Vintage MIJ (formerly J@pCr@p) Spotting

[Annoying Twit]

Yes, I thought that the Carolina wood used in some basses is a type of pine. [url="http://www.capitalcrispin.com/pine_carolina.aspx"]http://www.capitalcrispin.com/pine_carolina.aspx[/url]

My Rockbass is made from Carolina, and has the typical wide spaced growth rings underneath what looks like about an inch layer of poly.

Search on "Ikeacaster" to find people making telecasters out of cheap pine wood shelving material from Ikea.

Edited October 1, 2010 by Annoying Twit

[Happy Jack]

Until the barrel nut works loose and the neck falls off ...

[noelk27]

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='973493' date='Oct 1 2010, 06:55 AM']Swamp Ash usually gets labelled as such, as we expect to see that as a tonewood; but pine needs a bit of er... marketing.[/quote]

Go back a few years and you'd not find any manufacturer using Swamp Ash - being wood that had been reclaimed. Basically, dead wood that had been soaked, it was seen as being inferior. Now there's even a fashion for diseased wood - Spalted Maple - and you'll find manufacturers such as Gibson using particle board for the caps on guitars across its range. Personally, not seeing any issues with a nice piece of Pine. Might even have the added advantage of freshening many an EMO's bedroom.

Edited October 1, 2010 by noelk27

[Soloshchenko]

Ibanez Musician project. Wouldn't mind having a go at that myself.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Musician-Bass-guitar-project-spares-/280568802077?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4153342b1d"]ibanez[/url]

[tino]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='968661' date='Sep 26 2010, 06:24 PM']Here's the link:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270635291014"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270635291014[/url]

Looks nice, obviously depending on condition. I think it's a Fujigen J copy, fairly early 70s going on the tuners, pickups & trc. It's had a headstock pin badge, which from the outline I'm fairly sure was Eros (compare it to the one on [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=31025502980"]this rather nice EB-3 copy[/url]), which would support the age & the Fujigen theory. Early Eros guitars were sourced form Fujigen & Matsumoku - I had a Fujigen Tele & Mat LP, and the EB-3 is a Mat.

I think if you can get it for around the £100 mark it would be something of a bargain, assuming everything's OK.

J.[/quote]
I feel you are absolutely correct....had it to peices today PUPs are Maxon and lo & behold they work....its the control plate pots etc that are at fault,the neck is very nice with absolutely no fretwear but the body needs some love and a few coats of cellulose luminous green maywell get the vote ,tuners came up real good with a bit of spit and polish.....the bridge has all but had it but thats a relatively cheap fix in the big scheme of things...
For Luminous green please read Olympic White....the GD was looking as I was typing

Seen and all singing & all dancing control plate on Ebay USA with 28 different variations so thinking pop that baby in...could end up with something very nice for less than 200 sovs


T

[Bassassin]

[quote name='tino' post='975064' date='Oct 2 2010, 03:17 PM']I feel you are absolutely correct....had it to peices today PUPs are Maxon and lo & behold they work....its the control plate pots etc that are at fault,the neck is very nice with absolutely no fretwear but the body needs some love and a few coats of cellulose luminous green maywell get the vote ,tuners came up real good with a bit of spit and polish.....the bridge has all but had it but thats a relatively cheap fix in the big scheme of things...
For Luminous green please read Olympic White....the GD was looking as I was typing

Seen and all singing & all dancing control plate on Ebay USA with 28 different variations so thinking pop that baby in...could end up with something very nice for less than 200 sovs


T[/quote]
Ooh - interesting, seen a few of these pups but never with a brand stamp. Do they have an ink-stamped number as well? Many Maxxons tend to & you can date them from the serial. Very good news that they work - what are they reading?

J.

[tino]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='975139' date='Oct 2 2010, 04:48 PM']Ooh - interesting, seen a few of these pups but never with a brand stamp. Do they have an ink-stamped number as well? Many Maxxons tend to & you can date them from the serial. Very good news that they work - what are they reading?

J.[/quote]
Yes inkstamped numbers with a sort of engraved Maxon.... no way to test the reading though.......In fact just after my laST post I managed to buy myself a Fender 71 jazz body & neck from a pal that was insistent that he would never sell so Im splitting up this bass and parting it out to pay towards for the parts I need for the Fender....good old recycler that I am....its got a beauty of a neck,nice pups and most of the hardwares good the body needs love but nice basis for a relic....and I cant really undertake 2 projects at this point in time...ones pushing it as far as Mrs T is concerned
Needs Must etc etc etc

I will take a few pics of the pups for your records if you want them

T

[Annoying Twit]

Normally I wouldn't post a bass from the US. But I've never heard of a "Cortley" brand bass. I suppose that back in the day there were loads of micro-brands, the same way the Chinese factories will put "your" brand on a generic instrument. Was Cortley one of these, or was it a better known brand that I just hadn't heard of ye?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-RARE-70s-Cortley-MIJ-P-Bass-Guitar-Case-Blond-/260672279280?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cb14752f0"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-RARE-70s-Cor...=item3cb14752f0[/url]

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='975470' date='Oct 2 2010, 10:07 PM']Normally I wouldn't post a bass from the US. But I've never heard of a "Cortley" brand bass. I suppose that back in the day there were loads of micro-brands, the same way the Chinese factories will put "your" brand on a generic instrument. Was Cortley one of these, or was it a better known brand that I just hadn't heard of ye?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-RARE-70s-Cortley-MIJ-P-Bass-Guitar-Case-Blond-/260672279280?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cb14752f0"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-RARE-70s-Cor...=item3cb14752f0[/url][/quote]
New one on me, but there are probably hundreds of little US brands that were made in such small quantities that they never see the light of day.

Nice-looking bass, but the seller hasn't got a clue what he's on about!

J.

[noelk27]

[url="http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/"]http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/[/url]

[Bassassin]

[quote name='noelk27' post='975615' date='Oct 3 2010, 01:05 AM'][url="http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/"]http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/[/url][/quote]
Thanks for that Noel - bookmarked. Very interesting, genuinely never encountered this brand before. The bass in question appears to be a CB200:

[url="http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/Catalog1P6.html"]http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/Catalog1P6.html[/url]

J.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='tino' post='975165' date='Oct 2 2010, 05:10 PM']Yes inkstamped numbers with a sort of engraved Maxon.... no way to test the reading though.......In fact just after my laST post I managed to buy myself a Fender 71 jazz body & neck from a pal that was insistent that he would never sell so Im splitting up this bass and parting it out to pay towards for the parts I need for the Fender....good old recycler that I am....its got a beauty of a neck,nice pups and most of the hardwares good the body needs love but nice basis for a relic....and I cant really undertake 2 projects at this point in time...ones pushing it as far as Mrs T is concerned
Needs Must etc etc etc

I will take a few pics of the pups for your records if you want them

T[/quote]

Not sure you'll necessarily make much of a profit parting it out - the unusual pups mean that the body, electronics & scratchplate aren't very much use without each other - there would have to be a bunch of people looking to restore the same type of bass & fighting over the parts for them to get decent bids. The neck would do OK on its own, but you're really only talking about £50 or so.

Do it up a bit & sell it complete - sort the wiring, give it a meticulous clean-up, then take some clear, detailed pics & write a good description/listing title & it'll Ebay for a bit more than you paid.

Anyway the pickup codes should be 5 numbers - the first is the pickup model, second the year (2=1972 etc), third the month and the last two the day of the month.

J.

[tino]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='975643' date='Oct 3 2010, 02:03 AM']Not sure you'll necessarily make much of a profit parting it out - the unusual pups mean that the body, electronics & scratchplate aren't very much use without each other - there would have to be a bunch of people looking to restore the same type of bass & fighting over the parts for them to get decent bids. The neck would do OK on its own, but you're really only talking about £50 or so.

Do it up a bit & sell it complete - sort the wiring, give it a meticulous clean-up, then take some clear, detailed pics & write a good description/listing title & it'll Ebay for a bit more than you paid.

Anyway the pickup codes should be 5 numbers - the first is the pickup model, second the year (2=1972 etc), third the month and the last two the day of the month.

J.[/quote]
Pics

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='975630' date='Oct 3 2010, 01:37 AM']Thanks for that Noel - bookmarked. Very interesting, genuinely never encountered this brand before. The bass in question appears to be a CB200:

[url="http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/Catalog1P6.html"]http://cortleyguitars.tripod.com/Catalog1P6.html[/url][/quote]

And they did a Rickenfaker too.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='tino' post='975810' date='Oct 3 2010, 11:06 AM']Pics[/quote]
Cheers for that! August '72, then?

J.

[tino]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='976013' date='Oct 3 2010, 02:41 PM']Cheers for that! August '72, then?

J.[/quote]
Youve talked me into keeping the bugg*r.The neck swayed it...I cant understand how the body got in the condition it is and the neck appears unused.....I think they possibly used it as a cricket bat...
Mrs T is gonna lose it....flowers me thinks may go some way to swaying it. .Yeah like that will do it Possibly 10 days in the Caymans might

Shes already kicked my new Fender.....but there was a smile when the Mesa sold on the Bay

[Bassassin]

[quote name='tino' post='976034' date='Oct 3 2010, 02:55 PM']Youve talked me into keeping the bugg*r.The neck swayed it...I cant understand how the body got in the condition it is and the neck appears unused.....I think they possibly used it as a cricket bat...
Mrs T is gonna lose it....flowers me thinks may go some way to swaying it. .Yeah like that will do it Possibly 10 days in the Caymans might

Shes already kicked my new Fender.....but there was a smile when the Mesa sold on the Bay [/quote]

Just tell her about the massive profit you'll make on the Fender when it's finished.

And that you'll sell it "as soon as the market picks up a bit".

J.

[Annoying Twit]

Iwama bass. Just looks wrong to me. Maybe it's just the single pickup on a Jazz, or is it the body shape?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-EARLY-70S-JAPANESE-IWAMA-JAZZ-SHAPE-BASS-GUITAR-/300476662461?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item45f5ce02bd"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-EARLY-70S-JAPAN...=item45f5ce02bd[/url]

[Soloshchenko]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='977509' date='Oct 4 2010, 07:16 PM']Iwama bass. Just looks wrong to me. Maybe it's just the single pickup on a Jazz, or is it the body shape?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-EARLY-70S-JAPANESE-IWAMA-JAZZ-SHAPE-BASS-GUITAR-/300476662461?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item45f5ce02bd"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-EARLY-70S-JAPAN...=item45f5ce02bd[/url][/quote]

I think it's the odd scratchplate.

[Mr. Foxen]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Westone-Thunder-1A-Bass-/120629916545?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c161a7381"]Westone Thunder 1A with a sensible BIN.[/url]

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='977624' date='Oct 4 2010, 08:44 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Westone-Thunder-1A-Bass-/120629916545?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c161a7381"]Westone Thunder 1A with a sensible BIN.[/url][/quote]

Not anymore, some muppets bid on it. What was the sensible BIN?

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='978016' date='Oct 5 2010, 09:46 AM']Not anymore, some muppets bid on it. What was the sensible BIN?[/quote]

£119 if my neurons have aligned themselves along the earth's ley lines properly. I thought that was sensible, but not a notable bargain. I've seen them go for less than £100 sometimes.

If it sells for less than £119, then of course the muppet would not be a muppet any more

Edited October 5, 2010 by Annoying Twit

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='978063' date='Oct 5 2010, 10:31 AM']£119 if my neurons have aligned themselves along the earth's ley lines properly. I thought that was sensible, but not a notable bargain. I've seen them go for less than £100 sometimes.

If it sells for less than £119, then of course the muppet would not be a muppet any more [/quote]

True, I assumed sensible meant "cheap" or under £100, which I assume it will probably go for more than.
Might get a happy muppet

[Mr. Foxen]

If it was that much of a bargain, I'd have bought it and put it back up at sensible. That's the reason why I'm seeing all these. Anyway, if you fancy it at £119, message the guy, he can cancel the bids, or deal off ebay entirely.

[Annoying Twit]

TSB500 Bass. Matsumoku goodness. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MIJ-MATSUMOKU-TSB-500-BASS-/110595437822?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19c00074fe"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MIJ-MATSUMOKU-TSB-50...=item19c00074fe[/url]