JanSpeeltBas

No, BB -I just always wanted a Wal!
[attachment=31059:Crews_Ma...ackson_5.jpg]
As for the familiar, here's my choice for C:
Crews Maniac Sound from Japan, this is the Jackson 4 model. The neck is bolt-on with a normal size fretboard,
the extension of the fretboard is on top of the body. It reminds of an old "A Basses" fretless Darryl Jones used to play, I think it was the "World Bass".
That one had only piezo pickups, this one hasn't. For those interested: this Crews costs 300.000 Yen.

Todays special is one of my favorites – it brought it up already in another thread recently – and I really really love this one: Staccato. It’s not aluminum but magnesium and here’s the story (copied out of my “Compact Encyclopedia Of British Bassmakers”). It’s not apparent if its still available – Pat Townshend mentions he’s still able to put one together out of NOS parts but his website has’t been updated for a while.
[attachment=31055:Staccato_Mg.jpg]
"Staccato
Limited production of the Staccato Mg bass by instrument designer Pat Townshend and Chris (Mick’s brother) Jagger between 1985-’87 in Norwich. Shareholders were the Jagger family and Stones' bassist Bill Wyman.
South African born motor racer Pat Townshend worked in the US where he came up with the innovative and oddly shaped Staccato drumkits made out of fiberglass. In ’78 Yamaha commissioned him to develop a new guitar made out of metal. After trying aluminium Townshend chose cast magnesium for his guitars which were made at John Carruthers workshop in California. Original concept was an interchangeble neck, allowing quick change from guitar to bass or twelvestring. 21 were built under the Staccato name before Townshend moved to the UK where he designed the Staccato bass in ’83. With funding of members of the Rolling Stones a factory was set up in Woodbastwick, Norfolk. From ’85 there were about 200 basses made, the most prominent user being Gene Simmons. Townshend then went back to motorsports. Currently he offers a limited number of Staccato Mg basses made from NOS parts.
The Staccato Mg (GBP 850 at introduction) is an unique fourstring bass with magnesium neck, fiberglass body and screwed carbonfibre fingerboard with cast frets. The fingerboard can be easily replaced in case of fret wear. Other features: height adjustable nut, fine tuners at the bridge. Electronics are two Kent Armstrong humbuckers (with coil tap) and three band EQ that’s adjustable through minipots in the cavity.
[attachment=31056:Staccato_2.jpg]
[url="http://www.staccato-art.co.uk/""]http://www.staccato-art.co.uk/"[/url]

BigRedX pointed out the Metal Neck website, but that hasn’t been updated for some time too. It mentions however the Obstructures company which is making prototype full aluminum basses.[attachment=31057:Obstruct...rototype.jpg]

This body shape leads to another key-“ metalist” I didn’t mention before: John Veleno – he made aluminum guitars in the ‘70s and actually one bass too. His V shaped headstocks are adorned with a ruby.
Tommorrow more on Harvey Fleishmann – I did not forget him, just saved him for later!
As for Atlansia, originally featured on one of the first pages of this thread - this is the Solitaire. [attachment=31058:Atlansia_Solitaire.JPG] BigRedX has Japan-connections - he may now where to get one, all my e-mails to Atlansia regarding buying one have been unanswered.

[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='571863' date='Aug 17 2009, 07:09 PM']The Basone looks almost 60ish in style to me
I think then manufacturers wanted to use the fender shape cos it was the ideal shape really but tried to do a twist on it, so to speak, so that
A ) their bass wouldn't be just a 'copy' but an original instrument without being too outlandish and
B ) they wouldn't leave themselves open to lawsuits

So there was a lot of the 'same but different' type bodys that didnt always work visually.

Did Fender actually have copyright over the precision and jazz bass shape?

BB[/quote]
Early electrics from the '50s and '60s mostly aren't copies, sometimes inspired by...copying started out in the late sixties (as the president of Aria (Shiro Arai) pointed out: In '68 Gibson started to make replicas of their older models - we figured we could do this too...), at first not very accurate (like all early Rick and Gibson copies having bolt-on necks) but as Japanese technology and quality improved indeed very good copies appeared that started making the American companies sweat. At this stage the copyists were actually keen on capturing every detail of the originals the two best known being Aria (related to the Matsumoku factory) and Ibanez (mostly coming out of the Fujigen factory). Around '77 Gibson decided to start legal action against Ibanez (they didn't sue Aria as they provided them with Japanese Epiphones since the early '70s!!!) - in this lawsuit it was determined that the only really distinct (and thus subjected to copyright) feature of a guitar is its headstock. Fender didn't act on this 'till the '80s, I remember a story about impounded Fernandes guitars and Blade was forced to change their headstock design as many other Fender-inspired companies. This is however one side of the story.
Japanese copyright is very different from American. That's why current MIJ (officially only for the Japanese market) basses like Greco and ESP (Edwards, Seymour Duncan etc etc) to this day are very exact copies.

By the way: congrats on the Zoot, BB! Now if I only I could get you to trade my Overwater for your Wal...

From A to B:
this is a Canadian custom made Basone. Their guitars tend to be more extreme but this is all familiar!

[attachment=31000:Normandy..._archtop.jpg]Today's bass is a Normandy, an American made archtop bass with aluminum body. It has a wood neck and a similar semiacoustic instrument is made by Ronnie Longfellow in London.[attachment=31003:Longfell...emiak_VK.jpg] Companies like Electric Co. and Specimen make aluminum basses too - they have been mentioned before in this thread.

When it comes to aluminum in a bass the first name that comes up is Kramer who used metal necks for some time. Some BC members have them and they show up for sale from time to time.[attachment=31006:Kramer_bass.jpg] Kramer was actually more of an assembly workshop. Most guitars use imported Japanese ESP parts, the aluminum necks were outsourced too. A Kramer fansite states that the only fully American made instruments are the Spector basses (and guitars) they made in the '80s.
Kramer was however founded by salesman Gary Kramer and guitardealer Dennis Berardi. The latter was so frustated with the quality of Fender he was selling in the '70s ( warped necks all over the place) he wanted a better guitar. Kramer worked for Travis Bean [attachment=31007:Travis_Bean_TB2000.jpg]who was already making (neckthrough profile) aluminum guitars and basses for some years and with the help of Dr.Phil (Petillo) they set up a nice range of bolt-on aluminum neck basses. The Kramer company got sold a few times but these necks were used into the '00s by spin-off company Vaccarro, most noted for the shortlived Hartke (yes, Larry's) bass.
The use of aluminum in a bass actually started in double basses. In the early 1900's the Buffalo company made some and Ford (cars) got an order from the American Navy - basses for use on their ships. Later use is as reinforcement of guitar necks by makers like Kay, Maccaferri and the British Watkins. The first aluminum guitar neck was made by the french Jacobacci. They made basses too - at first under the Ohio brand [attachment=31001:Ohio___62.jpg](this one's from '62) - but never with metal necks. The later Jacobacci JB series from the late '60s [attachment=31002:Jacobacc...200___74.jpg]may have been an inspiration to Shergold and Wal - the body shape is very familiar...Vintage lovers will be aware of the unique instruments of Wandré Pioli with its radical artistic designs and cheap industrial construction. He may be credited with the first aluminum bass around '61, - extraordinary beyond words - original and outrageous even by todays standards. He used a three-piece aluminum core for his instruments. [attachment=31004:Wandre_Waid_Bass.jpg] [attachment=31005:Wandre_Waid_kop.jpg]This here is his Waid Bass with a closeup of the tuners. He made several models including EUBs. It's hard to believe these were actually cheap instruments at the time. Some were exported to the UK by Dallas under the Dallas name - if you have one hanging on your wall you'd better take it off as it's worth several thousand pounds today.

But these are very nice Fender-style basses - lightweight, balanced and great action (no trussrod but graphite core) - superb E string even with 095 and detuned to D. I had a '95 Excess (first version) - really nice except for the singlecoil pickups and noisy electronics - these are improved on later models.

Since not all of you seem interested in the weird and wonderful (why not???) I'll post a
Less Weird Familiar Style Bass in here for every Wonderful & Weird Bass I'm putting in BigRedX' revived
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5525&st=480&p=570533&#entry570533"]"Wonderful & Weird Basses" - thread.[/url]
The first one is to be found in aforementioned sister thread(post #483) being Warwick's first bass - a J-bass with double P-pickups.
This here is the Abalone - a J-style made by Atlansia whose instruments usually fit the Wonderful & Weird category...[attachment=30962:Abalone_...Atlansia.jpg]

Todays bass is made my Montreal Luthier Michel Fournelle (La Lutherie MF).[attachment=30957:Lutherie_MF_Bass_1.jpg] It's a nice headless, with conventional tuners mounted at the bridge. I chose this one 'cause of the link with the Warwick Nobby Meidl in the previous post. And let me offer you some more thoughts on the headless tuning concept...
This tuner arrangment reminds you of multi-stringed BC Rich guitars and basses and later Kramer basses [attachment=30961:Kramer_Duke.jpg] but probably the first bass to feature it is made by Bunker. The Bunker family (there's at least two generations involved) is a very underrated, innovative team that has made instruments under the Bunker, PBC and Treker brands - at one time even producing the American made models of Ibanez. Innovation doesn't make for great sales and that's why they keep slipping in obscurity.[attachment=30959:Bunker_1978.jpg] This headless Bunker is from '78. Other headless makers opted for the thumbscrew tuner. This design comes from the great late Allan Gittler (or Avraham Bar-Rashi - his later Israelian name) who came up with the ultimate minimalist design in the early '70s. He was a great guitarplayer (check out his recordings - his playing is a unique cross between classical playing and modern improvisation, fully exploring the sonic possibilities of his own designs) and invented his (very heavy)steel rod guitar not just to be different but to create a more direct interface between player and instrument - all about resonance. Very different from Ned Steinberger who came up with his minimalist carbon bass from his point-of-view as a designer. But then again - Leo Fender didn't play music too - he was an engineer, actually more into amplification! When Gittler found out Steinberger had been visiting his 'machinist' (who revealed the details of the thumbscrew) he immediatly fired him and stopped all production. About 60 have been made - three of 'm basses. Unfortunately Gittler was ripped off again by the Astron company who made an unauthorized bunch of Gittler guitars.[attachment=30960:gittler_bass.jpg] Another interesting headless story is the Fender headless bass. It came about in the mid '70s in an attempt to solve the classic 'dead notes on the G-string' problem. First solution (in the '50s) was to make the Precision headstock larger (the classic Fender head) but in the '70s Fender R&D engineer Gene Fields (this story comes from his assistant at the time: Phil Kubicki) tried to solve it by making the headstock smaller - everytime he took something off the deadnote range shifted higher up the neck. The resulting fairly modern prototype obviously never made it to production...[attachment=30958:fender_headless.jpg]

"Now that Jan has taken over this thread maybe the style instruments featured will change, although from his other posts I have a feeling that we share the same appreciation for the less conventional and it's not just about wacky shapes but also construction and design that is equally important."

Indeed, I'll be focusing on the unusual. But especially for Chris 2112 I'll put up the very first Warwick. Almost identical to the revered (Jaco used one) Framus S380 J-copy. Framus was the company of Hans Peter Wilfer's father. They went bankrupt around '78 but production actually never really stopped As far as in '81 "new"models were introduced, evolving into a new company around '82: Warwick. Next offerings were the Streamer (produced under official license of Stuart Spector - so a genuine Spector NS copy!) and the recently reintroduced Nobby Meidl, clearly based on Steinberger and Kramer Duke designs. I will not further comment on Warwicks originality (nor quality) as I agree with BigRedX: they do not belong in this thread.

Having a website up should be a sign of being alive for a guitarmaker - I will try to remain faithful to your original concept.
As for today's bass I'm actually not quite sure if he's still active - his website isn't active today.
Vulture Bass is made by german Martin Geier (Geier being german for vulture) and his basses include the fairly common Condor and this nice Toba.

Maybe reviving this thread...BigRedX has shown a lot of interesting basses - let me add some and I'll be doing it step by step...

Nexus are custom instruments made by the polish Jacek Kobylski.

Nexus Question:[attachment=30912:Nexus_Question.jpg]
Nexus Dune: [attachment=30913:Nexus_Dune.jpg]

This is an asian import line linked with the great Italian custom guitar/bassmaker Frudua. Haven't tried one - likely not very different from other imports?

Here's his adress and phone number:
[b]Christopher Woods Guitars
21337 E Calora St
Covina, CA 91724
Phone: (626) 858-3348[/b]
I read on his site he has just opened a new workshop - may have moved but likely the phone number is still good?
Good luck!

Nice basses, but not US made as stated in the specs. Iturra is from Chile. There are plenty of beatiful basses on his website [url="http://www.alfonsoiturra.com/"]http://www.alfonsoiturra.com/[/url]

A link to the completed list of British bassmakers:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=57278&st=0&p=566909&#entry566909"]Compact Encyclopedia of British Bassmakers[/url]
Cheers!

Jan

Just showing off my latest purchase: '86 fretless Jaydee Roadie I.
A joy to play and the best sounding fretless I ever had (previous ones being a '04 Rick Turner Electroline;
'87 Steinberger XL2; '94 Alembic Epic; '96 Sadowsky NYC; '87 Fender Jazz; '81 Ibanez Roadster)
DoctorOfTheBass recently acquired one and there's another one up for sale on BC by Jude_B:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=55565&hl=jaydee"]Jaydee '92 custom Roadie fretless with slap plate[/url].

[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='567132' date='Aug 12 2009, 07:52 PM']I know, i know.
Its a later model than the one I have, i think this may be an Artisan(?) same basic shape but 'plainer', still, would make a nice twin.
Only thing is I have already bought 2 basses this week - a cracking Levinson B4 and a Zoot S4 and this is me trying to cut down!!!!
AND i want doctorbass' sparkly G&L ASAT........that is a total bargain!


BB[/quote]

Don't think it's an Artisan - mine has a more rounded shape. The guy I bought mine from mentioned this type - he had one before he got his Artisan ('91) - it's a one-piece mahogany neck/body which is less stronger than the laminated ones - he had to return that bass because the neck went warp....This one looks great though - if it wasn't for the Jaydee I'd be all over this one!

Great bass, very good deal!

This is a sequel to BarnacleBobs British Bassmakers-thread.
Here's my completed Encyclopedia of British Bassmakers for download.
[attachment=30731:BRITISH_...AKERS_v1.pdf]
The story: in 2006 one of my former bass students contacted me about putting together
a complete list of worldwide bassmakers. I thought it would be an easy job - three months of
gathering information on what I estimated to be a 1000 brands of basses...not so....there are about 3000
and I still haven't finished my research after three years. My partner in writing (and the publisher we contacted) are no longer
with the project leaving a pile of information and bass history untouched and unfinished. BarnacleBob's recent British Bassmakers
thread inspired me to finish of a little part of the encyclopedia and here it is to share with you.
If you find inaccurate information, badly written english (I'm Dutch) or simply miss brands, custom makers or pictures please contact me.
If your picture is in this publication and you don't want it to be in there - let me know. If you have better or more interesting pictures - send
them. If you are a british bassmaker that's not included - contact me. And if you're interested in the rest of the encyclopedia - glad to hear from you -
it may get finished one day.
Disclaimer: I've done my very best to provide accurate information. My sources are the Net, many books, dealer stories and many many catalogues. I may have gotten some things wrong - don't hold it against me...
If anyone likes to use this information - feel free to do so but mention where you got it from...if anyone intends to misuse this information (for commercial purposes) - I'll hunt you down and sue you! This project has cost me hundreds hours of work without any financial compensation.
So:
Enjoy!!!
Cheers,
Jan

Aargh...that Wal is just too beautiful...if only you had put it up two weeks earlier... :wacko:

Pics and prices for the Wal and Goodfellow? Not that I can afford those but always nice to know what I possibly could (or should) have bought...

Here's the first part of my "Encyclopedia", covering A-G (That's AC Guitars to Gus).
I've used parts of my ongoing project since 2006 of creating a worldwide list of bassmakers.
Corrections and additions are welcome. If you find a picture in here that's copyrightfully yours
let me know - I'll change things...

amazing bass...considered one of these in the 80s but eventually went for a plain Fender - curious for how much it'll go...

[quote name='MB1' post='561958' date='Aug 6 2009, 02:43 PM']MB1.
Bit Too!..... "Close to the Edit" for me!........I'll get me Coat!.[/quote]

I actually enjoyed it...

[quote name='OldGit' post='560906' date='Aug 5 2009, 10:32 AM']Then we need to get him to update his list [/quote]
Indeed...I will post an updated list later this week since I found about 20 new makers for the list...