Beedster Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 (edited) Not my usual taste in basses, but once brought to my attention by Andy and John, I couldn't resist, especially given that it - or an instrument very very similar to it - was responsible for the bass parts on my fave album of all time, parts that I have been learning for about 10 years! What do I love? The nut is close to 45mm, the board is pretty much flat, the PUPs are light years apart, and it's bloody light. What do I not like? The colour Should be strung through, so a Badass III is going on at the weekend. The board is going to receive a damn good oiling at the same time. At some point in the future the finish may come off also. But in the meantime, I'm going to Graceland Edited March 5, 2020 by Beedster 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Tasty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Hahahahaha. Get Dave Wilson to do a nice tobacco burst on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 6 minutes ago, AndyTravis said: Hahahahaha. Get Dave Wilson to do a nice tobacco burst on it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 1 minute ago, Clarky said: Just like that 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 That is the finish in my head 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 This was mine. SB-40eq, slightly later model. Now resides in a Washburn collection in America. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Great looking and sounding bass 👍🏼 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 Love this photo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 9 minutes ago, Beedster said: Love this photo Yeah, he started using it again a few years ago with Aguilar pickups and black hardware. Looked mean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 I'm warming to it already, and although it's probably in my head, it feels very easy to play Diamonds on this compared to my other FLs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Nah, I dig the faded white. Keep it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 I might change my name to Travers to based upon this thread too. Cheers Beardster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, AndyTravis said: I might change my name to Travers to based upon this thread too. Cheers Beardster. Did it for you mate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Delighted someone on here grabbed that, bit surprised it wasn't @AndyTravis though... Interesting that it's so wide at the nut - my fretted SB40 is dead-on 40mm. However mine was made in a different factory to yours, and there are various other differences. Is that a micro-switch just under the toggle? Would be interesting to know if that's original - mine doesn't have it and neither did Bathiki's. His was from the same factory/period as yours. Yours was made by Yamaki Gakki, and is, I think, spectacularly rare, particularly in that colour. I will have to do a bit of checking but there are some MIJ geeks I know who will probably be quite wildly excited by this bass. Yeah, they are worse than me... You'll probably ignore me but I'd try to put it back to original - it's really only the bridge & knobs that have been swapped. Would've had bog-standard speed knobs, possibly knurled (mine has those), probably gold. The original bridges on Yamaki Washburns looked like this: Basically a BBOT with big brass bogseat saddles. This is available new, although I'm not sure if it's a drop-in replacement, I'd guess probably not. And I really, really, really don't think you should refinish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 That bridge is quite similar in concept to my YG made Washburn guitar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted March 5, 2020 Author Share Posted March 5, 2020 9 hours ago, Bassassin said: Delighted someone on here grabbed that, bit surprised it wasn't @AndyTravis though... Interesting that it's so wide at the nut - my fretted SB40 is dead-on 40mm. However mine was made in a different factory to yours, and there are various other differences. Is that a micro-switch just under the toggle? Would be interesting to know if that's original - mine doesn't have it and neither did Bathiki's. His was from the same factory/period as yours. Yours was made by Yamaki Gakki, and is, I think, spectacularly rare, particularly in that colour. I will have to do a bit of checking but there are some MIJ geeks I know who will probably be quite wildly excited by this bass. Yeah, they are worse than me... You'll probably ignore me but I'd try to put it back to original - it's really only the bridge & knobs that have been swapped. Would've had bog-standard speed knobs, possibly knurled (mine has those), probably gold. The original bridges on Yamaki Washburns looked like this: Basically a BBOT with big brass bogseat saddles. This is available new, although I'm not sure if it's a drop-in replacement, I'd guess probably not. And I really, really, really don't think you should refinish it. Hey John, funny thing is I realised just after posting that the Badass III isn't going to work due to the staggered string alignment. So, I was about to PM you last night! Then, as if by magic, you posted, so I was going to order one from the link you kindly provided. And then as if by magic again, I received a PM from Greg/Shaggy saying he's got a spare of the exact same bridge hanging around which I can have. I love this place. Thanks all And re refin, I don't know why I worry about such things, it's a really silly thing to do, costs a lot of money, takes the bass away for a couple of months, and makes no difference to the quality of the bass at all (unless you believe the nitro/breath versus poly/restrict argument. Which I don't). So rest assured that it's staying as it is; I'm just going to enjoy playing it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 20 hours ago, Beedster said: Not my usual taste in basses, but once brought to my attention by Andy and John, I couldn't resist, especially given that it - or an instrument very very similar to it - was responsible for the bass parts on my fave album of all time, parts that I have been learning for about 10 years! What do I love? The nut is close to 45mm, the board is pretty much flat, the PUPs are light years apart, and it's bloody light. What do I not like? The colour Should be strung through, so a Badass III is going on at the weekend. The board is going to receive a damn good oiling at the same time. At some point in the future the finish may come off also. But in the meantime, I'm going to Graceland Excellent! I've always liked that shape. 19 hours ago, Beedster said: I'm warming to it already, and although it's probably in my head, it feels very easy to play Diamonds on this compared to my other FLs I wouldn't have thought it would be suited to Jet Harris stuff, but there you go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 My Aria SB I just acquired is the same sort of nicotine yellow when it was originally Pearl white. I really can't be bothered refinishing it, as you say it does nothing for the quality of the bass and will cost stupid money. Glad you've got the bass of your dreams, I think it looks stunning and should sound the nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, Beedster said: Hey John, funny thing is I realised just after posting that the Badass III isn't going to work due to the staggered string alignment. So, I was about to PM you last night! Then, as if by magic, you posted, so I was going to order one from the link you kindly provided. And then as if by magic again, I received a PM from Greg/Shaggy saying he's got a spare of the exact same bridge hanging around which I can have. I love this place. Thanks all And re refin, I don't know why I worry about such things, it's a really silly thing to do, costs a lot of money, takes the bass away for a couple of months, and makes no difference to the quality of the bass at all (unless you believe the nitro/breath versus poly/restrict argument. Which I don't). So rest assured that it's staying as it is; I'm just going to enjoy playing it. Excellent, I think it's the right decision about the finish. From a purely mercenary POV, these things are collectable these days and in the (hopefully) unlikely event you don't get on with it, keeping it original is best. In a way it's a shame to hide the neck-through build under a solid finish, but the white/cream (or whatever it was 40 years ago!) is very much of its era, and I think very unusual on a Yamaki SB40. Will ask a couple of nerds and see what the consensus is. They may want your s/n for research! Also great news about the bridge, hopefully it'll be a drop-in. This style of bridge turned up on a few basses (oddly quite common on mid/late 80s Korean cheapos, but usually with chrome saddles) but if I remember correctly the Yamaki original had allen key intonation screws. Dunno why I remember this stuff... Edit: Just had a close look at the pics & noticed they're not the original tuners. Are they Schallers? The originals would have been Gotoh GB528s: Always a mystery why people swap decent components for stuff that's no better! Edited March 5, 2020 by Bassassin More geek stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owy Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I have this bass and never knew it's model reference. Thanks for the info about it. Are they worth much? Thanks Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) Cool - any chance of some pics? Can probably tell you a bit about it, if you're interested. Value-wise, these are high-end instruments which are now vintage, pretty rare & starting to become collectable - there's a market for them. Not worth thousands but £400 upwards is reasonable if it's in good, orginal condition. If you want to go full geek with it, I recommend the following FB groups: Washburn Guitars - The Golden Era Daions Online The Daion group is relevant because MIJ Washburns were originally made by Yamaki Gakki, which was Daion's factory of origin & owned by the same family. Yamaki's chief designer Hirotsugu Teradaira designed the MIJ Washburn range and occasionally contributes to the group. Edited July 18, 2020 by Bassassin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owy Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 On 18/07/2020 at 14:47, Bassassin said: H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Blimey - didn't realise it was the exact same bass as @Beedster's. Clearly these are like buses, you don't see one for 35 years then two come along at once... So yes, everything I said about the other one applies to yours - made by Yamaki Gakki, looks like '81 from the serial. Original components on yours, shame about the broken tuner but the modern equivalent Gotoh would be a drop-in replacement. Is the damage at the back of the neck just cosmetic? Apart from that it does look to be in pretty decent original condition, from what I can see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owy Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Thanks, it's an old sticker that's on the neck, so it will come off - not damage. I only noticed the peg after I'd posted the pics - hasn't affected the tuning though. I was 6 when he made it and I've gone 'full geek' and joined the groups you mentioned - thanks again! I've had it for about 27 years - only changed the volume / tone dials. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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