A Fairy Tale Price

[ash]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404250703684?hash=item5e1f383744%3Ag%3Axb4AAOSwEOlkPnR4&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwOg6G%2Frh740EEJPzYdzXzPf%2FuNFYXhX3pZlj3xsbLOm2swl%2B1z4Ex%2FlOsWmLA9vmEA850wAdwQzw0iOMGoHf3HyJea3aJ2z%2F7eJ%2F%2FktgBJbX3wUnAN2NgAXUGOnz0wpcMZLo935D8TqtKDVGDJoTQ9D17%2BG1oqN6Ct5Yxu2OaqEZxVrd5P3ScoJ7JEOHqtYmQIFpOV9mH%2B8J%2FgoYl322WkIMWZcY%2BWvMd0oXEDpvcnOaOTGVLb1%2BxFkBtn3bcY1TfA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4jInsDyYQ&LH_ItemCondition=3000

[Reggaebass]

Never heard of that make, looks like a decent jazz, but not for that money 

[ash]

4 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Never heard of that make, looks like a decent jazz, but not for that money 

Exactly - £400 would be plenty. 

[warwickhunt]

Ooooh a 'Lawsuit' bass... they are my favourites; there are more of them than there are 'none lawsuit' basses.    

[tegs07]

Wasn’t the only lawsuit Gibson vs Ibanez (Hoshino) due to an almost identical headstock and nothing to do with Fender?

 

PS not heard of this particular brand. More seem to crawl out of the woodwork all the time at prices that make genuine Fenders look like a bargain.

Edited April 18, 2023 by tegs07

[BigRedX]

Action looks high, including at the nut. Interestingly no photos of the back of the bass....

[Bassassin]

5 hours ago, tegs07 said:

Wasn’t the only lawsuit Gibson vs Ibanez (Hoshino) due to an almost identical headstock and nothing to do with Fender?

 

PS not heard of this particular brand. More seem to crawl out of the woodwork all the time at prices that make genuine Fenders look like a bargain.

 

Absolutely correct - apart from the tiny detail that no lawsuit ever took place. Gibson/Norlin issued their notification of intended legal action against Elger Hoshino in June 1977, presumably oblivious to the fact that Ibanez headstock shapes on their Gibson copies had been changed to be non-infringing a year earlier. None of the other US manufacturers took legal action (Fender would have been on iffy ground, having piched their best-known headstock design from Bigsby), and in fact there's an arguable case that Hoshino have more of a claim to Rickenbacker's designs than Rickenbacker themselves...

 

I've heard of most 70s & 80s Japanese brands, but strangely, not 'Fairytale'. Could be an incredibly obscure Japan-only marque, or perhaps the clue's in the name.

 

Edit - Done a quick bit of digging & Fairytale was a brand owned by Swiss dealer Musik Kuhn in Zurich. This comes from a 2006 forum discussion & MIJ knowledge has expanded somewhat since then, but the suggestion was they were either Matsumoku or Fujigen.

 

Moving on, I found this, which is neither:

 

https://www.vintageandrare.com/product/Fairytale-Jazz-Bass-70s-Reissue-1975-Natural-55695#prettyPhoto

 

That's a pretty generic early/mid 70s J copy, and the truss cover shape & 6-bolt plate suggest it's made by Moridaira. Mats & Fgn never used plates like that.

 

Also found a very replica-y looking ES345 copy:

 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/29921483-fairytale-es-345-stereo-ca-1978-japan-walnut

 

More in line with the level of the bass we're discussing, high quality but nothing particularly unusual, tbh.

 

Anyway, I'm bored now, think I'll go out on me bike while it's still sunny.

Edited April 18, 2023 by Bassassin

[prowla]

At first I thought someone was telling stories...

 

[BetaFunk]

On 18/04/2023 at 12:05, Reggaebass said:

Never heard of that make, looks like a decent jazz, but not for that money 

I think that Fairytale were the house brand of Musikhaus Kuhn in Zurich in the 70s. 

 

There was a Fairytale ES-345 copy on Reverb a few years ago for over £1,000