Bassassin

Have you tried flexing the neck back to remove tension from the rod when you try to slacken the nut?

If you were 12 in 1974, perhaps. But not if you were a snotty little road bike snob, like I am I mean was. Real ones in good condition (the proper 70s death traps) go for seriously stupid money these days. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/raleigh-chopper-mk1/183147735002

That'll be similar, but not identical. Korean, made by Cort, like this one: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/322758-tried-to-buy-this/

Branded Kay, made by Cort. Cort did a whole bunch of guitars & basses based around that through-neck template, all identifiable by the (rather sexy) triple dot brass inlays. These turn up branded Cort (obviously) but with plenty of other names - Targa, D'Agostino & Lotus are three that spring to mind. Speaking of which, I'd love to add one of these to my collection of neck-divey, symmetrical body, single-P basses that I never play: Cor(t) blimey!

Blazers are getting a bit scarce & prices are going up as a result - I'd be keen to keep it standard if it was mine. Blazer necks do come up but not very often. Have you tried stacking washers under the truss nut to give it a bit more scope for adjustment? I've had good results doing this with maxed-out rods. As far as replacing it's concerned, I think all Blazer necks were one-piece maple, so the truss will have been fitted under the skunk stripe. Don't know if this makes any difference to actually replacing it, but would think some refinishing to the back of the neck would be unavoidable.

Appears to be an abandoned project that's had a lot of work put into it - stripped & looks like an oil refin, new hardware, very nice looking wooden control cover. Wonder why it's been abandoned? I had one of these which would've been lovely aside from two things - the neck was twisted, and the bridge (standard BBOT) was unadjustably high & would have had to be routed into the body to lower it enough to be properly playable. The pickups, on the other hand, sounded great. Wonder if it's my old one?

It's not - it's a (fairly) recent reissue. Two-part seat, no stick shift, alloy cranks. Ain't no Mark One. The idea of some hipster converting this into a fixie is genuinely hilarious, though.

Brutally expensive unfortunately - these (under about 15 different brands) usually go for around £150. Nothing to do with Matsumoku although the jury's out among MIJ aficionados who the guilty party was. A version of this appears branded Fernandes, a brand apparently made by Kawai and Tokai Gakki at different times. I think the construction & some of the detail looks like Kasuga. Really nice-looking basses, would be very tempted to grab one at a decent price. Although I should know better - I've had way too many neck-heavy, symmetrical body, single-P Japanese basses already!

The Thunder came in passive & active versions & both basses used the same pickup - the spec refers to it as an HF600B. A lot of the pickups in older MIJ guitars were made by Maxon or Gotoh. http://www.westone.info/cats/82/12.html

Look on the bright side - the maple fingerboard at least means it won't be impounded & then destroyed by UK customs for breaching the new CITES reguations!

Interesting one - never seen a bolt-neck Jack before, or a passive p/j for that matter. Does look a bit of a state, & the active through-necks do still turn up for sub £200 prices from time to time, so this is probably a bit dear for a low-end project. Always had a bit of GAS for a j/j through-neck Jack.

I've owned 2x MIJ Squier Precisions & a more recent VMJ fretless - all excellent instruments that I'd happily gig or record with anytime. Here's a band I'm particularly fond of - OK, the song's a 9-minute prog epic but you won't need to watch too long to see what Jon Poole (Cardiacs, Wildhearts & dozens of sessions) gigs with - last time I saw them he also used a very beat-up Squier VMJ as well as the P/J. Might just be me being "inattentive" but I'd love my basses to sound like that live.

It's a 70s copy-era bass, probably MIJ. The tuners are Gotohs and incredibly common on basses from that period. Looks to be one of the better quality basses, it appears to have a solid timber body, rather than ply or butcher block - there are no big black oversprays concealing laminations on the contours. A lot of these basses originally had Gibson-type nuts & looking closely I think this did too - there's a rough-looking bit of timber poked in behind the nut on this. Looks a bit bodged. I don't think the scratchplate's original - most maple board/burst MIJ copies had tort plates. Not enough detail or pics to speculate on a manufacturer but clearly nothing to do with Fender. Depends how cheap it is - some of the old MIJ stuff was excellent & if this was sub £100 it might be worth a look anyway.

Agree with Jack - this was a pretty generic late 80s/early 90s format, the Ibanez SoundGear range being the most successful & still going strong. I think the Tune Bass Maniacs were the first but if you look through old brochures (like saddos such as me do), every Japanese & Korean manufacturer did a version of this in the early 90s. So, looks like a Hohner version of that style - looks a bit different to the B-Bass to me - weren't those basically the Hohner Jack with a headstock?

Yeah man, I need to get out more.

Interesting - never seen one of these in the UK before. Lotus was a US-only brand so someone's imported it here. Firstly it's not MIJ - these are Korean, made by Cort. Check out the sexy brass triple-dot inlays - identical to the Cort-made, Kay-branded double cut basses & guitars that frequently turn up. Cort made a variety of body styles based around the same neck-through basis & they all feature this fretboard. Confusingly, this is actually a Korean copy of a Japanese copy of a Japanese made Washburn original. In the early 80s Moridaira made a range of very good guitars & basses which were direct copies of models from the Washburn Wing range - these appeared branded as Hohner, Morris, and in the US, Lotus. It seems that when Moridaira ceased manufacture of these, Lotus' brand owner contracted Cort to build similar instruments based on the same design. II'm not as yet aware of these Cort Wings being sold under other brands, but have seen several Lotuses, both guitar & bass versions. Quite relieved it's not a P/J, might be sorely tempted to take a punt if it was!

Fernandes FRB series, 90s onward, basically Fernandes' take on the SGC Nanyo/ Ibanez SR/ Bass Maniac style thing. Think the 4-a-side headstock versions are 32" scale. Not sure about this one, would be entirely unsurprised if it was Korean rather than Japaneeese. Not American in any way, though.

If it's poly, then T-Cut does an awesome job. Never tried it on that nitrocellulose rubbish though.

That's quite hilariously hideous. Looks for all the world like some wonky home-made bodge job.

Sadly the more pertinent question might be whether the UK will receive shipment. Not all new models get released internationally and the UK is likely seen as a minor and somewhat conservative market. Unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me if they don't come here, just like all the gorgeous variations on Aria SB basses don't.

That's the 1991 original, hand-built, impossibly hi-spec, and virtually unobtainable. I missed one on Ebay about 10 years ago for stupidly little money. @alembic1989 is referring to the forthcoming reissue, described as "affordable". http://geargods.net/namm-2018/ibanez-to-reissue-affirma-bass-in-2018-namm-2018/ Looking forward to seeing some specs/pics. Might be persuaded to part with my orange plastic EDA900 & upgrade...

Young musicians looking at bands like Rush in the same way we might look at classical composers is reeeeaaaaal f*cking odd!

Immaculately performed but - the chances are those kids' parents weren't born when that album was released, in 1976. That just feels really odd...

The Chinese system pictured above is a copy of the unit used on the 80s & 90s Hohner B2 & Jack basses - which was a licensed Steinberger design. I have 2 basses with the Steingberger licensed units (which are excellent) but no experience of the copy system. If I was planning a headless build, I'd definitely be considering the Chinese system ahead of the more expensive alternatives.

I'd do a bit of research first - this looks like a generic modern J copy with an Eko decal on the head. There have been some recent Chinese-made Eko "reissues" and I strongly suspect this is from that era. No way is this a 70s Recanti classic.