Bassassin

Fair enough to get a 70s MIJ Precision for £69 (total bargain) but I can tell you in no uncertain terms it's nothing to do with Ibanez. That style of logo was never used on 70s copy-era guitars, and the neck plate style with the MIJ stamp on the upper half of the plate was never used by Fujigen Gakki, the factory which made 70s Ibanez. That neckplate style could point to Chushin Gakki, or possibly the Matsumoto City manufacturer's co-op Matsumoto Gakki Seizou Kumiai. That bridge is not what I'd expect to see on an MIJ P copy, so it's possible it's not the original, or might even hint that the bass is a bitsa. Some clear, detailed pics of hardware might help clarify things, but back then there were a lot of different factories making pretty similar/generic Fender copies, which were frequently sold unbranded, so it's unlikely we'd be able to pin down exactly what it is. Always cool/interesting to see though!

Just get a set of cream covers on those SDs (to match the fretboard) & that'll be sorted. 👍

That might explain why it looks sort of lumpy... A proper gold top would look ace too.

Exactly. Picture it with an immaculate gloss black top with that cream binding, matching the bound ebony board. That would look incredible. Would be a bugger for fingerprints, mind.

Nothing to do with Antoria, nothing to do with Japan. These Jag-style basses are from 20 or so years ago, pre-dating Fender's own versions & appearing with various cheapo brands. I quite fancied a 'Stagguar' as a project but never found one for the £50 I'd have been willing to pay.

One of those was the very first 5er I ever saw/played, in Denmark Street Rose-Morris, probably 1985. I had the 4 string RSB Deluxe 2, and wondered if I should've waited & got the 5 instead! That looks in great condition for a 40 year old bass and that's a very good price, considering how few of these you see.

I fully understand how making claims about the origin & pedigree of an unbranded bass is dubious & potentially deceptive - but heresy? Not sure the seller deserves actually being burned at the stake!

I guess so - but 70s JB pickups aren't exactly something you can pick up off Thomann or Gear4Music, so if you really needed a set, your only option might be with a bass attached! If the calculation was to flip the bass for around what you paid for it, it sort of makes sense.

Fair point - I never looked at the fees or calculated a total. It is definitely the same bass - on the headstock there are two chips & a scuff in exactly the same places in both sets of pics. I'm assuming it was bought just for the pickups - wonder what they went in?

Coldplay are the perfect example of a band for people who don't like bands, who play music for people who don't like music - and that's precisely why they are so phenomenally successful.

It's an interesting & quite layered question. I've been trying to think of a band/artist who's objectively rubbish on every level - but I don't have a single example. I can think of any number of bands who have members with no discernible ability - oddly it's usually the vocalist, and even more oddly (or is it?) you can be confident that if they didn't have that vocalist, you'd never have heard of them. As examples I give you Liam Gallagher, Axl Rose, Ian Brown - terrible, terrible nails-on-blackboard 'singers' but all absolutely central to their bands' success, despite the fact you're left thinking the only reason they got to be in their bands in the first place was because it was their van or their PA or something... I think I grew out of the 'that's rubbish because I don't like/get it' mindset by the time I hit my 20s, and while there's a lot of music across all genres that I don't like (I'm a prog fan who thinks Dream Theater are utter dogsh!t, for example) I think I can be analytical enough to appreciate (maybe not the right word) why something works, and usually how, even if I hate it.

Actually - just did what I should've done when the original thread was posted - and look: https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/catalogue/lot/882974bf7db6720157926c6e60ceb460/63b778f7668dabe928d3800924a99077/the-guitar-auction-four-day-sale-including-guitars-e-lot-267/ Sold for £620 (exc. fees) in March last year. So - did the buyer whip out the original Superfluxes, spend £5 on some plastic for a cover plate & then try to flip it for a profit - or are there two black fretless JB Tbirds with no logo out there, turning up within 18 months of each other?

Found a scan of an old JB catalogue from 1977. Interestingly there is a TB (page 10) but I'm not completely convinced the Gumtree fretless is the same. Body shape & control positions look a little different - although considering pics of both are pretty terrible, it's hard to be sure. http://vintage.catalogs.free.fr/johnbirch.pdf Worth a look for the plethroa of curious & downright bizarre stuff John did back then!

Gotoh GB11W might be worth a look... https://g-gotoh.com/product/gb11w/?lang=en

They are - and that daft collar comes loose all the time! The new design's something of an improvement, looks like it's got a hex screw for torque adjustment at the bottom. Speaking of which - if the screw pattern's the same it's a drop-in replacement, non-matching key notwithstanding... https://btnmusic.co.uk/products/yamaha-bass-machine-head-assy?variant=47499549311300