Bassassin

I have a Zephyr C5 through-neck 5er, which I got just before the Grind range was launched in the early 00s, genuinely can't remember exactly when! I think these were Korean-made but I don't have any date info - unhelpfully, mine doesn't have a serial number. The Grinds would have changed over the years but the first ones were very similar to the Zephyrs, lacking the bubinga body veneers and with an ugly front body slap contour, below the fretboard heel. My C5's a very nice bass, well put together & playable (if you don't mind narrow spacing on a 5) but something of a boat-anchor weightwise. Always found the passive soapbars a bit weak, if I ever used it for more than noodling at home, I'd probably want to upgrade to something a bit beefier.

Apart from the ruined finish & janky-looking headstock that's quite cool. Oh - and the price, an enterprising bodger could knock that up as a bitsa for under £300, no sweat. And route the pickups a bit better.

Having actually been bothered to look at the pics, I'm confident that no-one will either be surprised (or care!) that I think I know what this was. Before it was a bitsa with a cheapo Chinese neck, crappy tuners & Ebay knockoff sticker, it was an Italian-made Melody 5000. Check out the oddly bulbous lower horn, square truss access & skinny neckplate: https://best-vintage-guitars.de/melody_precision_bass_italy.html Ashytrays aren't standard & f*** knows what's under them - although 'demarzios' weren't standard on either Ibanez or Melody P copies. I suppose the body grain's quite nice though. A decent Melody 5000 would probably be £100-£150. Seen a few with split bodies/necks so likely that's the case here.

Agreed. Free to use (although you can oay a small fee) great sounds & good standard patterns - and you can program your own parts in your DAW's MIDI editor.

Just sitting on the couch for general noodling. Probably terrible for back & posture, and definitely not good for fretting hand position but, er, whatever. For recording I either stand or use an old (long discontinued) Ikea Traktor stool: Rolls out of the way if I want to stand & has a good range of height adjustment & a surprisingly comfortable ar$e-shaped seat. The bass stays on the strap when sitting for a bit of added stability.

In fairness to The 'Oo and all these lyrics being quoted in order to rip the p!ss out of old Rog - he didn't write any of them. Didn't even sing Boris The Spider. He was always The Thick One.

Ha-ha-ha-HOW much??? Mine was £50. Also original & not routed with a Stanley knife for an oversize pickup. Wonder what happened to the bass that the Ibanez Accu-Cast bridge came off?

Looks like that went about as well as dying before he got old.

Was about to say that! It's a pretty thing, would look nice with gold plastics. Will not be buying.

New Headless Birthday Bass Day! Thanks to the sterling collaborative efforts of @Paul S and my lovely partner, I got this for me birfday! It's a Riverhead Unicorn RUB1090, from 1985-ish. I've wanted one of these since I tried one at the old Bass Centre in Wapping in 1985, and sadly found myself unequal to the £500 price tag! They don't turn up too often & I've missed out on one or two, including this one when it first came up a few months ago. Happily Paul gave me first refusal - and a great excuse to get it at no personal expense! So everyone's a winner! This is in nice condition for a 35-ish year old bass. A lot of these are pretty tatty, seemingly the factory finish wasn't too durable, but this has had a decent refin at some point, over the original matt black. The hardware's in near-new condition, which I'm surprised & very pleased about - many of these have corroded-looking metal parts. There's a little bit of fretwear, mostly under the E & A around the first 5 frets or so. A fret level/dress would help but I don't know if I'll bother - Paul's strung it with flats & the slight acoustic rattle doesn't seem to be audible when plugged in. Actually this is the first time I've had flats on a fretted bass in about 15 years & I'm surprised how well they work on this! Through my little Yamaha THR10 it sounds nice & full, with a bit of a Jazz growl to it. Pickups are passive single coils & fairly close to J positioning. First impressions are that it's a bit nicer to play than my Hohner B2A or Cort Space headlesses - the chunky pickups provide a more natural feeling hand/thumb position and the narrow (39mm nut) but fairly deep neck makes it feel pretty substantial. Very early impressions, I may try a bit of recording with it over the next few days. On the whole, I'm chuffed to bits!

I like the design a lot, but I really struggle with the wonky curve of the horn/bow. Looks like it's been leant against a hot radiator all afternoon.

It's certainly interesting but, erm, maybe trying a bit too hard...

I've certainly seen a P copy with that style of Ibanez sticker on before, might've been the same one, but not necessarily. This looks like a recent-ish cheapo P knockoff, or maybe a bitsa - it has a truss cutout on the scratchplate but clearly adjusts at the head, so maybe a modern neck on an older body. Overpriced by £200, anyway.

4.4kg/9.7lbs, according to my digital luggage/bass weighy device. So not exactly lightweight but not quite a Peavey T40.

This was posted in another thread: Want one now.

Will weigh mine when I get a minute.

Basslab L-Bow? Bleedin' German, innit? Forrin muck wiv a stupid name, bin stuck in Calais for a month stuffed in a container wiv a load of them French Muslamic immigrants an' some blue passports from Poland. Call that sovrinty??? That do?

Rare enough that I've never seen one outside a catalogue before. But oddly, not so rare that there's not another one on the same listing page! Fretless P/J natural finish Some interesting stuff turning up on Japanese Ebay lately!

Looks to me like the threaded inserts have been removed & filler or maybe bits of dowel put in the holes. You'd maybe have to remove the inserts to fit a BBOT bridge if they stood proud from the body. I think I'm right that a BBOT's more similar to an original Grabber bridge than a 3-point anyway. It's more the horrible refin that would've put me off this, rather than the bridge. And if it does have neck problems, it's not worth any £160.

Considering the condition, I'd say that's about right. If I'd been selling it in that state I'd think £150 would be a bit optimistic.

Would like to see some pics of that. As far as I'm aware the 80s Hohners had a fold-out leg rest & conventional strap buttons, and a standard jack & seperate XLR on the lower body edge. At least, my 1985 first run Hohner B2A does. Is yours definitely a Hohner? In fairness, the Interceptors are ever-so-slightly Marmite, and possibly not the most graceful 80s MIJ interpretation of the headless aesthetic! However they're incredibly rare, so I'd rather like to have one standing in the corner. Possibly behind a bookcase. In other news, I have a hint of a reason to think that on Tuesday - which is my birthday - I might find myself finally in possession of a slightly more symmetrical, some might say elegant, example of mid '80s Japanese headless luthiery. More news when it becomes available...

Somehow these have gone right under my radar. Always drooled a bit over the high-end PRS basses, so both of the SEs are right up my street. Obviously I have no need for one, but if a s/h Kingfisher came up at silly price...

I had no idea. Unsurprising in a way - BMWs (particularly their bikes) can be a bit Marmite. I liked the design a lot when they first appeared but find them a bit bland now. And once you see the bogseat, it's hard to see anything else. Only ever played two - one at the old MusicLive show & another in a shop - both were horribly badly set up & they just left a bad impression.

Whatever's comfortable for you & suits your playing style.