Help required to identify just purchased bass.

[JACKG]

I am hoping that the resident experts on this forum will be able to identify a bass that I have just purchased for a friend in New Zealand.

But first an introduction..........

I have been into guitars since the early 1960s when I scratch built a Stratocaster copy - for full story of this check out this link.....

http://www.projectguitar.com/forums/topic/49140-the-original-build-and-restoration-my-1963-fender-stratocaster-copy-guitar/

Although not much of a player I really enjoy buying guitars that need a little TLC and bringing them back to life.  This is something that my friend also enjoys doing and he is into bass guitars as well as 6 string guitars.

OK back to my request for help.................I purchased the bass in question a couple of days ago and it is completely unmarked - no names, numbers or anything else that helps to identify it.  I have managed to find an identical guitar that recently sold on ebay  - see link..................

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-BASS-GUITAR-MADE-IN-JAPAN-PROJECT-REQUIRES-ATTENTION-PRECISION-BASS-COPY-/302699744524?hash=item467a4f8d0c%3Ag%3AOSMAAOSwdjRay9A2&nma=true&si=oigsqF9xU6RnY4nwLJ8tlp7kEHo%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Although my guitar is in far superior condition it is identical in every respect except for the toggle switch on the ebay  guitar which I do not think is original.

I am hoping that the small white plastic disc/plug on the back of the body and the central screw in the middle of the scratch plate will help to identify the manufacturer.

From my own experience I would say a 1970s (possibly 1960s) lawsuit Made in Japan guitar as it is very well made.  The shape of  headstock  and machine heads are very Fender and the colour of the gloss varnish on the fingerboard and neck shows the guitar has some age.  I believe the body is solid and constructed by joining two pieces of wood as there is centre join showing on the front and back. It is a very heavy guitar. 

Am I on the right track?

Thanks in advance guys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ped]

Paging @Bassassin!!

[stu_g]

satellite maybe they had that type of trussrod.

[fleabag]

Satellites were terrible basses and iffy build quality, and the OP says his was well made, so  its doubtful that it was a Satellite, but ..

[stu_g]

yeah your right enough, it was just the truss rod that made me think that 

sattelites were probably plywood also

[ricksterphil]

Pre-relicc'd I see

It might be a Hurricane by Morris Guitars. I'm only going on the machine heads - I have a Hurrican Morris Jap P-Bass and it had the same ones, before I changed them. They are shorter on one side than the standard fendery type ones. Anyhoo, hope that helps

[fleabag]

1 hour ago, stu_g said:

yeah your right enough, it was just the truss rod that made me think that 

sattelites were probably plywood also

I only think it isn't a Satellite is because i had one, although it was a neck through, but still thoroughly horrible. The neck had a built on warp, which i was

told was a trademark of Satellite basses

[JACKG]

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

Satellites were terrible basses and iffy build quality, and the OP says his was well made, so  its doubtful that it was a Satellite, but ..

 

Tend to agree it's not a Satellite. I have a couple of Satellite Les Pauls one from the 60s and one from the 70s both plywood bodies and as you say not great build quality.

[Bassassin]

Easy. Musima, made behind the Iron Curtain in the old DDR:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-and-Rare-1980s-MUSIMA-Action-Bass-P-bass-DDR-Japan-/253386997413

NEXT!

[fleabag]

Well done - mystery solved

[Bassassin]

I've seen a few of these before - they also turn up occasionally badged as Marlin (remember them?) with that fish on the 12th fret - although most Marlins were Korean plywood & a bit duff.

The Musimas are quite interesting - there are Strats as well, which are often assumed to be MIJ. The facts that many are unbranded, and that Musima used Japanese made hardware understandably fuels this. Check out the tuners on the P - very nice torque-adjustable Gotohs.

[JACKG]

13 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Easy. Musima, made behind the Iron Curtain in the old DDR:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-and-Rare-1980s-MUSIMA-Action-Bass-P-bass-DDR-Japan-/253386997413

NEXT!

Very impressive Bassassin and thanks for solving the mystery.  Thanks also to all the other guys who joined in.

Quite an interesting guitar then and looks to be a good buy at £40 from a local charity shop on Monday!

My NZ friend is due in the UK soon and I think he will be pleased.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2018 by JACKG

[SpondonBassed]

Welcome to Basschat Jack.

20 hours ago, JACKG said:

Although not much of a player I really enjoy buying guitars that need a little TLC and bringing them back to life.  This is something that my friend also enjoys doing and he is into bass guitars as well as 6 string guitars.

You will enjoy the Basschat Build Diaries no doubt.

[Bassassin]

5 hours ago, JACKG said:

Very impressive Bassassin and thanks for solving the mystery.  Thanks also to all the other guys who joined in.

Quite an interesting guitar then and looks to be a good buy at £40 from a local charity shop on Monday!

My NZ friend is due in the UK soon and I think he will be pleased.

Cheers! Definitely a score for £40 - and yes, a lot more of an oddity thay your average 70s P copy!

[Slappindabass]

Oh no he called it a Lawsuit Bass. Prepare for a telling off!!

[JACKG]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

Welcome to Basschat Jack.

You will enjoy the Basschat Build Diaries no doubt.

I am still finding my way round the site so thanks for the tip off and I will look them up.

[JACKG]

58 minutes ago, Slappindabass said:

Oh no he called it a Lawsuit Bass. Prepare for a telling off!!

My shoulders are broad so please explain.

 

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

Cheers! Definitely a score for £40 - and yes, a lot more of an oddity thay your average 70s P copy!

Just to satisfy my curiosity what does the small round white plug on the back of the body cover? 

[ricksterphil]

That's where you plug into the mothership!

[Slappindabass]

2 hours ago, JACKG said:

My shoulders are broad so please explain.

 

Just to satisfy my curiosity what does the small round white plug on the back of the body cover? 

I once posted that I had a lawsuit era bass. Oh my word it was if I had clubbed a baby seal to death and posted pictures of me wearing said seal as a hat. Do not know why.

[Bassassin]

6 hours ago, JACKG said:

My shoulders are broad so please explain.

 

Just to satisfy my curiosity what does the small round white plug on the back of the body cover? 

Don't know about the white plug - the closest I've been to a real one of these was a Strat copy at a car boot that was too much of a wreck to justify the £30 they wanted!

Lawsuits, then - with a large side-order of elephantine pedantry. Well - you did ask!

No-one would (or should) have had a word with Mr Indabass above for describing a 70s copy as "Lawsuit era". However the only instruments that were ever actually threatened with legal actions at that time were Ibanez-branded Gibson copies. In 1977, Norlin,the parent company of Gibson at the time, sent a letter of intended legal action to Elger Hohsino (the US operation of Hoshino Gakki, the company which owns the Ibanez brand) regarding their use of the "open book" headstock shape on Ibanez guitars, claiming a violation of their trademark design. However, a year earlier, Hoshino had already modified the headstock profile to be similar (not identical) to a Guild shape - so no legal action ever took place.

Despite the shrieking claims of a hundred thousand Ebay sellers, no other manufacturer either took or threatened legal action over the design of any of the Japanese or Korean copies from the 70s or early 80s - they weren't taken seriously enough for them to bother. Norlin's action however did prompt Japanese manufacturers to voluntarily change the designs of copy instruments, and ultimately move their output towards the higher-end, originals market.

Wake up at the back, there!

[JACKG]

Thanks Bassassin - I will not use the term again 

[fleabag]

I thought Tokai got into trouble with Fender ?  I maybe wrong

[Guest MoJo]

On 4/25/2018 at 18:05, Bassassin said:

Easy. Musima, made behind the Iron Curtain in the old DDR:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-and-Rare-1980s-MUSIMA-Action-Bass-P-bass-DDR-Japan-/253386997413

NEXT!

I never cease to be amazed by your encyclopedic knowledge Jon

[Bassassin]

1 hour ago, MoJo said:

I never cease to be amazed by your encyclopedic knowledge Jon

Thank you - but I never cease to be dismayed by how I can retain such a lot of inconsequential guff, while at the same time knowing absolutely nothing of any actual value or use to anyone!

2 hours ago, fleabag said:

I thought Tokai got into trouble with Fender ?  I maybe wrong

Possible - once the Japanese really started to find their groove, the "big" names did start to get worried. The copy era roughly covers the years between 1970ish and around 1978 - and the Norlin/Elger spat brought that to a close. It's worth being aware that this was strictly only for export and Tokai, Fujigen, Matsumoku, Kasuga, Chushin & all the other Japanese factories carried on producing the same, unmodified copies for the domestic market. In 1982, when Fender Japan was set up, the Japanese partner company was Kanda Shokai, owner of Greco. One of the conditions of the deal was that Kanda should drop Fender copies from the Greco line.

I do know that Fender challenged a few brands over logos that bore a similarity to their own - that may well have included Tokai, considering the font style they used in the late 70s/early 80s. Gibson also had a run-in with Tokai - quite justifiably, because initially their Love Rock guitars did actually say "Les Paul" on the head!

[fleabag]

Brilliant