Bassassin

£827. Not bad for a JV these days, have seen them hitting 4 figures over the last few years. Looks tidy enough, although the body appears to be in better condition than the rest of it so I'm inclined to think refin, but maybe not that recent.

Can't see a problem with this tbh. I have a long history of gigging with pre-recorded backing going back to the mid 90s, when my cover band made an executive decision to gig as a duo, basically so money was split 2-ways rather than 3 or 4. Me & the guitarist both had 8-track recording setups so recording keys, rhythm guitars & programmed drums was a formality. My subsequent originals band gigged for a while with pre-recorded drums (programmed stuff from demos I'd done) when our meat drummer smashed up his leg in an alcohol/steps based incident. I've not been in a gigging band for a while - but tech being where it is now, my musical collaborator & me are starting to discuss going out again, as a duo. The whole other people/herding cats element was what killed our (rather brilliant) last band & on reflection, soured the experience of creating music for a little while. It might be nice to only have ourselves to blame when it all goes predictably & grotesquely wrong, just for a change.

70s Antorias were made by Fujigen Gakki & were the same instruments as their Ibanez counterparts, even down to the model numbers - for most, the only differences were the brands & price tags, Antoria being somewhat less expensive. The Jazz/Strat (Jrat? Strazz?) is super-rare as either Ibanez or Antoria and doesn't appear in any of the surviving catalogues of either brand, so it's anyone's guess what the model number was.* The SG/EB is a CMI (Cleartone Musical Instruments, essentially a Marshall amps sub-brand) and these weren't made by Fujigen, and so are unrelated to Ibanez. CMI sourced from numerous factories & from the details I can see (3-screw pickups, head shape & trc style) I'm pretty confident this is a Matsumoku made instrument. It will have 'Steel Adjustable Neck' stamped neckplates & random undateable serial numbers - although there will probably be pickup codes for accurate dating. I've always fancied a guitar/bass twin-neck simply for (theoretical) ease of going between guitar & bass ideas when composing stuff. And for showing the guitarist what he's doing wrong. *Edit - update - apparently it's a model 2407 & called a Gemini. Although I can't help but wonder what magic source of info an auction house has that's unavailable to the wider online MIJ geek cognosenti! https://www.guitar-auctions.co.uk/sale/145/418/1976-Antoria-Gemini4-Model-2407-double-neck-basselectric-guitar-made-in-Japan-ser-no-C76xxx9

Used to see one or other of them pretty regularly in a south Edinburgh supermarket. At least - I assumed it was one of them, could well have been both, studiously avoiding each other.

Agree the text is referring to the case. Some of the pics of the bass do look as though there may be lacquer cracks between the rear of the top wing & its centre, and the neck. That might be delamination but if so it doesn't look structural, or a difficult fix, Still, not what you'd expect if you were paying over a grand for one of these.

These are rare, high-end basses and there is a (very small) enthusiast/collector community for the brand & manufacturer - but prices are all over the place. They sit for years unsold at two grand but are snapped up at sub-£1000 prices. Given that this one has some known issues (likely of a very minor electrical nature) but also might have some delamination problems, I'm not sure who he thinks will drop £1200 on it in this state. If I was still buying & selling I'd be taking a gamble on it for about £500 as it is.

I think they reissued the Blazer guitars back in the late 90s, don't think there was a bass though. They did recently reissue the 70s Black Eagle bass. Would be hilarious if they reissued their 2388B Rick copy. And then claimed trademark rights on the body & headstock shape, because they were selling them in 1972 & Rickenbacker International Corporation (who own the trademark) didn't exist before 1984. But no-one should be that cruel to poor old John Hall.

Ibby Blazer, I think. Pickup would have been a Super P4 hex-pole DiMarzio clone, which tend to be pretty pokey. Same as the P unit in my '82 RS924 Roadster, which is the best-sounding P/J bass I've had. The J unit's silly-hot, clocks around 12k, if I remember.

Really wish I'd picked up a bunch of these a few years ago back when they went for £70 / £80 or so.

Reality check: https://www.inflationtool.com/british-pound/1969-to-present-value?amount=125&year2=2023&frequency=yearly Small Faces' £450 fee: https://www.inflationtool.com/british-pound/1969-to-present-value?amount=450&year2=2023&frequency=yearly

Didn't know that - they used to be all over Ebay a few years back.

Ebonol's compressed black paper & resin. Presumably Richlite's a trademark for a slightly different (less black?) product. Don't think I've had an ebony-board fretless but the two rosewoods (Ibanez SR800FL & Yamaha BB400S) from recollection seemed duller & less mwaah-y than the ebonol board Squier VMJ that followed. That said I prefer my lacquered maple Sire V7 to any of them - although it does require a delicate touch as it tends to exaggerate string-on-fingerboard clacks & clatters.

I'd avoid the Encore unless you are left-handed. Lindo was a cheapo Ebay brand from 10 or so years ago. Agree with @Lw. - the budget Harley Benton stuff coming from Thomann (or J&D from dv247.com) is light-years beyond starter-level stuff from a few years back.

Totally is a G4M he's playing. Maybe he doesn't remember the brand & just assumes it's MIJ because cheapo basses used to be Japanese back when he were a lad.

That's it in a nutshell. Rush's first six albums are essentially Zep & Yes in a blender, with Geddy's vocals being Plant & Jon Anderson following a teleporter accident. I am a huge Rush fan.

Interesting one-off mod, looks like a stock BB3000 that someone's taken to JayDee & got circuitry installed in. Had a refin & a BA2 as well.

I do like that. Always been Reverend-curious, and that colour reminds me of the finish on some 70s Rick copies: Affectionately known as SnotGlo.

We do all realise these are Dan Armstrong copies - or to be more specific, as they have branding - counterfeits, I hope? These are available with colour-changing LEDs, if you look around. Just saying.

That's a lot of info I've not seen before & a lot of contradictions to what's accepted/established as the basis of dating MIJ/CIJ & identifying manufacturers. Would be interesting to know sources for the new info. Unfortunately this makes dating & correctly IDing Japanese Fenders more complicated - especially those bloody E serials!

Headless twin neck 4 / fretless 5, fretless on the top. Jazz width, maple boards with the fretless lined & pearl blocks on the fretted. Compact body to minimise weight with offset through neck(s), top neck possibly angled slightly back to improve access to the bottom neck. Passive J pickups (not decided what make/models) controlled by 3x co-ax stacked pots. Not quite sure what it'd look like - body shape maybe a little like an Aria SB (pointed horns, slight offset) but as compact/minimal as possible. Body wings stained a different colour to the natural through sections, possibly green or blue. Realistically (yeah, this is proper realistic!) I may need to have several of these made as there are areas I can't make a decision about without actually playing it - as keeping weight down's a priority & twin-necks are inherently unweildy, 32" scale might be sensible but I'd need to A/B it with a 34" (35" for the 5er?) to see. Also there's the colour dilemma. And body materials - how much additional weight would clear acrylic wings (with colour-changing LEDs, obs) add? Yep, gonna need at least five of these.

Looks rubbish. @KK Jale - didn't know that about fiddle-type f-holes, & they always look a bit crap on basses & guitars. I say that as a fan of the look of the original Thinline Tele, which IMO would be improved by a Rick-style slash hole.

Actually it's no such thing. It's potentially an infringement of copyright/trademark, however I doubt that in 1973 Fender would have felt too threatened by a kid putting a sticky label on his bass. They had bigger problems to deal with back then - such as every Japanese factory turning out Fender clones that were infinitely superior to their own lazy CBS-era crap.

Fantastic to hear these - if I was asked on pain of death to name my favourite album of all time, it'd be Quadrophenia. The Who was the first band I really got into, long before I ever picked up a bass, and I've always considered Townshend to be a visionary, genius-level musician. I was aware he had his own studio & demoed songs before presenting them to the band but this is the first time I've heard any, and I'm quite amazed by the detail, refinement and completeness of these versions of songs I've known & loved for decades. Plus what a tight, precise drummer he is! Thinking about it, these are demos for songs to be recorded/interpreted by The Who - it's perfectly reasonable to assume that Pete would have played the bass & drum parts as he imagined his bandmates - who he'd worked with for over 10 years by this point - would play them. Less dictating what they should play, and rather second-guessing what they would play. Working with them the way he did would've had a huge influence on his approach to bass & drums anyway, I'd expect.