Bassassin

You Westone fetishists will likely be interested in the Thunder II on the Bay at the mo:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290118528587&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url]

Jon.

[quote name='Musky' post='4076' date='May 22 2007, 12:31 AM']So do you reckon the bass in that auction might be an El Maya, or maybe another brand? It's kind of a shame that there's no identifying marks on the bass, as it might have added another piece to the jigsaw that is IDing Rickenfakers.[/quote]
There's really no sure way of telling, considering how little of it there is. Realistically, this might not even be Japanese - we've now seen Rick copies from Italy, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Korea as well as the land of the rising sun. And it's anyone's guess how many different Japanese factories there were,and how many different models & variations there were over the course of the production of these things. And that's another question, too - copies largely stopped being made for export by the end of the 70s - but they still build them for the domestic market.

That said, I'd put money on it being Japanese, and from the mid 70s - it has wavy Grover copy tuners, which usually appear on Matsumoku - built ones (Aria etc) & the body is a sandwich construction, very typical of the era. The neckplate's plain, which I wouldn't associate with Matsumoku.

Ant - the only thing I'd say don't bother with, would be those medium-scale Kay things that turn up from time to time. The low-end of the 70s stuff that pops up on the Bay would be Hondo - Korean-made, very obvious ply body, and they generally look cheap & tacky. However, if you got one for a bargain price (say less than £100) it'd be ok. The other common varieties are all broadly similar quality-wise, there's no real advantage to the through-neck ones - in fact they seem more prone to have a suicidally high action you can't adjust.

J.

That's one of the Bach copies, from a Czech importer:

[url="http://www.bachmusik.com/en/c100082/retro-bassguitar/"]http://www.bachmusik.com/en/c100082/retro-bassguitar/[/url]

Spotted these yesterday:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270122334297&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=017"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=017[/url]

A rather ordinary Shaftesbury, and...

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180120258098&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=008"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=008[/url]

A rather not-very-ordinary handmade fretless 4005 copy. Not something you see every day. Or any day, for that matter.

Musky - there were some twin truss copies - according to a poster on RickResource, some of the high-end El Maya copies had them. I have no idea if any others did. I think a bolt-neck with twin rods seems a bit odd, though.

Jon.

None of the above.

No category for ancient JapCrap, for shame!

Don't really have a "main" bass, but my CSL custom Jazz probably gets the most use - it feels more "right" than any bass I've played.

Jon.

ta for that, much appreciated.

J.

[quote name='stewblack' post='2885' date='May 20 2007, 02:40 PM']Anything [url="http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fyfeholt/aria.htm"]here[/url] that helps?[/quote]
Apropos of nothing, the guitarist from my band was in a previous band with Graeme Fyfe. Nice guy & a good player, as well as being a JapCrap geek.

The LEBs were from about 85-86, which was about the time Aria transferred production from Matsumoku in Japan (which went on to make Singer sewing machines. And then burned down, in what was presumably an act of shame-motivated [i]Hara-Kiri[/i]) to Korea. The build quality of the Koean Aria Pros was still good, but they're not as sought-after as the Japanese ones.

Sharkfinger - does yours say Made In Japan on the neckplate? If so, ask the Aria Pro board at www.matsumoku.org - someone might have some info.

I had a look at their catalogue scans but I can't see your bass.

Jon.

Did they quote you for the actual shipping cost? I'm seriously GASing after the Rick 4004 copy they have...

Jon.

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='136' date='May 17 2007, 01:47 AM']Ummmm, Bassassin, are you sure those pics are all of you, or are you in fact triplets with different hairstyles so people can tell you apart?

There is something [i]very[/i] wrong with the middle triplet, he appears to be wielding some kind of ghastly orange plastic thing, it clashes dreadfully with the lovely bilious green logo on his T-shirt [/quote]
Fortunately my mother had the decency to only inflict one of me upon the world - but a regrettable incident involving a centrifugal chamber, a turnip and an agitated dwarf left my head with an embarassing tendency to spontaneously mutate. But in a very strange way, it was somehow worth it.

I know what you mean bout the orange plastic thing. I was [i]so[/i] upset it wasn't available in pink.

Geek bonus: Can anybody identify the lovely bilious green logo on the T-shirt? A clue: He's saying "Frrrggg rrrrfff yrrrrr crrrnnndddzz".

J.

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='134' date='May 17 2007, 01:38 AM']Phwoar! :wub: :wub: :wub:

*Mrs Tinman goes for a lie down to recover* [/quote]
Funny you should say that - directly after quaffing those two litres of Hofbrau, I felt the need to [s]pass out[/s], I mean lie down.

J.

The horror, the horror:



Geek fact- all Ibanez basses. FAO Terri Tinman - gay orange plastic bass, that wrong enough for you?

As requested by the aforementioned Ms Tinman:



Sweet dreams!

Jon.