Bassassin

Being a huge Tool fan since '94 (so not quite OGT from the first EP, but close) and having more money than sense these days, I did pre-order the gimmicky tat physical version, to go alongside the ltd. eds of all the other albums/Salival box set etc. Didn't pay any £80, though. That's possibly why it hasn't turned up yet, leaving me in the curious position of still not actually believing this so-called "new album" actually exists. In this era of post-truths, fake news and alternative facts, that seems perfectly plausible.

Here we go: This is from a mid-70s catalogue for the Maya brand. The same basses were sold with dozens of different names on the headstocks and very often unbranded, so if this one has no brand, then that's what it is - a no-name. However, these are believed to have been made in Japan by Chushin Gakki, which was a major manufacturer during the 70s copy era. Chances are, it won't require much more than a good clean, a setup and new strings to put it right - these aren't fantastic instruments but they are sort-of cool and sort-of collectable these days. If it's cheap (under £50, say) it looks like it'd be a fun little project.

I'm no Fender expert but... Front screws on the bridge, cheap, unevenly laminated body wood, glued-on maple fretboard, cheap-looking neck timber, pressed-tin tuners, blurry, photocopy-look decals. The more trained eye will see much more but this is cheap Chinese tat - knock a 9 off the price and it would still be too much.

Yes, exactly that, but instead of one distributor, loads. Anyone could (and still can) order direct from a factory/exporter, as long a you bought a minimum quantity, and have instruments badged up as they pleased. Many of the 70s UK brands, such as Grant, Shaftesbury, Avon etc were just imported by music shops, sold in their own retail premises & also distributed to other outlets around the country. In the 70s you'd end up with the situation where retailers would have the same instruments with different badges (and often different price tags) hanging side-by-side.

Because there's no need - they've just shortened the scale length to (presumably) 33-ish, and shunted the whole lot up the neck. 12th fret position moves, so no need to shift the bridge. The physical length of the neck stays the same as the standard bass. Same with Wyman's I'd expect.

Counting from the 12th, it's 22 frets, likely they just didn't add the extra two on his. Shame the pic's not clearer!

The first fret is the zero-fret, that's how they shortened the scale.

These would have been sold with a load of different names - Chushin Gakki (the factory that made them) was probably the biggest manufacturer of low/midrange copy-era stuff during the 70s, and importers all around the world all put their own brands on them. On the whole, despite being built to a budget, they're usually perfectly playable instruments - there's definitely a consistent good quality in necks & fretwork on instruments of that era. I think back in the day a lot of us (me included) considered them junk because we had no clue about setting our instruments up properly. Those closed-back Gotoh tuners on so many of these basses get a bad rap, but that didn't stop the likes of Shergold using them.

I'm afraid I have no idea, but I want to commend your use of the term "embuggerance". I will find an opportunity to use that word myself today, and strongly recommend others to do likewise.

This is interesting - looks like the Reverb bass actually uses the 1st fret as a zero-fret - the neck's the standard length but fret positioning/spacing's altered to make the scale shorter. It's very noticeable how close the 24th fret is to the end of the fingerboard. What's interesting is that the Wyman article doesn't say they shortened the neck, it says they'd "just steal two frets' length off a regular bass". I think this is how they did that.

It's 100% year of manufacture. Having dabbled in the restoration & selling of vintage instruments, this is somewhat axiomatic. The caveat is when it's still a manufacturer's current model to which there have been no incremental changes, it's completely reasonable for a retailer to sell it as current. As far as re-selling's concerned though, if there's a serial number giving year of manufacture, you will struggle to convince a buyer that it's not really as old as it says...

Maya's just a brand name, and you'll find it on a wide range of instruments of various quality levels. This is a pretty low-end bass - ply body, 2-saddle bridge and that little Tele-type pickup. These parts were intended to be hidden under the chrome covers it would have had when new. They're very common on low-end MIJ copies, here are a couple which have passed through my own shed: If you look closely, you'll notice the J is a Maya. The exact same bass was sold in the UK branded Avon. They go for a lot less money...

I've never heard that about ASOH. You sure you're not thinking of ESL? It's notorious for being re-recorded.

Interesting! I'd never encountered the 5050 before this popped up a couple of months back. Certainly educational, for me. https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/345325-this-looked-interesting/

This is the album Geddy (I think it was him) described as "live-ish". Seems a lot of it had to be re-recorded in the studio...

A wise man* once said: "A gentleman is a man who can play slap bass. And doesn't." *Actually, it was me, so for "wise man" read "blithering simpleton".

It is indeed, and I'm not ashamed to say I badly want one of these. I like sparkly things and care not what anyone thinks. And neither should you, sorry, "your friend", @Paul Clifton!

Me and a couple of similarly underage schoolmates sneaked into a pub to see a punky/pub rock band who were getting a bit of a local reputation. That experience of up-close, sweaty live music in a tiny, packed venue, so different from the couple of "big" gigs I'd seen, convinced me that was what I had to do. Inspired, (and lubricated by a pint or two of illicit bitter top), me & the other guys formed a band & chose our instruments on the way home. Bass was a (mostly) rational decision based on the fact I only had a little bedroom & wouldn't be able to fit a drum kit into it! And talking my Mum into letting me get a bass would be easier... Anyway, me & my "band" mates all got instruments and went on to do various musical things - apart from ever playing together.

I don't mind it. The lyrics are a bit cringey, but it is Peart after all. Their real low-points (Dog Years, Anagram, Virtuality, Superconductor, Freeze, for example) are far better illustrations of a lack of quality control. Or perhaps self-awareness.

Burns Flyte,

IMO the best album of the synthy mid-80s era by a long way - sounds terribly dated now but I loved Peter Collins' production back in t'day.

I had a Ned a few years back (branded as CMI, the Marshall spinoff brand), not entirely sure from what I read at the time that these were "hand-made by Peter Cook", as that article suggests. Seem to remember they were also available branded Shaftesbury as well. Sold mine to @razze06, don't know if he still has it.

Watching, with somewhat queasy morbid curiosity.