Bassassin

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='341160' date='Nov 30 2008, 02:48 PM']I don’t get the attraction of old Squires? I’d think long and hard about paying half that for a Squire.[/quote] What would you pay for a MIJ Fender of similar vintage? That's what the Squier brand originally was - not cheapo starter tat. Jon.

The wood does look a bit messy for a natural-finish Rick - however the only thing that would make me suspect is that it might have been a solid finish originally. Again this has features you just don't see on copies: black binding, no skunk stripe, 1" pickup gap etc. The bridge is a recent Hipshot and he's providing the original (black) one with the bass. The pic shows it's the mid-80s 7-screw type too. As for why it's that cheap - either he needs the cash really urgently, or he's wildly out of touch with current Rick pricing. Academic anyway now cos it's gorn. Expect to see it back in a month or so starting at £1200. :ph34r: J.

[b]*Real Rick Content Warning*[/b] An '86 4003, mapleglo with black hardware/binding - and if it's as good as it looks, a silly-cheap price at current values: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130272472843"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=130272472843[/url] F@cking gorgeous. Why do these always come up when I don't have a spare £775? J.

I've seen a couple of Profiles go through Ebay, sold OK-ish on the "MIJ-Ibanez-Lawsuit" pitch. There really seems to be very little out there about these, & my tattered [i]Guru's Guitar Guide[/i] just tells us they were good-quality Japanese copies, produced between 1984 - 86. It also gives a guide price of £100 - £150, if it still happens to be 1990 where you are. I would expect, like most brands Profile's an importer's name, meaning it's anyone's guess who actually made them. Seems the brand wasn't around for long, unsurprising since they missed the whole "copy era" by a decade, & in the mid-80s would have found themselves competing with established Japanese replica-ists like Tokai & Fernandes. That & the fact that people back then had an annoying tendency to want to play new & contemporary designs, rather than what were seen as superannuated 60s & 70s relics. How times change... Jon.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='338919' date='Nov 27 2008, 09:01 PM']You can see that your bass is modeled on an ibanez soundgear...[/quote] Can we just pause & remember at this point that the Ibanez Soundgear range is an unashamed knock-off of the Tune Bass Maniac design, which dates back to 1984? Ibanez copies aren't all "lawsuits". I think this is a fine-looking bass, right pretty bit of wood too. If it plays & sounds great, what does it matter what name's on the end & what it cost? Indie have been around for 6 or 7 years, I think and admittedly some of their pricing seems a bit eye-watering - particularly their not-great Rick copy & the active Jazz copy, but they're presumably doing something right or they wouldn't have lasted this long. Jon.

[quote name='noelk27' post='337999' date='Nov 27 2008, 02:31 AM']Oh, I'm liking that Ibanez.[/quote] Me too - and luckily I've got one. Great-sounding & lovely to play, weighs a ton though... Jon.

I got some new (old) JapCrap a couple of weeks back - it was sitting at £25 or so, with 2 hours left, I put on a suitably satanic top bid of £66.66 and cleared off to a gig - with absolutely no expectation of winning it! When I came back I'd got a Kawai Sleekline for £64. Jon.

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='335905' date='Nov 24 2008, 10:41 PM']I saw the tour in Glasgow- missed most of Cynic's set cos I had to work late but Opeth were phenomenal- that's the fourth time I've seen them and I think that was the best yet. Heavy! Is there any chance Cynic will do a headline tour at some point? They seemed to go down very well and I would love to see them properly.[/quote] I was at that gig too - probably my fifth or sixth Opeth show, they really were exceptional. Cynic were excellent - a band I somehow missed out on first time round, would love to see them again in their own right. Jon.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='337459' date='Nov 26 2008, 05:04 PM']Still loving that Kasuga, Jon. Where do you rest your thumb when playing fingerstyle?[/quote] Top edge of the bridge pup - it stands about 5mm proud of the surround. When I had the original ring on I tended to end up doing the same, with my thumb poked in the hole. So to speak... Anyway by massive & quite fortuitous coincidence, look what's popped up on t' Bay: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-4001-bass-vintage-s-s-pickup-surround_W0QQitemZ160301043605"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-4001-ba...emZ160301043605[/url] Which looks rather like someone's done a Pickguardian with stainless. It looks a bit manky in the pic but might buff up nice. J.

[quote name='jonsmith' post='337292' date='Nov 26 2008, 02:28 PM']As I've said before Jon, that is such a fine looking bass, especially for a faker. I really like the maple fretboard look too. My apologies for hijacking the faker thread with non-faker information.[/quote] Not at all! I'm more than happy to see proper Ricks & Rick-related stuff here. J.

I made a Pickguardian-esque cover for my Kasuga Rickenbugger: Perspex with mirrored card behind it - a proper Pickguardian one would have different screw spacing & be cut to fit around a proper Rick pickup, not my bass' square JapCrap thing. I've never understood why there's not a fitted metal alternative to the stock Rick part - it would be simple to design & manufacture and inevitably would sell well, considering how many players take the pickup covers off their basses. The Pickguardian part looks OK but a proper chromed steel surround would be much more in keeping with the rest of the bass. J.

[quote name='jono b' post='335725' date='Nov 24 2008, 06:46 PM']I bet when I have the cash together to put in a bid in a couple of weeks, there'll be nothing going [/quote] Thunders do come up all the time, admittedly not usually as purty as that one - or quite as cheap. Sold for £100? Jon.

"Beautiful and Old"? That'll be some unusual new interpretation of the word "beautiful" that I haven't previously encountered, then. J.

I somehow managed to miss this thread for the last couple of weeks! My original idea with the perspex trc was to use a reverse-printed transfer on the rear for the logo - I have a laser printer so should theoretically be able to do this with the print-your-own decal sheets available on Fleabay - unfortunately my rubbish printer melts these & then jams, so the idea remains untested. However, the paper/card underlay things work well, & once properly fitted are pretty much undetectable. I've done two so far & am very pleased with the result. If you're interested I could make up a perspex trc/underlay to fit your bass - I can do any design you want as long as it's [u]not[/u] Rickenbacker! Not sure what I'd charge but it wouldn't be as much as a dodgy Italian one! I'm interested in the idea of engraving one - some of the old copies had engraved-logo covers, the Ibanez & Jolanas did. These had 3-ply scratchplate material covers, engraved through the top layer so the middle colour showed. Might have a go with a bit of black 3-ply I've got lying around. Jon.

Just received a very nice Schaller 3-D bridge at a great price, and near-instantaneous delivery. A complete gent and a pleasure to do business with! Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='333990' date='Nov 21 2008, 05:14 PM'][/quote] You'll need the other four of them if you want to kill the Antichrist. Jon.

Don't know if it's the same, but I'm really, really pleased with the material I'm writing at the moment and very happy with the bass parts. The band's currently working the songs into performable pieces, and it's coming together much better/quicker than I'd expected, considering the complexity of some of the arrangements. I'm having a satisfying struggle learning to sing the BVs over some of the bass lines I've given myself! Jon.

at the original post, perhaps a bit more at the tone of some responses! Bass solos - more divisive than religion? To paraphrase, a gentleman is a man who can play a bass solo. And doesn't. Jon.

Tennessee? Tropicalmoonmusic??? [b]NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!![/b] J.

[quote name='Musky' post='332039' date='Nov 19 2008, 12:41 AM']Woah! Top marks that man! If there was an applause smilie I'd be using it right about... now![/quote] This one: Fascinating stuff, never encountered Acoustic Black Widows before. Looks like the bass might originally have been a Hohner rebrand, but built by Bartell. Also very interesting to see that Matsumoku built a JapCrap Black Widow bass too - I'm guessing they never made it over to the U of K though. Jon.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='331413' date='Nov 18 2008, 12:37 PM']I think we've had a thread on him before. He's a busker in Barcelona, I saw him last year and bunged him a bunch of money, he's a really great player.[/quote] Saw him too last year - I really don't like this sort of thing ordinarily but he was just mesmerising - lovely fluid technique & superb sense of melody. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='332082' date='Nov 19 2008, 09:10 AM']I don't claim to understand what things should be priced at yet. But this looks another overpriced Ibanez to me. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=220311005804&Category=4713null&_trksid=p3907.m29"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...rksid=p3907.m29[/url][/quote] That's probably not too far from the ballpark for an Ibby Musician, unless you get lucky. The early 80 originals - Musician, Studio & Artist ranges - were high-end & can fetch some pretty silly money, particularly the Artists. With this one you also have to factor in the fact it's in Japan & will cost six thousand quid to post. J.

Well I quite like it. It's in some ways quite contemporary-looking for an oldie. As far as Hohner or Mosrite are concerned, I get the impression he just thought of two random brands. I don't think Hohner have ever actually made guitars themselves anyway. The Schaller tuners look original to this (can't see any other screwholes) which would suggest it's probably mid-70s at the earliest. Wonder if it's a one-off? Jon.