Bassassin

Here's a Cimar, in Austria: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260191062812"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260191062812[/url] Now, Matey is obviously exploiting the Cimar/Ibanez relationship (both brands owned by Hoshino Gakki, fact fans) to try & pretend it's an Ibanez - which it ain't. This one's a Cimar 1949, not an Ibanez 2388b. At this point, Hoshino were obviously sourcing Cimar-brand instruments from a factory other than Fujigen Gakki, and this particular one is actually about a gazillion times more accurate than its Ibanez counterpart - apart from the naff tuners, this one's very convincing. Nice orangey fretboard, narrow skunk-stripe, translucent scratchplate, it even has the binding gap behind the bridge. Wonder how many truss rods it's got? J.

Yep - that's for real, Jack. It's probably a little later than 1968 - this model stayed in the Ibby catalogue into the early 70s, the 60s version had a weird 2-a-side headstock, rather than the Fender type on this one. Looks in good original nick, just a missing bridge cover - and I don't think the scratchplate screws are the originals, are they? These older Ibanezes (Ibaneezers?) don't seem to attract the nutter bids that the "lawsuit" era ones can - but still curious & collectable. BTW Jack, bid with impunity as far as I'm concerned. You might be interested in this one too, considering your main preoccupation: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Bass-Guitar-Beatles-Hofner-RELISTED_W0QQitemZ270194908261"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Bass-Guitar-B...emZ270194908261[/url] Don't think I'm pi$$ing on anyone's fireworks by posting this, not exactly a bargain at that price - but interesting nonetheless. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='101553' date='Dec 9 2007, 12:29 AM']What do we know about Freshers, Jon? Can't say as I've ever heard of them. Are they any good? Jack[/quote] Bugger-all really! Never seen one in the flesh, the name comes up from time to time on Jap guitar geek forums mostly because of the odd range of Les Paul & Strat copies they made with built-in effects. Just did a Google & found this: [url="http://www.vintageguitar.com/features/brands/details.asp?AID=1032"]http://www.vintageguitar.com/features/bran...ls.asp?AID=1032[/url] Not much there about basses - but clearly someone's interested! Anyhoo - the Jazz is quite nice-looking, but £125 start price is a tad ambitious, considering it's not looking any too original. J.

Let him. It's a new, production-line bass, finished in black - it's not like it's anything rare, old or unique. If he hates it/sells it, it would be a simple refin to get it back to how it was. Besides, it might look interesting - I've never heard of a custom finish done like that before, & it might work. That said, if it was me, I'd get a cheapo body to try it out on first - if he's considering using an electric sander to remove the layers, odds are he'll make a bloody mess of it that's nothing like what he wants. Jon.

[quote name='SJA' post='100418' date='Dec 6 2007, 06:19 PM']BTW, Bassassin, is Lemmy's maple board Rick (with the star inlays) a real Rickenbacker? did they actually do maple board 4001/4003's? I know they did a maple 4004 cheyenne/laredo or whatever it was.[/quote] This came up a few months ago - here's the old thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1379"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1379[/url] Looking at that pic again, the board's much paler than the rest of the bass & makes me wonder if it hasn't been replaced. J.

Not the cheapest, but certainly the cheapest pearl blocks/rosewood board Jazz I've ever seen - particularly if you sniped it at its start price: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RED-ELECTRIC-BASS-FREE-FENDER-GIBSON-DUSTER_W0QQitemZ310005286305"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RED-ELECTRIC-BASS-FR...emZ310005286305[/url] Jon.

Here's a couple: A Rockinbetter - don't see the appeal of these at all: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250173811907"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=250173811907[/url] And tbh, I don't know if I buy the Tokai "connection" - it doesn't say Tokai anywhere on the bass, and besides, they tend to build accurate copies. Which this isn't. And a bolt neck vintage no-name: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300179674002"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=300179674002[/url] I think it's actually a Hondo - the body looks ply, and it has one of those blobby, Korean-looking neckplates. Wonder what it says under the paper "logo" on the trc? £200 is way too much for a Hondo. J.

Lots of lovely (& not-so-lovely) J copies - A Maya: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120192993850"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120192993850[/url] A second Maya: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330194938662"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=330194938662[/url] A Fresher - this brand's more common in Yurp than here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120192211147"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120192211147[/url] And a medium-scale Fw***onia: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220178962115&"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...0178962115&[/url] And in Westone corner, let's begin with two Spectrums - or Spectra, presumably - A single-pickup DX: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280180163228"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280180163228[/url] And a twin-pup GT: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170175023228"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170175023228[/url] And not one but two Thunder III's. A breeding pair? An early version with P/J pups: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200180323111"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=200180323111[/url] And a later twin-soapbar fretless job: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200180773553"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=200180773553[/url] And all on its own, an Antoria LP-shaped thing: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=310004436230"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=310004436230[/url] J.

I do broadly agree with the central point here - even though on paper, I'm probably one of the worst offenders! However, Musky has the nail/head interface thing right about the reason I post the stuff I do - there's a hell of a lot of good stuff out there for people who don't care about brand reputations & have a taste for stuff that's a bit old & off-the-wall. Obviously I reserve the right to keep the occasional thing to myself, for example: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300177718082"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=300177718082[/url] (hopefully only needs a clean & a set of strings) but the fact is I buy & sell quite a bit on Ebay, therefore I do have some fairly refined searching techniques which turn up a fair bit of stuff I think people might be interested in, but might not otherwise see. If the general concensus is to cease & desist, then I'll go along with it, but I think on the whole it would be a loss to BC. I've had a fair few last-minute big disappointments, (although I doubt it was any of you lot) but the nature of Ebay is that whatever it is, another one will be along in a bit. Only cheaper. Jon.

They're not made by Tokai. The key to understanding the whole brand name thing starts with understanding that the name on the pointy end of a guitar or bass is highly unlikely to have anything to do with the factory it came from, particulaly - indeed pretty much exclusively - in the case of low-budget instruments. A budget P bass copy with no brand name will almost certainly be made in a factory that no-one's heard of, in China or Taiwan or Indonesia. The same kind of factory makes all those budget brands you can think of - Westfield, Vintage, Nevada, Axl & all the rest. And Squier, too. To go back to Tokai, they have their own factory in Hamamatsu, Japan, which produces their high-end range, while their cheaper guitars are now sourced from Korea, possibly from Cort or Samick. Incidentally, Samick build the Epiphone brand & Cort make the vast majority of Ibanez instruments. There never has been an actual manufacturer called Ibanez. And Fender themselves have never had a Japanese factory - MIJ Fenders have come from a variety of builders, initially Fujigen Gakki, & subsequently Dyna Gakki and Tokai Gakki, amongst others. The basic fact is that anyone can approach a guitar factory & get their own brand name stuck on a range of instruments (this is what Rockers in Denmark St do) - and it was ever thus, from when the first cheap imported guitars started appearing in the 60s. And there have always been a good few no-name instruments on the market - if you look at old Ibanez catalogues, they're often unbranded, because they were the factory's stock photos, and the same guitars (often with the same model numbers) would be sold by other importers, under different brands. So it's highly probable your no-name P copy will also be sold branded, but with something as generic as that (and they never seem to have identifying markings), it's anyone's guess where it originally came from. Jon.

Ah, bugger it - I must admit I did expect it to do a little better than it did! And the buyer is a local guy so I won't even make a couple of quid on postage! Well, you win some, you lose some. Stew - you should've made me an offer! The other Franconia is medium-scale, as far as I can tell - and to be quite honest [size=1][color="#FFA500"]they're a bit sh!t[/color][/size] - I'd keep an eye on that rather nice-looking Columbus (270192460249) & see if you can talk the seller into posting it. J.

Sounds like you want a Pickguardian replacement: [url="http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/RICBridgePUPlate.html"]http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/R...dgePUPlate.html[/url] Or just knock up your own out of a bit of 3mm acrylic & silver card, like wot I done on my Rickenbugger: I'd happily gig that Pink Thing - I look enough of a twat anyway. J.

That ten-string looks to be strung with very light strings, maybe a 4-string bass set & a set of guitar strings - I'm pretty sure the top 3 look unwound. Probably why it hasn't snapped in half. Wonder where you get guitar strings as long as that? And how is that pickup wired, that it needs 2x volume & 3x tone controls? J.

Never seen one of those before! Thanks for posting that - first pink Rickenfaker I've ever seen. And yes - I definitely would gig with it! And it just gets better - it's called the "Sw***y Spider"! Brilliant! (btw why the fark is the autocensor upset by that? What a silly bunt.) Doesn't bear much relation to the "real" thing beyond the body shape - but that's probably enough to get uncle John Hall twisting his gusset in outrage! J.

[quote name='Musky' post='97192' date='Dec 1 2007, 12:44 PM']Though to be fair to the seller, he's not actually selling it as an Ibanez.[/quote] I'd hazard a guess that's because one or two people have pointed out to him that it isn't one. I can't think of any "Lawsuit" era J copies (except possibly Tokai) with a rosewood board & dots - they all seemed to copy the late 60s/70s types with block inlays. Later MIJ copies - non-export ones, like Feranandes, Yamaha, Greco etc featured dot boards - but I [i]really[/i] doubt if this is one! J.

[quote name='markytbass' post='97133' date='Dec 1 2007, 10:46 AM']Ive just seen this on ebay, he says its a Japanese. An Ibanez Jazz copy. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JAPAN-JAZZ-BASS-DEAL_W0QQitemZ200180036655QQihZ010QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JAPAN-JAZZ-BASS-DEAL...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] Nothing about that suggests it's anything other than a generic cheapo J copy with a period-incorrect Ibanez transfer slapped on it. Worth bearing in mind, [b]no[/b] Ibanez copy had that style of logo, ever. J.

That seller has some absolutely bonkers stuff - this one's comparatively sane: [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-LEFT-HANEDED-DOUBLE-NECK-HEADLESS-BASS-5-4-FRETLESS_W0QQitemZ190122088384"]http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-LEFT-HANEDED-DOUBL...emZ190122088384[/url] If it was right-handed, with a lined fretless 5 & fretted four, and had the fretless neck on top, I'd be interested! As it is, I guess I'll just have to build my own! Jon.

Just when it looked like this once-vivacious thread had flatlined - A Shaftesbury 360-shaped semi, made by Eko, demonstrating its unsuitability for hammering in fenceposts: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280179422808"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280179422808[/url] Not exactly sure what you're meant to do with the jack socket. J.