Bassassin

I've had one of these for years, one of my favourite basses. Looks awesome, sounds like a Jazz on steroids, great player, pretty lightweight & balances a lot better than you'd think.

Only a couple of changes from stock - I'm not a fan of a white scratchplate so I made the red pearl one, & the hi-mass bridge was gathering dust in my spares box, bunged it on for the hell of it. Not sure it makes any difference but looks nice!

Got mine aaaages ago from a BC member (can't remember who, sorry!) who went through an odd phase of attempting to collect every model variant (including the ultra-rare Blue Jeans 5-string, if I remember), every colour, and the original 60s/70s SB5s & SB7s etc. Mine was one of several duplicates he ended up with!

1 hour ago, TRBboy said:

I think if I go purple flake, I probably won't bother with the pickguard tbh.

 

I would love to do pink, but the build I've just finished was pink, so probably better to do something else 😅

 

Hmmm...  What about a fuschia flake though... 🤔😍👌

Well - this is the sort of thing I had in mind...

Purple metalflake all the way, if you ask me, assuming they're all out of pink.

Ages ago I saw one of these modded into a reasonable facsimilie of a Grabber/Ripper, as they have a pretty similar body shape. If it was me I might toy with the idea of a big Grabber-shaped scratchplate. Would cover up a lot of purple metalflake, though.

I thought either DiMarzio Model G or Schaller 232, but they're both different underneath & have more rounded corners. Interesting!

That's an SB-ELT, late 80s/early 90s, post-Matsumoku (which closed in '87) and probably (but not yet 100% confirmed) MIJ. They're difficult to pin down production-wise as they are unserialised & seldom seen with model number stickers. The same bass was also marketed as SB-RSZ, a Rudy Sarzo signature model, although I don't know if Mr S ever actually played one.

I have one of these and they're beautifully-made basses, easily up to the same standard as the '83 SB Elite I also have. Hardware & pickups are the same as the earlier SB Elites & SB-Rs, apart from somewhat simplified electronics, which don't really lose anything in terms of versatility.

Yours looks like a beautiful example in excellent condition - and the best colour (mine's black). GLWTS!

2 hours ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

 

I love Eurovision!

It's basically the Gay Olympics.

Have a few folk round and make a night of it, I say.

100% this. Eurovision is TV Music Event Of The Year in my house.

Genuinely can't remember the last time I saw Hootenanny.

I may have previously mentioned my notional concept band, ABBAration, which would combine the genius of Sweden's two finest musical exports by performing ABBA songs in the style of Opeth, alternating with Opeth songs in the style of ABBA.

On 02/01/2024 at 01:52, Kirstie said:

 I've inherited 38, these are just some of them. 

Would love to see the full list, if you have it.

The Brian Moore looks like an i2000/i4 model which appears to be made in Korea & from the early '00s. Can't quite tell from the pic but yours may have been de-fretted.

https://www.iguitar.com/i2000Bass/i2000Bass.asp

https://reverb.com/item/490517-brian-moore-i4-i2000-2001-natural-4-string-bass-neck-thru-w-ohsc

Holy necro-post! Quite appropriate for the subject matter I suppose. I almost bought this book for my partner (when we met back in '96 a shared love for The Drab Four was part of our early bonding!) but the general tone of the reviews & the fact it was disowned by Steele's family put me off.

@RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE - I saw them 4 or 5 times in the 90s/00s and they were always great live - the bottle of red wine was a stage prop/performance thing, the same as Pete endind a show by ripping the strings off his bass. From the gigs I saw they were never less than professional.

Musically their output was always uneven - the peak albums are the aforementioned Bloody Kisses & its follow-up October Rust. Subsequently I got the impression Pete was losing the black irony that had typified their best work & genuinely becoming absorbed by depression & his demons, and some of that stuff's a hard listen. Sadly his death didn't really come as a huge surprise.

That looks to be a remarkable - and desireable - collection of high-end basses you have inherited.

You're in the best place to find information about them - what the BassChat hive-mind doesn't know isn't worth knowing.

9 hours ago, Jackroadkill said:

I'm trying to sneak on into our band's setlist.  Bridge Over Troubled Water would be a favourite but I don't know how well it would sit alongside Breaking The Law or Los Angeles Is Burning...

Hazy Shade Of Winter. Not difficult to make that rock.

Bought a cheapo G4M brand guitar in their Black Friday sale, arrived very slightly bashed up & they were very happy to offer a replacement or a decent discount.

They seem generally well-priced & I was very pleased with their customer service.

And, as if by magic, a Guyker clone of the Hipshot bridge appears, courtesy of Google reverse image search. Yours for $75 if you shop around, guv.

https://www.ebay.ph/itm/204348946002

Always liked these. And that is, I think, something of a massive bargain.

GLWTS!

Interesting! Got a link for a UK retailer? My other half/musical co-conspirator would be into this - and it's her birthday in March...

Pretty! Reminds me of my old '83-ish SQ Squier. And I do like a lolipop. Matron.

6 hours ago, JoeEvans said:

You can give a super-subtle but convincing relic effect by dulling down the whole body (I'd recommend stripping everything off it then using 1000-grade wet and dry, dipping it regularly in a bowl of water to stop it from clogging); then using T-Cut to polish up just the areas where your right wrist and thumb would touch the bass while playing. 

Or just play it - it'll gloss up naturally at the contact points. Just like factory satin finishes do!

The Hipshot system in real life is £400+, so there's no possibility that you'd be paying $72 for a real Hipshot.

However I recently discovered that Hipshot's £100 hardtail guitar bridge has a visually-identical Chinese clone for around £13.

I'd be erm, interested if it turned out the headless system had a similar proportionally-priced cheap Chinese counterpart.

Use a nylon/plastic scouring pad rather than wire wool. The good thing about thick poly finishes is that if you don't like the result dulling it down, it'll T-Cut back to the original gloss with a bit of elbow grease.

Just had a look at the JVX pickups out of curiosity, and it does look like you may be missing a thing or two!

https://www.emgpickups.com/jvxset.html

On 24/12/2023 at 21:45, Rib13Bass said:

Precursor to Tajima maybe?

Had to Google that one. Looks like Tagima was founded in '86 so would have been a contemporary of Giannini during production of Brazilian Fenders. They're still around now.

That's properly interesting. Same era as the made in India FMIC-licensed Sunn Mustangs (which were sold as Squier II in some territories), and also when Fender started production in Mexico.

Wondered if the factory was Giannini before I read the article - they're well-known (in some quarters!) for their very nice quality Rickenbacker 4001 copies, and also made Fender clones (called 'Stratosonic'!) in the 70s/80s era. It's odd that they used that wonky headstock shape on licensed instruments, but I wonder if that's what they were tooled up to make already?

1 hour ago, Birdswing said:

 

Absolutely no Idea, the bridge was mounted well up the body and the two pickups actually fit in the groove tightly.

 

"out of their wallets" I knew they were great basses that's why I went over, the original images were a bit dark so didn't realise it was the frankenbass until I arrived. I wonder if parting it out may be the best option, looking at two projects is costly and melody/grabber parts are like hens teeth it seems.

So, was it assembled into a working bass when you got it? Do you have a pic?

As far as I know the original Ibby Studios are really heavy - wonder if the decision to graft everything on to what I'd guess is a much lighter body was to do with that?

I think I'd do a bit of body routing to space the pickups sensibly, make a Grabber-ish scratchplate to cover the mess & put the bridge somewhere it would intonate properly. Dunno what you'd call it though - an Iblody Grabdio?

On 17/12/2023 at 14:18, Paul S said:

 

b/ Schaller 460, assuming I can find one

 

It so happens I have a Schaller 460 in my spares box, awaiting a 2-point bridge bass that appears to be unlikely to ever arrive, considering it's been waiting 10+ years.

It's in new/near-new condition & complete, apart from the 2 intonation screws which act against the posts to adjust overall string length. Those should be straightforward to replace.

Give us a shout if you're interested!

Looking at the routing, definitely an Italian-made Melody body. I think all the MIJ copies had 3-point post mounted bridges.

The Ibanez Studio neck & components are an absolute steal for £25 - there's a big collector/restorer community out there who'd fall over their wallets for rare, out-of-production parts like those!

Wonder what on earth happened to the original body?

Old proggers' take on an even older progger's classic.