most of these places have massive positive feedback which I'd say is a reasonable reflection. Top tip for your warped scratchplate - take it off & stick it on a dead-flat surface (kitchen worktop for example) then blast it with a hairdryer on full heat until the plastic goes soft. Then stick a heavy, flat object of your choice on top of it & leave until cold. Presto - no more warping. Jon.

Best way to sell on Ebay - do a good enough searchable title & you'll get hundreds of watchers thinking they might, just maybe, blag it for peanuts. They never do, of course but it doesn't matter all the time half a dozen are serious enough to actually want to buy what you're flogging. Jon.

[quote name='silddx' post='892178' date='Jul 11 2010, 07:14 PM']A rather strange statement that. What do you mean by it? That he's not very technical? Accomplished? Poor technique?[/quote] I thought that. I'm not a massive Muse fan but he's always struck me as competent, very consistent & a pretty inventive player, and I've never noticed anything to criticise about his technique. Jon.

I'm right sad, me - I do like those stars 'n' planets inlays! I was actually slightly tempted by a butchered & bastardized one of these in my local Crack Converters a year or so ago - someone had bodged a strange-looking tort scratchplate onto it. Luckily I saw sense & ran away. Jon.

Excellent version. And very appealing to those of us who play in female-fronted rock bands. Anyway I've found a video for this - turns out it's Ms Hagen guesting on a 1994 track by a German band with a somewhat NSFW name: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi6Hx4G3BCo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi6Hx4G3BCo[/url] Das ist gut, ja, ist es nicht? [quote name='Duarte' post='893243' date='Jul 12 2010, 10:24 PM']It's actually called 99 luft ballons. Quality chooooooooooon.[/quote] 99 Red Balloons is the correct title of the English language version of Ms Hagen's alleged alter-ego's 1984 hit. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='893449' date='Jul 13 2010, 09:27 AM']Thanks everybody for the JPN Squier info. BTW: This, is Korean (I think). I hadn't seen this model before. I'd previously wondered why, when Matsumoku closed down, they didn't just move the popular models elsewhere. Seems that they did. Are these really humbucker pickups? They seem a bit narror. Otherwise, does this make the good poor man's SB, erm, SB600? that it looks like? Or, with an original price of £600, is it not exactly "poor man's"? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-SB-505-Bass-Guitar-/220633178342?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item335ec320e6"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-SB-505-Bass-Gui...=item335ec320e6[/url][/quote] These were quite recent sort-of reissues, I think in the last 10 years or so. I remember trying one in a local shop, very nicely put together like most modern Arias, but an awful setup. Nothing you couldn't sort out in half an hour, but it wouldn't exactly have sold the bass to Joe Punter. I think a few BCers have had these, I've seen a couple come up for sale on here. Regarding Aria production, Matsumoku was the main factory used by Shiro Arai Co but they did use others, and it's not clear whether Matsumoku ceased guitar production as a result of losing its main contracts with the likes of Arai Co, but it would seem likely. Around the mid-80s, there is some crossover between MIJ & MIK Arias, and the general rule is that if there's no country of manufacture stated, then they're Korean. J.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='893337' date='Jul 13 2010, 12:17 AM']oh and there is [url="http://edinburgh.gumtree.com/edinburgh/84/62043084.html"]this precision copy on the edinburgh gumtree[/url] at the moment for £15[/quote] I saw that earlier, almost had a knee jerk reaction to just buy it & ask questions later. Almost. J.

[quote name='FlatEric' post='892718' date='Jul 12 2010, 12:48 PM']Hi. As one of our resident Japanese experts has ventured into T-40 land, I thought I would give this slot a bit of a bump and post up a couple of things I had filed away.[/quote] Only right & proper that I should contribute to the thread, then. It's a T-40, alright: [attachment=54029:t40front.jpg] [attachment=54030:t40head.jpg] Did a swap with Dougie for my 1990 Ibanez SR800LE, plus a few bob his way. I realised I hadn't played the Ibby in probably more than 5 years, and have fancied getting my mitts on a T-40 for a while. The phase switch was broken & the neck pup wasn't working when I got it, although Dougie assure me it all worked before the switch was damaged. Sure enough once I swapped out the switch, everything works the way the manual says it should, and with a bit of fiddling it's dead easy to find a variety of very useable tones. Anyway this is in very good original condition for a 31-year old bass, the only replaced parts being that switch & the output jack. Frets are, I think, original (if not then it's an excellent job) and showing very little wear for the age, neck is good & straight with about 1.5mm relief. It's got a bit of light buckle rash & the usual knocks & scrapes but everything's generally in very good order. It does need a bit of setting up - at the moment it's strung with a selection of strings of varying parentage, and the A & D aren't long enough for a string-through-body bass, hence the tapered parts are in front of the nut, leading to a bit of open-string buzzing. Any recommendations for suitably long strings? I haven't had a string-through only bass since about 1982! Despite that it's very pleasant to play - I really like the wide but shallow neck profile, & the flat board seems to encourage me to be a bit less lazy with my fingering. Matron. It's a hefty bugger, though. I'll have to wait until the band gets together to find out how well my back/shoulder can take it. It occurs to me that oddly, this is the first Merkin bass I've owned, and it's now even more strange that I'm currently using a Peavey MkIII head & 1x15 BW cab - both from the same era as this bass. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='892207' date='Jul 11 2010, 07:46 PM']Is this Squier really worth £949? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1983-Fender-Squier-JV-Jazz-Bass-Guitar-made-Japan-/260630459896?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3caec935f8"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1983-Fender-Squier-J...=item3caec935f8[/url][/quote] Depends how you define "worth". I don't imagine anyone's going to pay that much (and obviously he doesn't expect it as he's taking offers!) but JV Squiers are collectable & that's what defines what they're worth. Quality-wise they're no better or worse than any other 80s Fujigen-built Fender/Squier. As far as a realistic price is concerned, it's all comparative and JV Jazzes don't turn up enough for me to have much of an idea, but I'd probably guess £600-odd might be ballpark for a decent one. This one does look like it's in fine condition but nearly a grand's pretty demented, considering it's not even an early "big Fender" logo one.