Bassassin

The headstock's very similar to a Curbow: Possibly a less well known or one-off Curbow design? Jon.

[quote name='Machines' post='188602' date='Apr 30 2008, 07:29 AM']People who have dozens of basses I feel are simply hoarding and can't possibly use them all.[/quote] Speaking as a hoarder - you're quite right. I moved house last August & it's a sobering thought that some of my basses & guitars haven't been out of their cases since. However, one man's hoarder is another's collector - and it's that magpie instinct for me, I think! I do get attached to certain ones - but tbh there are very few it would exactly break my heart to part with. I'm a great fan of low-end instruments (often - but not exclusively - vintage Japanese) which means that there's no great outlay/investment in anything I own. I'm also in a similar position to BigRedX here - for recording purposes I like to have access to a variety of basses & guitars to be able to use the most appropriate. My bottom-linel rule with basses is that if I don't/wouldn't gig it, it goes, which keeps things in check to an extent - and always gives me the opportunity to buy more. And more. And more. Jon.

With no pictures or description of the actual instrument for sale - just copy & paste catalogue guff - they won't get much interest in that. Jon.

Check this one out quick, before it vanishes: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Bass-rickenbacker-4001-clone_W0QQitemZ120255130703"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Bass-rickenba...emZ120255130703[/url] Once you've stopped choking on your incredulity at the price - this one's really odd. Obviously it's not an Ibanez - but I'm not even sure it's JapCrap at all - never seen a bridge like that, or bridge pickup like that. It has lots of genuine Rick parts - including the jack plate - the serial number here is where he gets the 1969 from - that's a '69 genuine Rick plate. In addition, it has new Rick tuners and quite possibly a real toaster & trc. As for what it is - it's in Italy, and I think that's where it's from: [url="http://www.fetishguitars.com/html/italiane/gherson/4.html"]http://www.fetishguitars.com/html/italiane/gherson/4.html[/url] Not the best pic - but the bridge - particularly those odd saddles - looks very similar. TallyCrap, then? J.

[quote name='jono b' post='188398' date='Apr 29 2008, 08:43 PM']Are they good then Jon? The SBV500s I mean. Or are they mainly for looks? There's a red one on ebay now [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-SBV-Bass_W0QQitemZ120253535015QQihZ002QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]SBV500[/url]. It's a fairly optimistic listing to say the least.[/quote] "Optimistic" is right! These were about £200 when new - I think they were around in 2000/2001 - didn't sell fantastically well because they're a bit weird looking, I guess. They're actually very good indeed - plays & sounds like a Jazz, mine has a lovely growl. Mine had a bit of a head start, because Paul_C's a luthier, so it was nicely set up - but they're very well-built for a budget bass, like most Yamahas seem to be. The SBV500 was the only one imported to the UK, but there were loads of variations in Japan, P/J pups, fancy inlays etc, and as far as I know they're still available there. Keep your eyes open, one will turn up at a sensible price. J.

[quote name='jono b' post='188450' date='Apr 29 2008, 09:38 PM']At least you know where to find him though At the end of the day, you own the guitar, surely it's yours to do with as you please?[/quote] Quite right - but by the same token Ebay can do what they please with their own website - which evidently includes treating their customers like crap to placate the likes of Hall. J.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='188317' date='Apr 29 2008, 06:55 PM']That would be PaulH[/quote] That was Paul_C - formerly Arrowheadguitars - and his infamous "collection" - I bought one of them. These really shouldn't be too dear - no more than £200 for the reissues like the one in the pic (that's an SBV500) and of course there are some of the original 60s & 70s ones floating about - look - there goes one now: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220226931190"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=220226931190[/url] Better be quick, though - 28 minutes left, as I type this... Jon.

[quote name='matty589' post='187703' date='Apr 28 2008, 11:43 PM']With all due respect, there are a fair few posts here that seem to exhibit narrow-mindedness and ignorance. ...everyone mentioned as being overrated has achieved far more as a musician and a bass player than anyone here ever will.[/quote] Something to do with pots & kettles here, friend. I wasn't going to get drawn into this (basically a discussion where the word "overrated" has become confused with "I don't like..." ) but in one choice little phrase you have just urinated all over the effort, commitment, achievements & aspirations of every single member here. I can really only speak for myself - but music - playing it, composing it, performing it, recording it - constitutes a dominant part of what makes me want to get up each morning. I don't expect, anticipate, seek or wish for the sort of commercial success & popular acceptance that you appear to think validates a musician's existence - creating or playing music which is of value to me is its own reward. Any musician who doesn't grasp this would be better off doing something else. Jon.

Much as I've tried to understand Rickenbacker's attitude towards the sale of copies, and the threat this poses to their trademarks - John Hall has done little to suggest he's anything more than an arrogant, obnoxious & thoroughly unreasonable little man. J.

Ibanez Jet King: A reissue/update of one of their own 60s designs - £209 from Nevada music. Jon.

[quote name='nick' post='186974' date='Apr 28 2008, 08:11 AM']Love the new avatar Jon.[/quote] I think you'll like the bass it's destined for too, once it's finished. [quote name='nick' post='186974' date='Apr 28 2008, 08:11 AM']Ha, vigilant's not the word. They've just removed my listing - despite not mentioning at all make or model, & only using a close up photo of the fretboard! :wacko: May challenge this, especially as they have reported me as a "Repeat Offender", which is bollocks. Love the last line about ebay being 'safe & reputable' [/quote] The bottom line is that Ebay can & will remove any listing they please - although it's arguable whether even the reason they give here is legally valid in the UK. I doubt you'll get anywhere - but it might be worth challenging it just to see what spurious justifications they can come up with. Repeat offender? Guilty, several times over, M'lud! I've been canned a number of times for trying to sell Precision copies, Les Paul copies & Strat copies - and daring to state openly that that's what they are. Although it's interesting to see high turnover Ebay shops using the exact same trademark-violating descriptions with impunity - one rule for them, I guess. Unfortunately Ebay's increasingly f@cked up & unfair these days - and that's why I'm sitting on a whole bunch of stuff I need to sell, but finding it hard to face the inevitable hassle I'll get when i do.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='185910' date='Apr 26 2008, 01:35 PM']Ah... well I've learned something then I was going to ask what you thought of the price, but I take it you don't approve! [/quote] I think it's absolute madness that any of these things go for over £200! But that's market forces, innit? They're rare because a: they're 30 odd years old & were generally treated as throwaway crap back in the day; and b: Rickenbacker & their ever-vigilant supporter's club won't let us buy them! Rickenbacker's massive price hikes won't have exactly helped, either. I think this looks like a nice one - CMI (which was a Marshall sub-brand, Cleartone Musical Instruments) were mostly good-quality copies, sourced from factories which included Moridaira, Kasuga & (I think) Fujigen, all of which had a good rep & made quality instruments. It's got a couple of issues he mentions - I don't like the sound of the dodgy bridge pup - but realistically what he's asking is about the ballpark these days for a good condition neckthrough. J.

I'd say yes - although in practice it won't make any difference, I doubt we can force them - but at least it's demonstrating a bit of courtesy & making a token effort. Jon.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='185784' date='Apr 26 2008, 10:15 AM']If the managers noty prepared to shift it then you point out that you'll just have to buy from Thomans then...[/quote] And that, for me, is the way forward. If shops can't be competitive (particularly on beat up shop-floor junk) then they're fine for trying before you buy - at suitably knock-down online prices. Jon.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='185780' date='Apr 26 2008, 10:12 AM']Ibanez/CMI [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CMI-Ibanez-Bass-Guitar-70s-Through-Neck-Vintage-Japan_W0QQitemZ140227792402QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CMI-Ibanez-Bass-Guit...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] Just a CMI. There's no connection whatsoever between the brands. And isn't that CMI awfully like the one that was pulled a few weeks ago? An off-Ebay deal, I think, & I bet he paid less than £300 for it... J.

I've shared lead vocal duties in a couple of bands, one of which was originals, and I tried to have a strictly no-compromise attitude to my bass parts. These days it's just BVs, but I've got to the point I can sing over pretty much anything - after enough practice! I'm the first to admit I don't have much of a voice, I can keep tune & have a decent enough range, but I'm one of life's natural backing singers (oh dear, bit of a subconscious metaphor? ) & have no particular wish to front a band. Jon.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='184308' date='Apr 24 2008, 09:07 AM']My Columbus EB-3 has a square-end fingerboard. No zero fret though...[/quote] Interesting - got any pics? Just goes to show - there are no rules in JapCrap! J.

Can't be sure from the photo, might be a Kay neck, but the headstock profile looks like a Gibson type open book - which I don't think ever featured on a Kay bass - their EB-ish thing had a sort of shallow V cut headstock. It's got a square-end fingerboard & zero fret, which means it's not from a Columbus/Avon or similar trash-end JapCrap. Pickup definitely looks like it's from a Kay, and I dread to think what's lurking under that ashtray instead of a bridge! Anyway - whatever it is, I'm not buying it just to find out! J.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='183744' date='Apr 23 2008, 12:57 PM']Even I wouldn't buy this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-Old-1970s-Spares-or-renovation-WO20678_W0QQitemZ260231428576QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-Old-1970...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] Interesting - short-scale Korean (by the looks of it) weirdo. This is very similar - apart from the proportions - to a Franconia Jazz I had recently. I'd pay the tenner it's currently at, but not a great deal more. The "Hoffnar" is one of the current/recent crop of copies, probably Chinese rather than Jap. So I'm boycotting it. J.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='183723' date='Apr 23 2008, 12:42 PM']What's this. it looks home made? Have questioned the seller, he's round the corner..... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ260233089328QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-Guitar_W0QQitem...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] Definitely looks like a B&Qenbacker to me! Looks like an old EB-0 copy neck on a home-made body. Bless. J.

Reserve's a ton, if anyone's interested. He shouldn't have re-shaped the body & headstock, but I [i]love[/i] the white board/black block neck. Jon.

[quote name='Carl' post='182685' date='Apr 22 2008, 12:02 PM'][b]Yer like the dudes that like wipped him so bad and just beated the holy crap out of him.And were laughing at him and banged a few nails threw his hands/wrists,and feet and left him to die a slow agonising death on the cross. But hey if he can forgive him them i`m sure he can forgive everyone even satanists.[/b][/quote] Spare a thought for Tecuciztecatl, though - he got upstaged by Tonatuih & turned himself into a second sun. But the other gods threw a rabbit at his face & transformed him into the moon! Imagine how he must have felt! I'm entirely self-taught, started by copying records (first bass riff was very probably [i]Peaches[/i]!), learned a bit of technique (positional playing, one-finger-per-string etc) from watching other bassists. Played in bedroom bands for 3 years, so by the time I played my first gig I'd found my way around the fretboard fairly well. If I was starting now, I wouldn't do it that way - what it took me months, years in some cases, to work out for myself, a good teacher could show/tell in half an hour. Jon.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='182243' date='Apr 21 2008, 09:01 PM']You may continue mocking me now.... [/quote] Not at all! It's speculation really that it's a Hondo - unless the seller's got the original trc (I'd message them & ask for it to be included - as well as the one on the bass, if they have) they likely won't have a clue what brand it was. An added bonus will be if it's a real Rick trc - pretty unlikely, but it does happen. That'd be half your money back on that alone. Anyway, lots of pics when you get it please! J.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='181825' date='Apr 21 2008, 01:48 PM']I anticipate a bidding war with that Hondo. It keeps going up by a few quid and there's a good few hours to go yet. The Tokai went for BIN.[/quote] Utter madness - it went from £180 (which was bad enough) to £335 in the last 3 minutes. J.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='181814' date='Apr 21 2008, 01:37 PM']It's a different one isn't it? Tort plate, three knobs? Previous was black with two unless I skipped a post?[/quote] This is the original auction: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220214885649"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=220214885649[/url] Paul posted a link to my auction for a Grabber copy (black plate & 2 knobs) from a month or so ago - so mebbe that's the one you saw! J.