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Vintage MIJ (formerly J@pCr@p) Spotting

Bassassin

By Bassassin,
in eBay - Weird and Wonderful

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Annoying Twit Proficient

Annoying Twit

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Wow! To my eyes at least this looks <little britain voice>ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!!</little britain voice> Aria Pro 2 "Super Bass". I like the shape, the grain, everything.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-pro-II-super-bass-amp-and-effects-pedal_W0QQitemZ190370865092QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2c52fcdfc4"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-pro-II-super-ba...=item2c52fcdfc4[/url]

Edit: reserve a bit high for me. Not that I'm saying it isn't worth it, but I'm not ready to spend that much on an instrument. Yet?!?!?

Edited by Annoying Twit
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2x18 Mentor

2x18

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Aria Cardinal 380

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Pro-II-SG-Cardinal-Series_W0QQitemZ290399301582QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item439d25afce"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Pro-II-SG-Cardi...=item439d25afce[/url]

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2x18 Mentor

2x18

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Grantson EB2 Copy

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Rare-Gibson-EB2-Bass-Guitar-Replica-Cherry_W0QQitemZ300393688220QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item45f0dbec9c"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Rare-Gibson-...=item45f0dbec9c[/url]

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2x18 Mentor

2x18

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Avon Grabber copy

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-1970s-Avon-Gibson-Grabber-Bass-Copy-MIJ-Japan_W0QQitemZ320484181010QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item4a9e588412"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-1970s-Avon-G...=item4a9e588412[/url]

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Jerry_B Community Regular

Jerry_B

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[quote name='2x18' post='735804' date='Feb 5 2010, 08:38 AM']Avon Grabber copy

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-1970s-Avon-Gibson-Grabber-Bass-Copy-MIJ-Japan_W0QQitemZ320484181010QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item4a9e588412"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-1970s-Avon-G...=item4a9e588412[/url][/quote]

Now that [i]is[/i] ugly. Looks like it should be launched out of a 1980's-era Battlestar Galactica mothership :)

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warwickhunt Grand Master

warwickhunt

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This is a long shot and there may not be a simple answer but...

My very first bass was a short scale Gibson 'SG' EB? style jap cr4p bass. I have a very hazy recollection of it; it may have been NT rather than BO and it was period correct red stain mahogany with appropriate 2 aside headstock, but is there a likely candidate for what it may have been? If anyone has pics of any likely candidates I'd love to see, as it may trigger my memory as to the make. I might then try and track one down for old times sake. :)

As I say, it's a long shot! :rolleyes:

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Ou7shined Mentor

Ou7shined

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[quote name='2x18' post='735804' date='Feb 5 2010, 08:38 AM']Avon Grabber copy

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-1970s-Avon-Gibson-Grabber-Bass-Copy-MIJ-Japan_W0QQitemZ320484181010QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item4a9e588412"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-1970s-Avon-G...=item4a9e588412[/url][/quote]
[quote name='numptydumpty' post='736485' date='Feb 5 2010, 06:05 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Avon-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ280459121924QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item414caa9504"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Avon-bass-guitar_W0Q...=item414caa9504[/url]

missed this one[/quote]


It's the same one.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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That's the same bass as the one I had (not the same same - but you know what I mean) and to be honest I picked mine up for £50 delivered, did the usual strip, clean, polish & setup, kept it for a couple of months until I satisfied myself I didn't get on with it & wouldn't gig it - then 'Bayed it at 99p, no reserve. I think I got £185.

If I'd seen this one at £30 I would have been all over it - and probably ended up doing the same thing. These are really good, accurate & well-made copies of the real deal - in fact put a Gibson neckplate, trc & transfer on it & most people would be hard-pressed to spot the knockoff. Apart from EvilLordJuju. :)

J.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='736483' date='Feb 5 2010, 06:04 PM']This is a long shot and there may not be a simple answer but...

My very first bass was a short scale Gibson 'SG' EB? style jap cr4p bass. I have a very hazy recollection of it; it may have been NT rather than BO and it was period correct red stain mahogany with appropriate 2 aside headstock, but is there a likely candidate for what it may have been? If anyone has pics of any likely candidates I'd love to see, as it may trigger my memory as to the make. I might then try and track one down for old times sake. :)

As I say, it's a long shot! :rolleyes:[/quote]

Did it have a brand name? Not very many of them were set-neck so if it definitely was, that would probably narrow it down a lot.

The problem is that there were literally dozens of different brands & factories all copying the same instrument - and being copies they all tend to look pretty similar!

J.

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warwickhunt Grand Master

warwickhunt

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='736860' date='Feb 6 2010, 12:38 AM']Did it have a brand name? Not very many of them were set-neck so if it definitely was, that would probably narrow it down a lot.

The problem is that there were literally dozens of different brands & factories all copying the same instrument - and being copies they all tend to look pretty similar!

J.[/quote]

That's where my quest fails me; I was hoping that seeing a couple of headstocks with names on might jog my memory but alas off the top of my head I can't recall. The set-neck isn't even a definite but I seem to recall that at the time I decided not to refinish the bass (as I did the short scale Jazz I subsequently got), so I'm assuming it was because the neck was fixed. Don't worry about it I just wondered if there was a resource/website that might show some of the copy basses from this period (which would have been the mid 70's as I recall getting it around 78 and it wasn't beaten up).

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='736923' date='Feb 6 2010, 07:50 AM']That's where my quest fails me; I was hoping that seeing a couple of headstocks with names on might jog my memory but alas off the top of my head I can't recall. The set-neck isn't even a definite but I seem to recall that at the time I decided not to refinish the bass (as I did the short scale Jazz I subsequently got), so I'm assuming it was because the neck was fixed. Don't worry about it I just wondered if there was a resource/website that might show some of the copy basses from this period (which would have been the mid 70's as I recall getting it around 78 and it wasn't beaten up).[/quote]
There's no one resource for old JapCrap basses (not yet - haven't got around to building that website!) but there are lots of pics out there & quite a few catalogue shots. I've only had one EB0 copy, which was this:

[attachment=41894:front.jpg][attachment=41895:headf.jpg]
[attachment=41896:headb.jpg][attachment=41897:back.jpg]

This is a fairly typical low/mid quality example - bolt neck, ply body, pretend mudbucker (there's a little single coil hiding in there). The brand itself is fairly uncommon, though and the exact same bass was sold with a variety of different names.

Can you remember any of the hardware details? These also appear with two pickups & 2x V & T controls, 3-point bridges, bridge ashtrays, block markers or offset dots etc.

A list of names might help jog your memory:

Columbus, Grant, Grantson, Avon, CMI, CSL, Sumbro, Zenta, Antoria, Jedson, Arbiter, Shaftesbury, Eros, Kimbara, Sakai, Saxon, Pearl, Cimar, Hohner, JooDee, Hondo, Kasuga, Maya, Aria, Aria Pro II, Ibanez, Tokai.

These were all brands available in the UK (about half of these are UK importers' own brands) and this is far from a complete list. Many, many more existed outside the UK but could have found their way here, and lots of imported guitars were sold unbranded - so yours might never have had a name in the first place.

To muddy the waters even further, the 70s copies weren't all from the Far East - Italian brands Melody & Gherson are often mistaken for JapCrap, & some of the early UK - branded copies were built by Eko. There were some nice German Hoyer copies but these were a bit more individual than the run-of-the-mill JapCrap - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=71718"]and we have 2 of 'em in this very parish[/url].

It might be an idea to start a thread about this somewhere more visible - this is a pretty dusty & out-of-the-way corner of BC!

Anyway - I'll see if I can find a few more pics of different varieties of EB copy.

J.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='737280' date='Feb 6 2010, 03:08 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Westone-Thunder-I-A-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ280461651836QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item414cd12f7c"]Thunder 1A with soapbar variant. Also appears to be broken in half and taped back together.[/url][/quote]

His pet wildebeest's been chewing on the headstock as well, by the looks.

J.

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Musky Proficient

Musky

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[quote name='spinynorman' post='735685' date='Feb 5 2010, 12:09 AM']Commodore Hollowbody, Hideous Headstock

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220547817090"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=220547817090[/url][/quote]

No bids? :)

I would have been all over that if I seen it before the auction finished. Mind you, the girlfriend would have probably been all over me if I'd bought it, and not in a good way. :rolleyes:

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nick Proficient

nick

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[quote name='Musky' post='737502' date='Feb 6 2010, 06:44 PM']No bids? :)

I would have been all over that if I seen it before the auction finished. Mind you, the girlfriend would have probably been all over me if I'd bought it, and not in a good way. :rolleyes:[/quote]

I've got one of those, albeit with a more tasteful headstock & in red/black sunburst.
It's a cracking bass, wish I'd seen that listing.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='Musky' post='737502' date='Feb 6 2010, 06:44 PM']No bids? :)

I would have been all over that if I seen it before the auction finished. Mind you, the girlfriend would have probably been all over me if I'd bought it, and not in a good way. :rolleyes:[/quote]

It's presumably been cancelled by the seller - no way would that have got no bids. He's either had an offer he can't refuse or chickened out of the 99p start.

That's a nice old early Matsumoku, probably late 60s, these strange headstocks pre-date the open-book type.

J.

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