Bassassin

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='23462' date='Jun 26 2007, 11:55 AM']Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!

These are OFF-TOPIC and are NOT RickenFakers ... but I thought you might be interested anyway. [/quote]

That's just fine with me - appreciating, as I do, all things vintage & Japcrap, & all things with Rickenbacker on the sharp end.

Always fancied a Triumph-alike, but remember it's a safe bet that the same thing with a name other than Ibanez on the end will likely cost half as much.

There's a guy on the RickResource board who converts standard 4003s to 5ers. Wonder if that one's real, or one of his?

J.

[quote name='finnbass' post='23262' date='Jun 25 2007, 10:24 PM']That's a lotta gear [/quote]
And you just make do with one then, Mr Binface?

J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='23269' date='Jun 25 2007, 10:46 PM']What's this one Jon?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=200122858256&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url]

Rather a nice one, if the dodgy photo is anything to go by.[/quote]

He's been trying to shift that for a while - he even signed up to BW/BT and tried to punt it there - for £495, if I remember right - Refused to answer any questions about it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't get a lot of interest.

As for what it is - I'd say either a Maya or a Greco - these being the only identified 4001s copies I've seen. Either way, it is nice. Like the way he's incorporated £20 straight profit into his postage.

That Gibsonbacker's interesting in that it now has the same pickup arrangement as most Ibanez 4001 copies!

J.

Impossible question - but three from my massive "wish to f*ck I'd written that" category:

[i]The Chinese Way[/i] - Level 42

[i]Free Will[/i] - Rush

[i]Gutter Cat Vs The Jets[/i] - Alice Cooper Band


Jon.

Can't come close to Paul's total, but I've been through one or two in the last 25 years or so (* denotes JapCrap):

Grant medium-scale Jazz style thing*
No-name Les Paul shape medium scale thing*
Washburn B-20 Stage series*
Aria Pro II RSB Deluxe II*
Hohner B2A headless
Ibanez SR800FL fretless*
Ibanez SR800 fretted*
Peavey C20 5-string
Ibanez EDA-900 Ergodyne
Tokai Talbo*
CSL Jazz copy*
Ibanez 2366B Precision copy*
Yamaha SBV-500 (formerly a member of The Collection!)
Kasuga Rickenbugger 4001 copy*
Cimar Jazz copy*
Columbus Jazz copy*
Marlin P/J thing
Cheapo electro-acoustic Ebay special fretless
Franconia Jazz copy*
Wesley messed-up Rick-shaped thing
Kay/ Moridaira ten-ton Precision copy*
Aria STB-GT Precision/Stingray sex-on-a-stick hybrid


...and anything I might have overlooked!

I still own an unhealthy proportion of these.

Jon.

I've got more tools than I know what to do with - I'm attached to a couple but not too bothered about most. Easy come, easy go, and there's always a new or different or longed-for or prettier tool just up ahead.

Jon.

[quote name='KevB' post='23056' date='Jun 25 2007, 03:47 PM']Am I missing something here? That last link seems to be to an acoustic 6 string![/quote]
How odd! I'll see if I can find the proper link again!

Edit: here it is:

[url="http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ubox.cgi?T=syosai&sline=676&print=1&keys2=yokohama%40ishibashi%2Eco%2Ejp&tid=list3"]http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ubox.cgi?...p&tid=list3[/url]

Given that it'll probably turn into an ad for a petrol strimmer in an hour or two, here's the page with the link too. It's about half way down:

[url="http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ubox.cgi?T=gazo&word=2&or8=32&key=&equal1=&value5=&select5=down&print=40"]http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ubox.cgi?...wn&print=40[/url]

J.

An Arsebiter, probably Matsumoku:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300124090915&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url]

...being sold by Oxfam. So just how much of a b@stard are you willing to be, Mr. Hall?


And interesting to see what these retail for in the Land Of The Rising Sun - a 4001S style Greco at Ishibashi:

[url="http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ubox.cgi?T=syosai&sline=674&print=1&keys2=yokohama%40ishibashi%2Eco%2Ejp&tid=list3"]http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ubox.cgi?...p&tid=list3[/url]

69,800 yen is £283.


J.

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='22669' date='Jun 24 2007, 03:42 PM']Are there any kind of trade shows etc?[/quote]
There's always a fair bit of bass stuff & lots of things to play & buy at Music Live in Brum. Tends to be first weekend in November.

Doesn't look like Steve's in Edinburgh this year. Damndamndamndamn & kicking myself for missing him the last 2 years in a row!

Jon.

Dunlop black nylon 1mm. I prefer the slight flex from a nylon pick, I think it allows more feel & tonal control, and the material produces a denser, less clicky sound than a rigid pick.

I always meant to try those rubber picks that were all over Ebay for a while, but never got around to it. Anyone know where you can get them?

It's good that this thread has managed 18 posts without some self-righteous gonk coming on & accusing plectrum wielders of all being "failed guitarists".

Jon.

[quote name='roman' post='21727' date='Jun 22 2007, 08:59 AM']Hi there.
We do shipping prices according of the czech post .
We cannot give You other price . . . . except We´d brought it to Portugal in person.
Sorry I am kidding .
This are very correct prices from us . . pls believe us.

Roman
[email protected]
they quoted me €22.50 for Portugal (where I live) and €28.50 for the UK (why it's more expensive, beats me O.o)[/quote]
Hi Roman - glad you signed up here - there's quite a lot of interest in your instruments , I think.

So, if I order a bass through the Bachmusik website, would €28.50 be the shipping charge to the UK?

Cheers,

Jon.

Maya29 would definitely be up for it - we'd play your local bus shelter for a half of warm shandy.

J.

Here's another current copy:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170123959999&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url]

Looks like this is a re-badged Shine RK2000NT:

[url="http://www.saein.co.kr/2007/bass/rk2000nt.php"]http://www.saein.co.kr/2007/bass/rk2000nt.php[/url]

- and I really think the prices for these Korean/Chinese cheapos are being pushed up by the same factors affecting the vintage copies on Ebay. This one looks not bad (Seymour Dunks, decent looking bridge, through neck) - but £400? 'Avin' a larf. And wtf is that headstock meant to be?

J.

Bloody hell, I go away for a day & you lot just fall to pieces!

This look familiar?

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/bass/a-100_200.html"]http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/bass/a-100_200.html[/url]

Quite possible it wasn't marketed as an Aria in the UK - although the one in the scan is unbranded, so it may have been. No telling really (but I'll make an educated guess) where it was built - prior to 1975, there's no proven connection between Aria & Matsumoku, ands IMO this bass isn't Matsumoku.

Aria probably sourced their instruments from a variety of different factories prior to settling with "Uncle Mat" around 1975 - and this Burns-wannabe will have been from one of them. A factory called Moridaira were known for using that 6-screw neckplate (ever wondered where MusicMan pinched the idea? ) so I'd speculate it was from there. Moridaira was one of the less well-known builders, and probably best-known for their own Morris brand. They're still going now, building high-end acoustics.

As far as brands are concerned, I've seen this sort of thing with Audition & Top Twenty (Woolies own brand! ) on the head - I don't think any of the names Adee listed (apart from Kawai & Aria) were UK brands. Kay is also a possibility - I have a Moridaira - built Kay Precision copy (anyone want to buy it ?), which suggests Kay may have sourced other models from there.

I really wouldn't want to stick my neck out about value - but this is identical to the Aria on the Matsumoku site, and looks original and complete, which is really unusual for an instrument of this ilk/era. Vintage Arias don't attract the Ebay idiots the way Ibanez do, but they're getting there. A good ad, with all the searchable buzzwords in the title, good photos & a well-timed listing would probably see this thing into 3 figures. [i]Probably[/i].

Jon.

Jihemt - once again, you're right (& your English is fine - don't worry! ) - the price of copies being pushed up was one of the issues I wanted to discuss with John Hall & the RIC forum people - I joined up there, and asked all these questions very politely. Hall removed my post within about 10 minutes, and banned me from the board!

He is accessible & I did have an email discussion with him about some of these things - the prices & demand for copies is an unfortunate side-effect of what he says he [i]has[/i] to do to retain his trademark. I do actually have quite a lot of respect for his integrity - Gibson & Fender etc have taken the easy option & licensed their designs to overseas builders - hence Squier & Epiphone, etc.

Rickenbacker refuse to do this - they are a small, family-run (owned entirely by Hall & his wife) business, and as such maintain an exceptionally high quality standard for a mass-produced instrument. Hall is committed to keeping it this way - he's not interested in making more money by building cheaper, imported branded copies, Rickenbacker's reputation is based on its quality & exclusivity. Although this annoys me as a collector of old Jap copies - I have massive respect for his principles on this, and (grudgingly!) support him.

I'm less impressed with Hall's actions regarding the Hipshot bridge. The point is, Rickenbacker are designing, and apparently close to launching, a completely redesigned 4001/4003 bridge/tailpiece, which apparently addresses all the issues the original has - poor intonation adjustment, inflexible height adjustment, "tail lift", etc. Hipshot's bridge, which already addresses all of these issues, has been on the market for some time, at a fairly reasonable price, and has been deservedly popular. It doesn't seem to have bothered RIC up until now.

Hall has now decided, because the base plate shape is the same as the Rick original (it bears no other resemblance), that it's an infringement, and is chasing Hipshot to cease & desist. He claims that while the bridge is a well-engineered & inexpensive (compared to the original part) replacement, using the same shape footprint as the original was nothing but a cynical ploy to ensnare RIC customers by trading on a copyrighted design. He claims Hipshot could have made the bridge any shape and it would have been just as efficient.

While the last point is in some way true, one can't help thinking that the fact that RIC is intending to launch a redesigned bridge, which is likely to bear rather more relation to the modern Hipshot design, than the current 50s/60s era Rick bridge, means he wants the competition out of the way. RIC have already stated that their new product will be "expensive" and will be dearer than the current price for the Hipshot.

J.

You're quite right about all that, Jihemt.

Rickenbacker own trademarks to all branding & all parts of the design of their instruments - body, headstock, hardware (Rickenbacker are currently putting pressure on Hipshot to cease production of their replacement bridge. Doesn't look much like the original, though, does it? ) and [i]apparently[/i], under US law, a trademark owner must actively pursue all visible infringements (including ones from 30 years ago) or they run the risk of losing the trademark. Rickenbacker is a small company, and wants to stay that way, so they're down on the copyists, current & past, to preserve their market share. This is according to RIC CEO John Hall - who I've actually discussed this with, via email.

There's a tiny discrepancy here, relating to the copies. The US trademark registry is a public record, and if you dig, it appears that Rickenbacker registered most of their TMs in the late 90s/early 2000s, presumably when Hall modernised the old company & formed Rickenbacker International Corp.

Which obviously means that all those 70s copies were built to that design [b]before[/b] Rickenbacker registered its ownership of the design - and it would presumably only take one manufacturer (Ibanez, for example, since they're still trading) to hold up an old 70s copy in court & say - "but look - here's one we made earlier. In 1975, to be exact" - for all of RICs trademarks to be void.

So pulling the auctions is effectively sweeping the old copies under the carpet & hiding them from public view. Sale of these things is in no way illegal, but if Ebay don't pull them when RIC request, they likely face the risk of John Hall taking them to court for facilitating the sale of counterfeit goods.

J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='19457' date='Jun 18 2007, 08:27 AM']If you're dealing with nitro-cellulose finishes, try the [i]Brasso[/i] cotton wadding (not liquid [i]Brasso[/i] - too abrasive).

This isn't a joke ... I use it on my vintage Hofners when I first get them, and they're usually seriously crudded up.[/quote]
On fingerboards? Wouldn't that leave a white residue in the grain?

I use Brasso on light abrasions on lacquer - polishes out a lot of hairline scratches, kind of like T-cut on a car.

J.

Just to split hairs - that listing hasn't been pulled - the seller ended it early. He says it's because someone's pointed out it's not actually a real one! He wants to re-list it as a copy, presumably.

J.

I've read that it's a terrible idea, because it contains all sorts of nasty glue-dissolving solvents. However, I have tried it myself....

Wouldn't think it would cause drying out - it's a lubricant after all, presumably once the solvents evaporate the oily residue's left over.

Lemming oil smells nicer, though.

Jon.

Is this actually a serious instrument? This was conceived & manufactured to be sold in a fashion shop, and is described as "a ready-to-play power gift" in the link I followed from the ad. The case contains a built-in "amplifier".

Doesn't seem to me there'd be very much point in making a bass to a particularly high standard, if it's only intended to be sold as a fashion-brand yuppie toy.

Jon.

[quote name='Stag' post='14351' date='Jun 8 2007, 07:36 PM']October 1982 according to the serial number. It is an odd thing, which is half the reason I bought it... about 7 years ago now.

woodenshirt : I was a bit "Eh?" about the split pickguard as well! Bit of an oddity I must say.

One of these days ill use the neck pickup :-)[/quote]

It's odd alright! Says 4001 on the TRC, has a mid 80s split plate & big gap between neck & pup, and early 70s wavy Grovers. Is the colour a refin, do you think? Usually the white (I'm guessing it would have been white but has aged rather nicely!) went with black hardware/ binding - I can see paler binding on yours, if I'm not mistaken.

I'd guess it's a bit of a hybrid or a one-off. Either way, it's right luvverly!

Jon.

[quote name='Worf' post='18045' date='Jun 15 2007, 09:47 AM']Raaaghr! Such is the way of the warrior.

[url="http://youtube.com/watch?v=XOFfLVLod7c"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=XOFfLVLod7c[/url]

K'pla![/quote]
Apropos of nowt - I'm sure I remember reading, back in my Trekkie days, that the actor who plays Worf is a bassist.

That pointy bass is interesting art - but nowhere near enough strings for prog!

J

Sorry - quite stark & unpleasant to read - typeface too dark, background a bit too bright - ever wondered why books are usually printed on off-white paper? Using a monitor accentuates eye fatigue in the first place.

Also, a couple of PMs were waiting for me when ChaseBat "came back" - appears the old formatting for quote & image tags no longer work & the old smileys don't work either, at least in PMs

[push in the truck] [flower of power] [Top Ten hit]

Good to see [i]some[/i] things are the same.

Jon.

I'll butt back into this, as it's in danger of becoming a bitchfest (can we say "bitch"? Seems we can.) and state that really the point is that the filter here is the problem. I regularly use about 5 other boards which have profanity filtering - these either substitute vowels, or replace words with ****s, and work on a carefully & intelligently selected list of words, rather than what looks like random selections of letters within other words, selected by an educationally subnormal American with a predilection for gay porn!

Joking aside - it's the nature of the filter in use here, rather than the fact there is one. I never gave it any consideration (and I don't think I swore, either) until it started mangling my PMs! Hopefully it'll be tweaked until it's workable, given time - or better, replaced by a less obtrusive, more language-sympathetic substitute.

You girls can get back to your hair-pulling now.

J.

[quote name='jihemt' post='17779' date='Jun 14 2007, 06:43 PM']mmmh..if i sell it, i'll stay away from ebay i think. on a first time, i'll try to propose it on this topic for some serious "connoisseurs !'
my friend is selling its 4003 for 1200 euros, which is less than all i see here in France.. (ok, its a friend price and he know that i play many Macca titles !)..[/quote]

€1200 is a very good price for a Rick, particularly if it's in good condition.

As far as your Ibanez is concerned, outside of Ebay - and particularly on here, if that's what you're planning, I doubt you'll get anything like the €740 you might get on Ebay. I might be wrong, but I think you'll have to be prepared to accept quite a bit less.

Considering how rare the Ibanez Rick copies are, I think you'd be better off keeping it, and maybe looking at other ways of raising the money. The Ibanez will become more rare & more collectable, after all.

J.