Bassassin

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='61757' date='Sep 17 2007, 04:36 PM']Still over two days to go on that presumed Shaftesbury ... and it's at £380 already! Much more of this, and it'll be wandering into genuine Ric territory.[/quote] Pulled - with just an hour or so to go. £390 last time I noticed. That musta [i]hurt[/i]. J.

Ebay listings are very specific with search terminology - anyone who looked for "Ernie Ball" or "Music Man" wouldn't have seen that. That said, it's very much a lottery, I have grabbed some perfectly well listed things for buttons. Jon.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='62031' date='Sep 18 2007, 08:34 AM']I will DEFINITELY be bidding on that Roger. If any other BC-type also plans to bid, please PM me so that we can avoid bidding each other up artificially. Ta very muchly. Jon - Good spot, VERY good spot, thanks for the heads-up.[/quote] No probs Jack - I might have kept it to myself had I not just snagged a CMI-branded Ned Callan bass & emptied my already paltry PayPal account! More on that later... Best of luck! J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='61757' date='Sep 17 2007, 04:36 PM']Still over two days to go on that presumed Shaftesbury ... and it's at £380 already! Much more of this, and it'll be wandering into genuine Ric territory.[/quote] Certainly getting into Rockinbetter territory! Speaking of which, from Germany (via Korea) comes this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170146342206"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170146342206[/url] Unbranded new copy, more authentic bridge & pup cover than the Rockinbetter - a Copybetter, maybe? Looks a lot like the Shine copies that pop up occasionally, except they have a non Rick type headstock. And just out of curiosity: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200151751989"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=200151751989[/url] Not a Rick, or a Rick copy. Bear with me here - this bass is from the 50s or 60s, made in Germany by Wenzel Rossmeisl, who named his guitar range after his son, Roger. Roger followed in his Dad's footsteps & became a luthier, cleared off to the US & got a job with Rickenbacker - where he designed the 4000 series basses, amongst many other Rick classics. Shame it's butchered, but it's still likely to be worth a few sovs more than the £20 it's presently languishing at. Possibly a [b]lot[/b] more. J.

[quote name='Bass_Junkie' post='61301' date='Sep 16 2007, 06:40 PM']aparantly the tokai rockinbetters are really really good basses.[/quote] For £600 - I should hope they are! I know they're available cheaper, but it's still a hell of a lot of money for a Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese knock-off! I haven't seen one in the flesh yet, but I'd definitely like a look/play of one. J.

Blimey! It's about bleedin' time!! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140158495838"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=140158495838[/url] Very interesting twin-truss rod bolt neck, not too daft BIN. Don't think it's a Kasuga, I'd say Matsumoku or associated brand, but those rods are odd! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300151446067"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=300151446067[/url] Oh, here we go. An "Ibanez". From the 60s. Of course, in the halcyon days of the 60s, Japan was one big Ibanez factory. It's probably a Shaftesbury or somesuch, from the mid 70s. Black finish may not be original, I've only ever seen Fujigen-built Jap copies in black - and they never, ever used those crappy tuners on their Rickalikes. It'll get pulled before it sells, anyway. Jon.

Excellent score, Mr Jack - cheapest vintage Ibanez ever (apart from that LP I missed!) and by a bizarre coincidence, these are being discussed over on the Ibanez Collectors site: [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/discus/messages/13/1002432.html?1189615287"]http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/discus/mes...html?1189615287[/url] Interesting snippet of info about Tetsu Yamauchi & his involvement with the design, too. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='59811' date='Sep 13 2007, 12:22 PM']I'm thinking of bidding for this one. If any other BC type also wants to bid, please send me a PM first so we don't end up bidding each other out of sight.[/quote] £113? J.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='59992' date='Sep 13 2007, 05:25 PM']What colour is your Talbo Bass and is it the one with the aluminium body or just the wooden bodied one? Any chance of posting some pics I can drool over... Thanks[/quote] It is the aluminium (nickel-plated, I think) one. Tokai made some wooden Talbo guitars, but as far as I know, the basses are/were all aluminium - some were painted, for reasons I'm unclear about. I really will have to sort out some decent pics of the thing, this is all I have atm: It's a stunning thing to look at & play sitting 'round the house - but live I've found it incredibly microphonic - I tend to use quite middly/trebly tones & sometimes distortion, which at gig volume makes it squeal like a piggy! There's actually one (not mine!) on Ebay right now: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tokai-Talbo-Aluminium-Body-Bass-Guitar-Sale-MG_W0QQitemZ250162820562"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tokai-Talbo-Aluminiu...emZ250162820562[/url] J.

21 - sort of: CSL Custom Jazz copy Ibanez P copy Kasuga Rickenbugger Ibanez RS924 Roadster Aria STB-GT Ibanez EDA900 Ibanez SR800 Aria Pro II RSB Deluxe II Peavey C5 Yamaha SBV500 Tokai Talbo Wesley Europa Hohner B2A Franconia Jazz copy* No-name (possibly Kay) P copy* Ibanez SR800FL* Marlin P/J copy* Gibson Grabber copy* Project Jazz Project WTF Project Junkenstein* Those marked with an * are "passing through". But sometimes they do seem to pass through awfully slowly! The 3 projects are more just necks, bodies & boxes of bits - what they lack is time, obviously - and the SR800 that's not "passing through" is now officially my daughter's - waiting for the day she stops messing round with 6-stringed toys and keyboards. I live in eternal hope she'll come to her senses, one day... Jon.

S'pose I have to do this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-KAY-RIKCENBACKER-COPY-BASS-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ150160898551"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-KAY-RIKCENBA...emZ150160898551[/url] Although it's really pushing it to call these bits of crap "Rikcenbacker (sic) Copies". I'm inclined to think any vague similarities are just a mistake. But this'll make you laugh: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-1960s-70s-Bass-Guitar-Cool-Retro-Look_W0QQitemZ140155768276"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-1960s-70s-Bass-...emZ140155768276[/url] ...and: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-1960s-70s-Bass-Guitar-Cool-Retro-Look-Number-Two_W0QQitemZ140155769422"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-1960s-70s-Bass-...emZ140155769422[/url] Or not. J.

[quote name='paul, the' post='59320' date='Sep 12 2007, 03:24 PM']Someone ought to be punched for that headstock logo.[/quote] Err... Why? J.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-JAPANESE-IBANEZ-BASS-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ320157189523"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-JAPANESE-IBA...emZ320157189523[/url] I've never seen one of these before - Ibanez Precision copy with P/J pups & maple board/pearl block inlays. Non-serial neckplate dates it to 1975 or earlier. It's been slightly modded - the pups are non-original (think they're Reflex Reds), it's had an additional volume or tone control added, and (annoyingly) the output's been moved to the side of the body. Anyroad up, it's an Ibanez 2369B-W, which first popped up around '73 or '74: [url="http://www.ibanez.ru/info/catalog/1974-2/09.jpg"]http://www.ibanez.ru/info/catalog/1974-2/09.jpg[/url] And at the moment it's at a massive £51, on a 3-day listing, with 2 days left to run. So someone buy it, OK? Cos I can't! Jon.

Interesting they didn't mention the Dresden Dolls - about the only bass-free band I've heard that [i]wouldn't[/i] sound immensely better if they had one! But they don't have - or need - a guitarist, either. Jon.

Doesn't float my boat aesthetically, but it's a huge mistake to make assumptions about cheap instruments because they're cheap. It's surprisingly uncommon to find any budget instrument with a ply construction these days - in fact the branded cheapos - Epiphone & Peavey for example, are more prone to being ply than unbranded, probably Chinese stuff such as this. Realistically, if the body & neck are decent, the generic components mean it would be eminently upgradeable. For my sins, I admit I'm rather taken by this, from the same seller: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260156407782"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260156407782[/url] Jon.

BC member Deksawyer is selling a lefty Ibanez 2389 4003 copy: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5282"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5282[/url] These are rare as rocking horse gonads, and becoming exceptionally collectable as well as being excellent instruments in their own right. Left-hand examples are practically unheard of. This particular model is the later, more accurate 4003 replica, with proper Hi-Gain neck pickup & the wide gap between pickup & neck - earlier Ibanez copies were quite inaccurate, with big chromed Gibson-type humbuckers. This version retains the checked binding of the earlier ones. If you did go for something like this, remember they're collectable vintage, so it's best not to make any modifications you can't change back if you want to sell it. And just DON'T put a fake Rick logo on it, OK? Jon.

Good advice from Ped - cardboard bass boxes can usually be picked up for nowt from your local instrument emporium - they just chuck 'em away anyway. I usually use lots & lots of bubble wrap, I also have some laminate flooring boards which can be cut to length & taped to the bass to reinforce the neck. A good idea is to remove a bolt-on neck (make sure your buyer's OK with this first!) & make a smaller, harder-to-smash package. Jon.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='54767' date='Sep 3 2007, 03:12 PM']I wonder whats happened to Bassassin, shame if we don't see him again. perhaps he's on a world tour [/quote] [quote name='Happy Jack' post='54844' date='Sep 3 2007, 05:22 PM']Well, he finished moving house two weeks ago. So that gives us a number of potential scenarios:[list]He's about to return from a well-earned holiday. He's now down to the last 17 tea-chests. He vanished into the undergrowth at the end of the garden clutching a B&Q strimmer a week ago, and hasn't been seen since. His wife buried him under the new patio and is waiting for the concrete to go off. [/list]Place your bets ...[/quote] Aw, I'm touched you're so concerned about me! There's some truth to a few of those potential scenarios, although regrettably no World Tour just yet! However you can blame the retards, idiots & lazy, cynical liars at Virgin media for much of my absence - no internet for a fortnight & still no phone, the amount of time spent sitting around waiting for equipment/engineers who didn't turn up, and then being lied to repeatedly whilst running up insane mobile bills.... Anyway - enough! If I actually had a patio, they'd be bloody under it!! So anyway, it doesn't look like I've missed a great deal of Rickenbuggery, during my absence! Has the Great Mr Hall finally put a stop to it all? J.

What's a k'neck? And for £30 it's presumably being delivered by gold-plated fairy chariot. What a k'nob. Jon.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='45558' date='Aug 15 2007, 12:37 AM']Blink and you'll miss it ...[/quote] Blink. Gone. That's what I get for wasting my time moving house. £750? Anyway, the Hondo with no bridge or knobs has returned - yours for £300 delivered: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250155066168"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=250155066168[/url] Don't all rush at once. J.