Bassassin

I think with the Gibson copy, what they've done is just stick an extra pickup & controls on the standard single pup EB3 copy. I had one identical - same scratchplate, cover, finger rest etc, except it just had the one big (fake) mudbucker. [quote name='Annoying Twit' post='325416' date='Nov 9 2008, 05:45 PM']Is it unusual to post in this thread when I have no intention of buying any of these ... uh ... "classics". Here's what's left of a 70s Rickenfaker. Still seemed quite popular with bidders though. I wonder what the story was behind the telecasterisation of this bass. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=230304503513"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230304503513[/url] [/quote] Have a dig through the Rickenfakers thread & you'll find there's a (fairly dull) story attached to this one. Isn't there always.... J.

[quote name='Clarky' post='325686' date='Nov 10 2008, 08:48 AM']Hondo 1974 Rickenfaker on eBay (for now!) [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-4003-copy-Bass-Guitar-1974-Hondo-2_W0QQitemZ220309199891QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220309199891&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-4003-co...A1%7C240%3A1318[/url][/quote] Quite nice in black - you can't see the plywood! Not entirely sure how he knows it's 1974... There's a Shafty as well, this might be back for a second (or third) try: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260313248054"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260313248054[/url] J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='324933' date='Nov 8 2008, 07:09 PM']Now this strangely familiar ... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lemmy-bass-neckthru-Japan-vintage-copy-lawsuit-70s-MIJ_W0QQitemZ230304503513QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230304503513&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lemmy-bass-neckthru-...A1%7C240%3A1318[/url] [/quote] Cheeky sod even used my text & pics without asking! Anyway, I have no complaints - he paid me what he thought it was worth & was man enough not to whinge (as some do) when confronted with the stark reality... Sadly his resale has been subject to the law of diminishing returns... :ph34r: J.

Bugger! Missed it! It's been removed so obviously had a whiff of dodgy about it - so what was it? Jon.

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='323598' date='Nov 6 2008, 05:46 PM']How do you put it down?[/quote] Good question. I remember these from last time 'round and still think the conventional bridge & guitar tuners stuck on the end is a half-arsed bodge which almost makes it look like it was knocked up in a shed. J.

[quote name='Dan_Q' post='323130' date='Nov 6 2008, 12:25 AM']overpriced? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-70s-Hondo-Precision-bass-guitar-made-in-Japan_W0QQitemZ190264315566QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190264315566&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1298%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]hondo II P[/url][/quote] Yes, very. J.

[quote name='jango' post='322224' date='Nov 4 2008, 09:22 PM']Wish this was closer to me, (I'm in Lincs) then I'd pop in to have a go on it. Seems to me that E-bay has killed off most good backstreet music shops. In the good old days there were independant guitar shops in every little town, with loads of secondhand gear to try. Fuggit![/quote] Back in those days a fakey Rick would've been about £75, not £550, though! Can't help wondering if those days will come back - Ebay is really squeezing the private sellers out, I'd say there's about half as many basses listed per week than there was a year ago & they must be going somewhere. As far as this one's concerned, I will take a wander in & give it a thrash. J.

[quote name='bremen' post='321769' date='Nov 4 2008, 01:30 PM']And a 64 page manual (as if it takes that many pages to teach someone to play guitar...).[/quote] That's in 12 different languages. Jon.

[quote name='elom' post='321498' date='Nov 4 2008, 01:50 AM']This is the only headless I've ever hankered after. Can't find any of the buggers mind you...[/quote] One of these went through Ebay a few times without selling a few months ago. I think a certain Mr Binface, from the notorious Binface.com interweb site, was the lucky snapper-upper, once it got cheap enough. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='321386' date='Nov 3 2008, 10:15 PM']Hondo, appropriately cheap? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/hondo-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ140279540858QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item140279540858&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]1302662259758[/url][/quote] I suppose for FeeBay it is. It would be £15 at your local car boot - it probably was at his... Considering the much nicer & much more not-plywood Shatellite through-neck's still at £50, I'd be looking at that if I wanted an old Korean P. I am, in fact. J.

I've always liked headlesses. I have a Hohner B2A Steinbugger copy and I really appreciate the light weight, balance - & odd looks it attracts. I do think on balance I'd prefer a full-size - or at least slightly larger body. I've had a long-held ambition to build/have built a twin-neck headless fretted 4 / lined fretless 5. In a moment of idleness I came up with this as a rough idea: Theoretically this wouldn't be physically much bigger - and therefore not that much heavier - than a conventional bass. The ultimate prog nightmare bass? Jon.

[quote name='Faithless' post='320961' date='Nov 3 2008, 02:27 PM']Can anyone help me identify this? 87' Ibanez, bought in USA... [url="http://picasaweb.google.com/kerevicius/Telefonas#"]http://picasaweb.google.com/kerevicius/Telefonas#[/url][/quote] Looks like it's a Roadstar RB700 - right in the middle of this catalogue page: [url="http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/370/2.jpg"]http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/370/2.jpg[/url] Also looks like it's a missing link between the Roadstars & Soundgears. Archaeologists will have a field day with it in a few thousand years! Jon.

Book now in my possession (cheers Ped ) started it today so should be back in circulation shortly... J.

With no pics, collection only & a silly-high start price, it will almost certainly attract no bids anyway. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='319711' date='Nov 1 2008, 05:40 PM']This guy is really selling on the Matsomuku: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EARLY-80S-THRU-NECK-SATELLITE-BASS-GUITAR-MATSUMOKU_W0QQitemZ130266225975QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130266225975&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]130266225975[/url][/quote] I suppose he can try - just as long as we can accept that these are Korean, probably made by Cort, around 1980. J.

I don't think Marlins were ever made in Japan - they were mid 80s, by which point cheap Japanese copies had long-since ceased to exist. It was a UK-based brand (Wales, I think) and they came from Korea, and, strangely enough, East Germany. I had one that was a typical plywood cheapo, I've heard it suggested that some were made of chipboard or MDF! I don't know how true that is but for that reason I'd say £30 is fair enough for this... J.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='318572' date='Oct 30 2008, 06:00 PM']So what's this? Apart from an EB3 copy - what's HB?[/quote] It's a generic Japanese EB3 copy from the mid 70s. Apart from pencils, HB is presumably the logo the importer (Italian presumably, from the auction location) asked the manufacturer to put on the headstock, or the initials of a previous owner. The headstock itself's quite interesting - it's very, very like 70s Epiphones, but its presence on a mid 70s JapCrap copy is strange. It might suggest the bass is "post lawsuit", ie 1976 or later. It's also a bit pricey, ain't it? J.

H&S is a European brand, there used to be German Ebay shops selling loads of these a year or so back, including some quite nice-looking Steinberger copies - there was a twin neck fretted/fretless which attracted a bit of attention around here. I've seen H&S basses & guitars in shops in Europe so I think it's an established enough brand, although I've never played one myself. I'd probably expect reasonable budget-level quality & construction, it'll probably be OK but might want a bit of tweaking & tidying to make it great. Jon.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='318089' date='Oct 30 2008, 12:23 AM']a local music shop is selling on commission a shaftsbury one for 550. A bit steep I think, you could get a second hand musicman for that or 4 warwicks these days[/quote] I keep meaning to go in & have a look at that - might be useful to get a good look at a Shafty. But with that price tag, there's no real hurry - that's just insane, if you dropped lucky you could get a real Rick for close to that. Darcy - yours is -or was - and Ibanez 2388b DX, these are broadly based on the pre 1973 4001, hence the checked binding & lovely full-width sparkly inlays. This would originally have had Gibson EB3-type mudbuckers, the 4000-style scratchplate will be covering a really big hole! Later Ibby copies had more accurate pickups but also the more conservative current style of inlays. What's action & playability like on yours? The only one of these I've seen/played really did suffer from a very high action, the only way to rectify it would have been to sink the bridge into the body or fit a lower-profile replacement. J.

[quote name='jango' post='317881' date='Oct 29 2008, 07:44 PM']Bassassin, is there any way (serial numbers etc) to tell if a bass is a Matsumoku?[/quote] Not really - Matsumoku didn't use proper serialisation before about 1975 - in fact I think neck-throughs before then wouldn't have had a number. After then, copies started to be phased out & they used several different methods of numbering. Really it's the construction & hardware - Mats have twin truss rods - the only Jap copy I've seen which did, and had some distinctive hardware, like the very nice "Wavy Grover" copy tuners, and the not-so-nice crappy little bridge pickup - very obviously designed to be hidden under a cover. I've had one as a forever delayed project for about the last 6 months, I finally have all the hardware - now all I need is the time, anyway the pics might give you a bit of insight: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19592"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19592[/url] J.

[quote name='jango' post='317071' date='Oct 28 2008, 08:50 PM']Can anybody tell me how much 70's Jap copies of Ricky 4001's are worth? I'm talking about the decent quality kit with neck through. And how close a copy can I expect certain models to be?[/quote] Like anything else secondhand, they're worth what somebody's willing to pay. Brands like Ibanez will command high prices on Ebay - in the unlikely event the auctions run to completion, although ironically most of the Ibanez-branded copies (there were a number of different versions) were wildly inaccurate. The most accurate copy I've seen is the through-neck Matsumoku version - these were sold as Aria, Aria Pro II, Univox, Greco, Electra as well as any number of importer names - factories like Matsumoku would use any brand a customer wanted. Anyway the Mat copy is very, very close to the real thing - and pretty rare, probably because so many have ended up wearing Rick nameplates and being sold as the genuine article. Shaftesbury-brand through-necks are quite common, never had one myself but they seem to be well-thought of. Also I wouldn't exclude bolt-necks if what you want is a playable instrument - it's not uncommon for neck-through Jap basses to have monumentally high - and unadjustable - actions. With a bolt neck you have the option of shimming to adjust the action if necessary. Most of the 70s JapCrap Rick copies look the part, certainly more so than much of what's around now. Jon.

Looks like a job for Captain JapCrap... Cimar. Depends on the bass - got any pics or anything? Cimar was associated with Ibanez in the late 70s & 80s, but the official line is that the "copy era" Cimars weren't connected to Hoshino (Ibanez's parent company) - and by the looks of them came from a different factory. I had a 70s Cimar J, it was OK but not great, plywood body, quite a nice neck, round-end pups, 2 saddle bridge. It couldn't compete with my CSL Jazz (more on that later) so it went - as it happens a long-ago Bassworld member who went by the name of Bonzo ended up with it, he's still using it as a test-bed for various projects & modifications so it must have something! Anyway, like most Jap brands from this era, they sold different spec versions of each instrument, so there will have been more "upmarket" variations available at the same time. The CSL Jazz I have is identical to later Cimar Jazzes from about 1980, built at Fujigen Gakki, after Hoshino/Ibanez started using the brand: [attachment=15345:cimarflyer.jpg] Notice the Ibanez Blazer-shaped headstocks. If the Cimar you're looking at is one of these - go for it. My CSL Jazz is, I think, the one bass I'd rescue from a burning house - and that's a [u]lot[/u] of other basses going up in smoke! Jon.