Bassassin

That's how I know about the pups/hardware - still got your old twin-neck! It is so heavy that that light falls into it, but tbh I'm not sure it's a great deal worse than the Peavey T-40 I traded with you! Bought it for my prog band which sadly came to an end not long after, so I've never used in anger. Much to the relief of my back... Might be the original bridge here - it's string-through, and the bridge on it is the type used on early 80s string-through Washburns & other Yamaki basses. Always got to be an MIJ link...

It's the complete bass minus pickups & electronics, by the looks. Tuners look like cheap & nasty replacements, would expect the originals would've been Schallers. It's definitely an interesting project but no idea where you'd find pickups, other than another Blueshift - AFAIK they were unique to these, unusual fitment with back-of-body height adjustment.

It's a very thin coating so fine sandpaper will get it off easily. In fairness you could probably scratch most of it off with your thumbnail! Btw if you get bored with that SRC6, give me a shout!

Related to Paul's Rickenfaker - Diamond is an Aria-related brand & a Matsumoku build, early 70s. I actually have the same bass branded Eros Mk II, unfortunately with a warped neck. If this is decent (and no reason to think it's not) then that's a bit of a steal.

I have one of these, lovely, lovely bass: I also have an '84 RSB Deluxe II, which I've had from new. Was pretty much my only bass for 10+ years but retired when the neck developed an alarming and irepairable twist. It's currently wearing an RSB Straycat neck, which is sadly a completely different profile - so I'm looking for a proper replacement. And finally - that there Cliff Burton bass, an '83 SB Elite I B&G - absolutely beaten to hell and back, modded with a Bart J pickup, rewired by an imbecile and half the original MBII pickup dead, as they are seemingly wont to do. Despite all that, the neck is perfect and it's gorgeous to play. Just very quiet... It's currently in bits waiting for me to have time/motivation to do a sympathetic pseudo-resto, which will largely involve filling the hole where the J pup is, dropping in a Rautia replacement pickup, wiring it properly and giving it a tidy up. And one day, finding a pair of the original knobs - as well as that RSB neck...

They're OK. I remember Maison as a decent midrange MIK brand from the ealy 90s. Had quite a nice time noodling on one of these at a party a few years back, nice player. Couldn't get much of an idea of how it sounded, through a little practice amp & accompanying haze of alcohol.

Four in the entire world, and three of them just happen to be on UK Ebay at exactly the same time. What are the chances etc etc...

Looks like it's the stain. I'd assume the body wings were coloured after they were joined to the neck, & that's a masking error. Just makes it a tiny bit more vile.

That really is quite spectacularly foul.

I think that's the oddest thing about it though. Enough skill's gone into the cutting, shaping & laminating of the neck/body so that it does, on first glance, look like a modded & abused factory-built bass. You see plenty of have-a-go home made instruments that are instantly identifiable by wonky/queasy body shapes, bodged joins & splintery, misaligned routing - this doesn't have too much of that. It does seem to have been quite meticulously copied from the Hohner Jack/B Bass body shape, with a bang-on Gibson Grabber headstock. Where it all goes wrong is the use of cheap pine planks for body wings, and "fretwork" evidently carried out during a power cut. So, I wonder if it was originally a fretless 4, and the fret job & 8-string conversion/perversion was inflicted on it by a subsequent owner.

Not very pretty - but the reason Fenix/Young-Chang got into trouble with Fender is that the original ones looked like this: And that was because, when they thought no-one was looking, they were putting Fenix logos on the same Squiers they were licensed to make! Inevitably, Y-C lost their contract with Fender but carried on selling Fenixes, (with several different non-infringing headstock shapes) for several years. Very good they are too - the one in the pic's mine, and all in all I prefer it to my mid 80s MIJ E-serial Strat.

This looks like a fairly early one - think it's essentially a B2A with a body - same pickups, controls, electronics, and neck dimensions too by the sound of it. Always had a bit of GAS for these - quite fancy the J/J version.

Yes - very tempting - and Thomann sometimes have them for a few quid less... Trouble is, I only need the neck! I've had a rather gorgeous J body sitting around for years, waiting for the right project.

It's a re-list. I'm willing to give the seller the benefit of the doubt and assume it's an error rather than assume he's a loony: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-II-bass-identical-Thunder-III-new-strings-new-Gator-hard-case-/163303451162 That said, there are numerous unassuming little Westones listed at batsh!t prices, for example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weststone-Thunder-1-A-Wine-Red-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Fully-Set-up-Made-In-Japan/291981481509 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-The-Rail-headless-bass-made-in-Japan-1985/302930017224 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-1-Electric-Guitar-1982-with-original-hard-case/253940672863

I got one from China about 10 years ago when I was doing a lot of selling & buying, cost about £3. Quite a cheerful little thing it is, too.

Hard to tell what's going on - poor thing's face is proper smashed in, so it's likely the rear body cracks are connected. However - the cracks on the headstock look like water/damp damage to me, like it's been left in a cold/damp garage or loft for years. No telling what the consequences of that are - I'd want to see it first-hand before I'd risk much more than £60 on it.

Can't see any fretless basses on the site - are they dropping them or are they just well-hidden? I keep GASing over those bound/lined fretless maple necks...

That "SQ" neck is f***ing shocking! This is what an SQ headstock looks like. The s/n is on the bleedin' neckplate!

Pretty sure Jim Reed was one of those brands that was all over Ebay, 10 or so years ago. Some of them looked quite nice - as does that Jazz.

It's not a Kay. Think it's shortscale (look at the bridge position) and it has a zero-fret, suggesting it's pretty early, if it's MIJ. That being the case the pickup & scratchplate are probably not original, as early P type copies didn't have split pickups like this. Can't tell 100% from the pic but it looks like the pup has hex poles, in which case it's possibly a DiMarzio. Offer them a tenner for it.

Agreed - that head's hideous. Quite keen to get hold of one of the maple board fretless J necks for a project though - I'd remodel the head to a Tele shape.

Which was why I didn't bid! Went for a fair bit less than I expected, too.

Driftwood? Throw it back.

As it happens, it was. Not me though, the person in question (who shall remain nameless until such time as they identify themselves!) picked my Vintage MIJ - addled brains about it. Camel was a high-end Japan-only brand owned by Kyowa Shokai, who also sold the Fresher range. So this should be good quality, very rare & hopefully a bargain a £200-odd. Really hope so, gonna feel a bit guilty if it's a dog.

Well spotted - definitely the same hardware & pups. Does look like it's probably a Headway product.