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Vintage MIJ (formerly J@pCr@p) Spotting


Bassassin

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+1 on all of that Jon.
I literally had my head in my hands last night. Context is everything, in this instance it's a term of endearment .

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Calling a person a 'Jap' and taking a pejorative term and instead using it to describe instruments that we love and wish to share information on are two quite different things.

Anyway check out this lovely bit of 'Jap Crap' - left-handed too! [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Very-Collectable-Westone-Thunder-111-Lefthanded-Fretless-Bass-/161314407667?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item258f1684f3"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item258f1684f3[/url]

Edited by chaypup
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I avoid using the term myself. I do know that Japanese people themselves don't like the term "Jap", and that is enough for me to not use it, or "JapCrap" personally. (if anyone searches, I've probably used it at least once.) I don't interpret the usage on this forum to be intended to offend, but that it is ironic usage as Jon says, and I'd agree it's a term of endearment. However, I feel that it wouldn't be a bad thing or over the top PC if we found a new phrase to use, such as "classic MIJ era" for the instruments.

Or, we could canvas the opinions of some Japanese people on the matter, and see what they say.

Edited by Annoying Twit
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Second time he's listed that, same price & no bids first time. I'm a bit of a Kasuga fanboy but this doesn't look like one of the more accurate copies, and imo is a bit too much of a project for £120.

I think it's had one of those 8-pole single-coil pups originally, like this:

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:69930]

So replacing the J unit (which might well be a DiMarzio) would require more than a new scratchplate - you'd either have to route it for a P unit or fit a mini-Mudbucker type, in which case you'd have to make a scratchplate or pay someone to make one. If he wanted £50 I'd probably be tempted...

J.

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Maya Jazz pickup only in Andover with an electrical fault. I must admit that when I see a passive bass with no sound, I have quite optimistic thoughts about the possibility of fixing it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maya-electric-bass-guitar-/321417004541?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4ad5f245fd

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[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1401015079' post='2459056']
It occurs to me that it's probably an offensive term in North America (and probably other English speaking countries like Australia & NZ) because significant numbers of people of Japanese origin live in those countries. In the UK there's been little or no immigration from Japan, so there's less perception of the term as an expression of bigotry - at least not that I've ever been aware of.
[/quote]

In other countries, Jap is the pejorative term. In the UK, Nip is the pejorative for Japanese, Jap is just an abbreviation.

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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1401282441' post='2461989']
Maya Jazz pickup only in Andover with an electrical fault. I must admit that when I see a passive bass with no sound, I have quite optimistic thoughts about the possibility of fixing it.

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maya-electric-bass-guitar-/321417004541?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4ad5f245fd"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4ad5f245fd[/url]
[/quote]

Looks like the control plate isn't screwed on and two knobs are missing, which is a reasonable indicator that someone without much clue has been rummaging (if they had got a clue, they'd have fixed it). If you're fairly confident of picking up a soldering iron by the right end, worst case scenario is a brace of cheapie pickups (£15) and maybe a set of pots (under a fiver I should think). If you can use a multimeter too, you're way ahead of the game...

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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Black-Kawai-Aquarius-Bass-Guitar-Good-Condition-/201099089557?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2ed2709695

Kawai Aquarius I say, smoothly pretending that I knew all along that there was an instrument called a Kawai Aquarius, rather than only reading about it for the first time when I saw this listing.

Headstock looks a bit Aria Pro II SB Special II.

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I get so cross nowadays with this constant PC rubbish based on a perceived insult by someone else! Here in the UK, I've not heard anyone refer to someone as a 'Nip' for years. So it's so easy to be out of date. Looking back a little, what is the difference between calling us 'Brits' and the Japanese 'Japs'? Nothing whatsoever. The name itself can be turned into an insult simply by the way it's said - so (as to not cause offence to others) 'Brit' said with a smile and a suitable voice is perfectly acceptable, while 'Brit' spoken as a curse could be a big insult. Until somebody produces a directory of acceptable words, with a time limit on the currency, it's all pointless. Back when I bought, aged 17, a Kawai Strat, it was referred to as 'Jap Crap' by those who didn't know, but now, crap, as a quality term can be applied to almost any make, including the big name brands sometimes, on those guitars that got away.

Is it really ok for a rapper to walk out in front of an audience and mother Fu**** this and use any language he likes to curse, under the guise of this language being acceptable. Yet on a forum like this, we can't say 'Jap'? The world has gone mad. A forum, about my home town deals mainly in local news and opinion. We have a group of people in the UK, previously known as gypsies - but now they have to be called 'travellers' - and they move into an area in caravans, cause huge public order trouble, with the police and the local councils up in arms. They get a court order, and they get moved on - this takes three weeks, and they simply move twenty miles and do it again. There is evidence that local petty crime goes up when they are in the area, they destroy the local environment, and often they kill local ornamental wild ducks that exist in our parklands - which the kids feed. Their kids don't go to school, and pretty well they're despised, right or wrong. The local forum have no mention of it - so I asked why, and was told that they'd been advised that even allowing posts using the word 'traveller', rather than gypsy were racist, so the topic is a no go area.

Please let's not do this to a music forum. There seems to be a problem with insinuating lesser products with big names come from Mexico. Chinese products are always described as crap, and the other Asian products don't do very well either. Indian kit is also tagged as poor - but nobody mentions Pakistan, because shortening that one here is a real 'no no' - really offensive.

It's impossible to keep everyone happy

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Re the entire "JapCrap" issue - I've been contacted by a BC mod regarding this, and there is no problem with continuing to use the title. No-one has been upset by it enough to protest in the 7 years the thread's been alive & active and realistically that's enough to conclude that the context is fully understood by everybody who reads the thread, and it really isn't an issue here.

For me, it's just a joke title, not a crusade, and I'd be willing to change it if there seemed to be a massive degree of genuine antipathy towards it - but there doesn't so I won't. And I'm not the kind of person who feels that just because Americans want/believe something, then I should feel pressured to comply. That's the sort of thinking that could make a British Prime Minister lie to their electorate, and end up becoming an untried war criminal, isn't it?

This thread exists for the purpose of discussing Ebay, Gumtree & other listings of vintage (and later) Japanese, Korean etc basses that might be interesting to people with a mindset that goes beyond 60-year old American designs. I think perhaps the discussion on political correctness and the right to take offence and demand censorship on behalf of people who probably don't know they're supposed to be offended should take place in Off Topic. That might be interesting. :)

Meanwhile - Kawai Aquarius? You don't see many of them - although I did miss out on a completely white-painted (including the fretboard) one about 5 years ago. Still, I managed to find a Kawai Sleekline, which made me feel a bit better...

J.

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[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1401559424' post='2464781']
Can we still call you a Scot?
[/quote]
Go on, then - it's not actually an insult, just wildly inaccurate! :P

J.

Edit - just had a thought - does Alan at ACG make ScotGrot? :lol:

Edited by Bassassin
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[quote name='wotsy' timestamp='1402022148' post='2469312']
Grabber copy by Avon:
[url="http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/151318704525?nav=SEARCH"]http://m.ebay.co.uk/...4525?nav=SEARCH[/url]
[/quote]
I had one of these, with the logo sensibly scraped off. Very, very accurate copy, sounded pretty decent too. Mine could've done with some fret fettling, which was a little beyond the scope of my abilities at the time.

J.

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[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1401705830' post='2465945']
[url="http://store.ishibashi.co.jp/ec/pro/disp/1/20-326758102"]Greco GOB2 750 on Ishibashi[/url]
[/quote]

Hiya.

A man of great taste - one of my all time greats.

Anyone who has a leaning towards this - get it - you will not be disappointed with it.

A great bass!!

Cheers. :)

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Random 80s style bass. Not familiar with the brand Asama, but thread is here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/44342-asama-bass/"]http://basschat.co.u...342-asama-bass/[/url] which references: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/42521-look-at-this-weird-70s-bass/

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Asama-Bass-Guitar-/111375178879?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19ee7a5c7f"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item19ee7a5c7f[/url]

Edited by Annoying Twit
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That's interesting & rather cool at the same time. But why are these old MIJ neckthroughs always a: fitted with a Precision pickup and b: collection only?

Reading throught the guff I wrote about Asama, and the other brands the same instruments sometimes appeared with, I seem to remember that I subsequently discovered a circuitous route to reach the conclusion that some of them were made by Kawai. Perhaps.

J.

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