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NBD Old Aria thing that looks like some other old thing.


Maude
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I've been after an older Matsumoku Rickenbacker copy, or something very similar, and I've just picked up this '77 Aria complete with original case. It needs a good clean, both cosmetically and electrically, but it sounds awesome and plays really well, the actions a tad high for my taste at the mo but I'll give it set up once cleaned. 

The seller reckons he has the origins TRC and pickup cover but is in the middle of moving and can't find them, he said if he finds them he'll post them to me so fingers crossed. 

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3 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

As per the Abstinence thread, it was a Rickenbastard TRC I was after. No,problem if you don’t know where it originated. ‘Twas just a thought. 

I'll send him a message, I think he got it from someone on the Facebook faker page. If he finds the original and it's in decent shape then this one might be up for grabs. It's mirrored but the scratchplate is white and I can't cope with that sort of craziness 🤪, or maybe I could fit a mirrored scratchplate, gold would be nice on this colour but then I'd need a gold TRC. 

Anyway I've broken it already 😉

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29 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I have one like this in the same orange fluffy case. No maker's name anywhere, thru neck  stereo jack sockets. 

Might it be a Matsumoku? You have me wondering now. 🤔

I've got no markings on the bass to say it is Aria to be fair, just trusting others. I think the better ones were through neck and 'Stereosound', stamped on the twin jackplate as opposed to 'Rickosound'. As far as I know all the bolt on neck ones had a single jack output. @Bassassin and @prowla are the font of faker knowledge as far as I know, maybe they could help identify yours. To be honest I'm not fused about it being bolt on as it just gives more room for adjustment (neck shim) if I can't get the action down. Now it's stripped I can see I've got plenty of room for adjustment on bridge (and the screws turn by fingers) and the truss rod turns one way fairly easily and will go the other way but is quite tight. I'll squirt some graphite lube down there as the carrier evaporates just leaving a coating of graphite to lube it, no greasy residue. I'll never use the stereo feature anyway so mono is fine with me. 

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48 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I have one like this in the same orange fluffy case. No maker's name anywhere, thru neck  stereo jack sockets. 

Might it be a Matsumoku? You have me wondering now. 🤔

Show us a pic. Matsumoku Fakers are really easy to ID if you know what to look for.

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Well it's all had the clean and polish of it's life and is going back together. I'm sorting a couple minor issues in the process including this pickup which is held together with what looks and feels like bluetack, albeit white. 

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The bobbin in held to the magnet with the white gum and isn't very secure so I'll lift it off, clean the gum off and hot glue it in place a bit more securely, also while I'm at the hot glue I'm going to remove the magnet and align it properly as it's not horizontal and it's bugging me, 

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I'll also graphite paint the cavities as all the wood in the bridge pickup abyss is on display without the cover, so the black paint will tidy it up and a bit of shielding can't hurt. Talking of shielding and unwanted noise, the whole bass is quite micriohonic (if that's the right term) not just tapping the pickups but it you tap the big bezel or even just the body the sound comes out of the amp quite loud, is this normal with these basses? 

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2 hours ago, prowla said:

Re. microphonic - is it both pickups that do that?

Maybe that's why RIC shifted to using a plastic base for the treble pickup (either that or they used up their stock of aluminium sheeting).

I'm not sure if it's both as I only played it at the chaps house before stripping it. When I noticed it I tapped around the body and both pickups everywhere made the noise, but it could be one pickup picking it up. It's kind of how an acoustic guitar sounds, any body noise gets picked up. 

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2 hours ago, prowla said:

My Mat's treble pickup disintegrated on me.

4msfHqG.jpg

(I posted this in the FB fakers group too.)

I used the base to mount another pickup on, but I think I may have sold the bass on with a real Ric pickup in it.

This one will end up like that without so help, I thought I'd stabilise it with hot glue as then it can be removed fairly easily if needed. 

That's a shame if you sold a genuine pickup without realising. And I see your magnet is on the slant too. 

Edited by Maude
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1 hour ago, Maude said:

This one will end up like that without so help, I thought I'd stabilise it with hot glue as then it can be removed fairly easily if needed. 

That's a shame if you sold a genuine pickup without realising. And I see your magnet is on the slant too. 

The problem was that the bobbin's plastic degraded and became brittle and just broke up; I think the pickup was straight - that may be just the photo.

I checked my notes and it was a Greco (proper Ric-style) pickup I put in it, which I got on the fakers group 🙂 .

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The pickup is fixed now, cleaned the blue (white) tack off, hot glued the bobbin back in place and I've given it all a coat of satin black as without the PU cover it's all visible and looks messy, I'll black the inside of the cavity as well. I didn't take the magnet off the base plate and realign as it's not tooooo bad and I didn't want to risk cracking the magnet prising it off, a bit of didn't work. 

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Black pickup mounting, 

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and I had reservations about this, the tailpiece has the classic Rick tail lift, only slightly but it's only ever going to get worse, especially as me and light strings don't get on, my string of choice is D'Addario half rounds or flats. Even if I go with rounds they will be heavy gauage and as stiff as I can find, so I've drilled and countersunk two holes at the rear to pull it back down or at least stop it getting any worse. I know I've now ruined the genuity of what a virtually unmolested vintage bass, but if the tailpiece keeps lifting it's only fit for the bin anyway. I'll get a pair of decent stainless steel screws so it looks as good as possible. I want to be able to use this bass in anger so it has to be done really. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Like I said, Matsumokus are easy to ID - and yours isn't one!

However that's not bad news. Yours was almost certainly sold branded Shaftesbury, and these really are great basses, and aren't prone to some of the structural issues fairly common to Matsumokus. Apart from the single truss rod and the type of tuners, they're very accurate, and very well made.

It's not completely clear who made these but it's probable that it was Chushin Gakki, one of the less well known names, but actually one of the biggest Japanese manufacturers during the 70s & 80s.

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4 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

Like I said, Matsumokus are easy to ID - and yours isn't one!

However that's not bad news. Yours was almost certainly sold branded Shaftesbury, and these really are great basses, and aren't prone to some of the structural issues fairly common to Matsumokus. Apart from the single truss rod and the type of tuners, they're very accurate, and very well made.

It's not completely clear who made these but it's probable that it was Chushin Gakki, one of the less well known names, but actually one of the biggest Japanese manufacturers during the 70s & 80s.

Wow! You never cease to amaze me with your knowledge in this area. 

What told you it wasn't a Matsumoku ? 

Edited by stewblack
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