Bassassin

There were a couple of threads about DC Montana (dodgy pornstar name, if ever I heard one) on Bassworld/Basstalk & I'm more inclined to think that they're just badged-up Chinese or Korean cheapos to start with. Do a web search - there's sod-all info apart from their none-too-convincing website ("washed in the Nantahala River"? Okay. ) & whatever's being punted on Ebay at the moment. Doesn't ring terribly true for a company that claims to have been making handbuilt & "respected throughout the world" guitars for over 20 years. The "77" bass is a half arsed Warwick Fortress knockoff - and identical looking ones go on Ebay for under £100: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-STRING-W-STYLE-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ260137674307QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4713QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-STRING-W-STYLE-ELE...3QQcmdZViewItem[/url] And most of the other instruments in the DC Montana "range" are as unoriginal - one of the guitars is a blatant Ibanez copy right down to the headstock shape. Something else interesting about the DC Montana site - you want to buy one of their guitars? You'll have a job. No contact details, no distributors, no dealers, nothing. And it gets more curious: the dcmontana.com URL was first registered in March last year, and is owned by DC Montana of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I wonder how come they registered it through UK based ISP Pipex, then? Jon.

[quote name='bottomfeed' post='32111' date='Jul 15 2007, 05:27 PM']ShergoldSnickers, is that an H/H bass combo I spy to the right of your acrobatic ladder?[/quote] So it is! Looks like a H/H VS combo, same as my first proper amp. Had mine in 1982, I think, and it was probably 5 or 6 years old when I got it. VS stood for "Valve Sound" - in other words, a switchable buzzy distortion effect, which I never used. I loved the way the front panel glowed green when the power was on. I think Bottomfeed's student's bass probably has a neck from something else. The bridge looks different, too - possibly repositioned to accommodate a longer scale. J.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='31633' date='Jul 14 2007, 12:18 AM']What about 16again's Ric whatever Bassassin? he does'nt seem to know much about it, (last one down) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2891"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2891[/url][/quote] One of these: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOP-4-STRING-ACTIVE-BASS-THRU-NECK-NEW_W0QQitemZ260137697247QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOP-4-STRING-ACTIVE-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] A Wesley Europa by any other name! [quote name='jihemt' post='32063' date='Jul 15 2007, 01:34 PM']its a friend's bass. he bought it after he saw mine. He first wanted to sell it to me but i just found a real 4001 ! btw, this one sound very punchy. if you play with treble pu only, sound is very "ricky".. i agree that mudbucker is not very defined. he have the whole original plate and screws for the treble pu. But the previous owner put this real rick base plate (he have too the pu chrome cover). overall a very nice bass. i don't know for thumbrest as usual feature, but mine have one too.[/quote] Very nice, & good he's still got the original cover. Do you know roughly how much he's wants to get for it? The thumbrest under the strings is in the original place, at least, but there's another one above the strings, between the pickups. I think the original would be black, or maybe transparent, like on a real 4001. J.

[quote name='16Again' post='30909' date='Jul 12 2007, 08:51 PM'] No idea what this is!! Anyone?? Got it in this state from a friend who was clearing a flat he owns. What should i do to it? All you see is all i've got, no pick-ups,bridge ,it's got active electrics and a through neck! [/quote] That's one of these: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOP-4-STRING-ACTIVE-BASS-THRU-NECK-NEW_W0QQitemZ260137697247QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOP-4-STRING-ACTIVE-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Or at least it was, once. These are, or were, sold by UK based Ebay cheapo merchant Wesley Guitars, as well as the German company selling this one. Wesley got threatened by Rickenbacker so they flogged off their remaining stock for £99, last year. I was sad enough to buy one, and apart from a knackered preamp & traditional shoddy fret job, it was OK for the cash. No idea who makes them, likely some anonymous Chinese or Taiwanese factory. Can't quite tell if yours has been stripped, painted or both - & whoever did it started then got bored. Anyway, on the front, you should find a rather nice flamed maple top & wood edge-binding. As you can see from the Ebay link, the top was originally a rather p!ssy- coloured yellow/brown but maybe that's been stripped already. The back was (or maybe still is) very thin matt black, which falls off as soon as you look at it. If it's like mine, the wood underneath's quite nice, & might be worth stripping & oil-finishing. I think it might make a nice project if you can get pups to fit it. Jon.

I don't know much about these, but can tell you Wem was "Watkins Electric Music" (I have a little Wem guitar amp from the 70s) and is the same Watkins that built some fairly well-known basses & guitars in the 60s & 70s. There's a website about these instruments here: [url="http://www.watkinsguitars.co.uk/basses.htm"]http://www.watkinsguitars.co.uk/basses.htm[/url] And scroll down the page & there's your student's bass, in white! Looks like they would possibly be interested in hearing about this one, since they don't seem to know much about it. Jon.

Some good pics & info here: [url="http://www.littleguitarworks.com/instruments/torzalstandard.php"]http://www.littleguitarworks.com/instrumen...zalstandard.php[/url] Trying to get my head around how this works - how string height can stay constant along a neck that presumably has a degree of curvature. It's making my head hurt! Engineering aside - I would be fascinated to try one. Jon.

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='31769' date='Jul 14 2007, 02:43 PM']I'm sorry, I think something has gone wrong with your poll - I can't see 'Pink' [/quote] Terri - if only I could find a source for pink pearloid, my SBV500 would be pure (gay) sex. As it is - I vote black pearloid for Hamster's Sub. Jon.

[quote name='nick' post='31569' date='Jul 13 2007, 09:17 PM']Bonjour, Here we have a Ibanez: [url="http://cgi.ebay.fr/vintage-Ibanez-lawsuit-bass_W0QQitemZ150141789546QQihZ005QQcategoryZ92204QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.fr/vintage-Ibanez-lawsuit-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] Indeed we do - that's the neck-through 2388B/DX version, strangely sporting an unusual profusion of ugly brown thumbrests, and a non-original pickup surround - the stock Ibanez one is smaller & should fit the pickup properly. Note the Gibson-esque mudbuckers - don't buy this if you want a bass that actually sounds like a Rick! J.

[quote name='BassBunny' post='30474' date='Jul 11 2007, 10:45 PM']Sent the seller an e-mail asking for serial number and model and this was the reply: As the listing ends in 3 days, any buyer won't see the goods for 2 weeks or so.[/quote] OK. All of a sudden it stinks like rotting fish. J.

That's an SB400, or SB300, depending on scale length. Looks long scale so I think it's a 400. The 450's a bit different looking: [url="http://www.gibsonbass.com/SB450_1.php"]http://www.gibsonbass.com/SB450_1.php[/url] Anyway, the guitarist in my band has the 6-string toy version of this, the SG200. It was Gibson's attempt at a budget SG, & dates from 1972, the only year they made them, I think. Because they were around for so little time, they're pretty rare now & starting to attract quite silly money. Same's probably true of the bass. Definitely something you don't see every day. Wonder if those little single coils sound less muddy that the usual EB pups? Jon.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='27265' date='Jul 4 2007, 11:54 PM']The remains of a suspected Hondo back for another go: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220127865958&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url] Although he reckons it's a "Shaftbry" or something. J.[/quote] Last call on this one - less than 10 minutes left, and £95! No takers for the cheapest Rick copy in living memory? J.

[quote name='barneythedog' post='28799' date='Jul 8 2007, 09:24 PM']Hmmm. Photo obviously taken in a shop ?[/quote] Either that, or the seller [i]really[/i] likes acoustics! J.

Very badly listed ("5 string electric bass guitar") Japanese (apparently) Ibby ATK, starting at a ton: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150140025657&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url] I'm a little bit dubious about the seller's 1 feedback rating, but worth a look for anyone who could pick it up in person, maybe. Jon.

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='27656' date='Jul 5 2007, 10:53 PM']Also from Germany [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70ger-JAHRE-VINTAGE-JAPAN-ARIA-SHORTSCALE-JAZZ-BASS_W0QQitemZ230148368912QQihZ013QQcategoryZ23300QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"][b]A fine piece of Vintage JapCrap[/b][/url] Pete.[/quote] Now that is interesting - haven't seen one of these before - and what's particularly interesting about this is that apart from the headstock shape, this looks identical to an Epiphone ET-280 bass. Which was, quite uncoincidentally, made by Matsumoku. The Epis are quite rare & can fetch fairly daft prices when they do turn up. There's one on this catalogue scan: [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/epiphone/catalogs/1974/pg5.html"]http://www.matsumoku.org/models/epiphone/c...s/1974/pg5.html[/url] Jon.

The remains of a suspected Hondo back for another go: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220127865958&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url] Although he reckons it's a "Shaftbry" or something. J.

I think it's an excellent idea - I trawl Ebay most days & see plenty of stuff I think BCers would be interested in - even if I'm not myself (I mostly look for ancient Oriental junk, of course!) so it'd be good to have a heads-up area. Jon.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='26671' date='Jul 3 2007, 07:35 PM']The oxfam Arbiter finally went for £460, which would go a long way to getting a decent bass, that one could be decent, but you know what i mean, glad i didn't bid on it really, as the cylinder head gasket went on my car today, quoted £400 to get it fixed @;##".g cars![/quote] P!sser about the car - bloody money pits! Good choice about the bass - another £150 and you'd be in the ballpark for a real Rick. £460 is the looniest price I've seen one that doesn't say "Ibanez" on the end sell for. It's not even a neck-through. Anyway - it's all for charidee! J.

Another clueless, sub-literate Ebay gyppo , trying to pull a fast one. Well well. Anyone dim enough to bid on this deserves to be ripped off. Jon.

I first heard Rush in 1980 & it changed my life - no other way of putting it. Over the intervening millennia they've released loads of albums, some great, some awful, but always no less than interesting - and they're still capable of making exciting, inspiring & spine-tinglingly great music to this day, as their most recent album [i]Snakes & Arrows[/i] demonstrates. And if you don't know who the bassist is - what the feck are you doing here? Jon.

Now here's something you don't see every day - a home-built Mani-looky-likey 4005: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=008&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=180135390654&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url] ...complete with a neck from a (wait for it....) [b]Ibenez![/b] (sic) Well. They all are, aren't they? J.

Rick necks are weird in that they're a very uniform width & depth all the way up - meaning the narrow string spacing over the pickups is one of the many things people find odd about them. That said, I think that the profile varies more than the actual fretboard width - as Musky says, this has been changed a number of times over the years, and it seems current production is back to the classic thin necks from the older 4001s. Ricks aren't hand-made as such - necks & bodies are produced using modern CNC routers, but the whole approach to building is much more hands-on than most high profile manufacturers, because it's still such a small operation. There was a sort of survey on www.rickresource.com where people sent in their 4001/4003 neck dimensions to try & establish the changes. They'll likely know all about any differences in fretboard width there have been. Jon.

[quote name='Gazm' post='25266' date='Jun 30 2007, 12:26 PM']Sorry, lost the plot - twice now only half the post has appeared! Yes Jon, still got them! But as I said they're not pretty, there is some corrosion/rust. PM me your address if you want the bits sending. Pete.[/quote] Very grateful for that - always need old Japanese parts for projects & restorations - condition's not a problem. Thanks mate! J.

[quote name='Gazm' post='25200' date='Jun 30 2007, 02:58 AM']Fecking IP.Board Not playing anymore lol[/quote] Eh? Anyway - still got those bits? J.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='25148' date='Jun 29 2007, 09:54 PM']I'm thinking about bidding on that Arbiter, but with seventeen people or more bidding it may sloooowly go for a bit more than i'd care to pay.[/quote] Only one way of finding out... Unfortunately, unless you drop lucky at a car boot/charity shop/local paper classifieds these things just don't come cheap any more. J.

It's a Blazer alright. Or [i]was[/i]. Do you still have the old components you removed? If so, I'd be interested. Jon.