Bassassin

Fascinating reading - I've just had my first go at a Danish oil refin & by complete coincidence, my method was near-identical to yours. From what I'd read I had expected the final result to be a fairly low-key satin finish - and was surprised that the two final coats post-sanding actually left me with a gloss I can pretty much see my ghastly mug in. I was quite taken aback by the quality. So I did find myself wondering if this method of application would work as well for other types of finish. Having read this, I'm quite inspired to have a crack at a thinned varnish or solid colour finish now. Jon.

Can't. Need to stop spending money, I have massive car repair bills incoming. And it's not even my car! J.

Does look like a VS600B to me. Bo'ness is just down the road from me. If I hadn't just had a Daion Performer P copy drop through the door, I'd ask her if she'd let me have the bass on its own for £50... Jon.

Assume no-one else will have noticed. It therefore becomes expedient to silence the guitarist at the appropriate point. If he uses a volume pedal, it's simple, and needs no recourse to violence, unless chastisement is deemed necessary. Otherwise, a smack in the gob with your headstock should do the trick. Jon.

Ooooh! That's a work of art, that is. I was talking about high-end PRSes with a guitarist on another forum yesterday - who's considering dropping £3500 on one. What I said applies here - if I had something like that, I'd be terrified to take it out of its case, never mind gig it. I'll stick with my cheap, bashed-up tat. For the sake of my sanity. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1454024460' post='2965674'] Congrats on the purchase. [/quote] Cheers! It arrived this morning, beautifully packed and perfectly playable despite the bits that need attention.The cracking around the skunk stripe seems minor and is stable as far as I can tell. I think it's more related to very minor damp damage, where condenation's entered a lacquer crack, caused lifting and spread a bit. There's minor damage of this sort around the tuner screws too. Will get some pics sorted and start a NBD thread - but on first impressions I'm delighted with it - it's a proper, replica-standard, genuinely mojo'd 70s rock machine, and far more interesting than anything with "Fender" on the end! J.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1454003040' post='2965304'] That has got to be the worst name for a colour description ever!! Nice looking bass though [url="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Montezuma%27s+revenge"]http://www.urbandict...uma%27s+revenge[/url] [/quote] [i]And[/i] historically inaccurate! Moctezuma, or maybe Motecuzoma, surely? Lovely, lovely Rick. Jon.

Last 5 seconds snipe for me, with my absolute, no-questions maximum bid. You win a few - and in my experience, you lose a lot fewer. And if you do lose - so what, it's Ebay, whatever it was, another one'll be along sooner or later. [i]Whatever[/i] it was. Jon.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1453842482' post='2963407'] That's what YOU think. [/quote] Well, I did say "as far as I know". Gratifying to succeed without even trying though. J.

I have buggered off before (bad real-life stuff about 5 years ago got too much for me so I pretty much backed off from everything) but came back when my life/head etc was in a better place. No intention of doing so again. I've been around since the BW days, I come on pretty much every day but I'm not an incredibly regular or controversial poster, so (as far as I know) I don't get many backs up & don't get annoyed by others too often. I do miss the posts of many of those who have left and stayed gone. Bring back TBBC! Jon.

Will do. There are dozens of detailed pics linked from the ad, and apart from a bit of cracking around the skunk stripe (which is mildly alarming!) it looks very, very tidy, with just a few bits & bobs needing fixed. I will have to move something on to accomodate this - probably going to be my Ibanez 2366B P copy, as I really don't need 2 MIJ Precisions. I'm quite excited about this - never had a Daion before! J.

Actually, no, don't. Too late, I bought it. J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1453828510' post='2963214'] Daion Performer black/black/maple £110 BIN. Aren't these supposed to be quite nice? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-DAION-Yamaki-Performer-BASS-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-Black-Made-in-Japan-/201512152847?hash=item2eeb0f6f0f:g:gZkAAOSwoydWp3bT"]http://www.ebay.co.u...ZkAAOSwoydWp3bT[/url] [/quote] Errrr - yes, yes they are. This is one of the later examples with the unusual truss rod adjustment (through the neckplate) and is Yamaki-built. The (almost certainly anyway) DiMarzio Model P alone is worth a fair whack of the asking price. Someone buy this before I do something rash! J.

Actually, I think it's offensive. It offends left-handed Christians and right-handed Satanists. J.

If you scroll down, they do a range of idiotic stop-bars. Not sure which is the most hilarious - possibly the skull & crossbones-meets-dogturd. Jon.

MEKer - as always your contributions are interesting and informative, and I in no way mean to dismiss any of the conclusions you draw from your research. However I try to derive my own speculative theories from a broader awareness of the (often inexplicable!) vagaries of 70s & 80s Japanese guitar manufacture, rather than a specific interest in one particular brand. I'd find it very difficult to conclude that an unusual, possibly uncatalogued model (such as this Force 30) was some sort of fake, rather than a short-run, factory-built rarity. Particularly considering that the two - or three, if FlatEric's link is discussing the same model - have turned up as widely spread as South Africa, Bosnia and (possibly) Brooklyn! Thanks to DUPS' excellent photos and description, it's obvious that his bass is not modified (apart from the addition of DiMarzios) and the routing, screwholes, scratchplate & controls are as they left the factory. The fact that it has Washburn-specific MIJ hardware makes it immensely probable that it came from the same factory (Chushin Gakki or Matsumoku) as other Washburns of the same era, rather than being a knockoff built elsewhere. The decals on both basses we have pics of could have been amended but I think I'd need to see one with my own eyes to be certain. I'd speculate, based on the design & pickup choice, that this bass was intended to be a 4-string variant of the Force 30 guitar. As I've said numerous times in more discussions of MIJ basses & guitars than I can remember, this is basically like archaeology, and good research needs to be conducted with that in mind, constructing theories from evidence, and tying that in with established facts, where possible, to draw firm conclusions. I don't have any "beliefs" here to justify or any opinions that I want to be right about - I'm just (bizarrely) interested in this stuff, and my theories are just what seems most probable to me. And when more & better info comes along, then my conclusions change to fit that new knowledge. Washburn is an interesting brand, being a well-established US property at the time licenced for Japanese manufacture, but I don't know if there's any record of how much direct control the brand owners had over specific model production, and how much leeway the actual manufacturer had regarding model development, variations and ranges. The only direct (ish) parallel I can think of is Fender Japan - where Fender's Japanese partners Kanda Shokai had considerable influence over the range. This is largely because many models (the interesting ones!) were Japanese-market specific - but I wonder if something similar could have been the case for Washburn also, as they were sold into a variety of different global markets - including Japan, if the listings on Ishibashi & the like are anything to go by. Jon.

[quote name='wotsy' timestamp='1453693613' post='2961863'] Liking the Marine burst Ibanez Roadstar 950, if only I had a spare 250 quid. [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/ibanez-roadstar-bass-rb950-1984-made-in-japan-collectible-rare-double-humbuckers/1151931148"]https://www.gumtree....kers/1151931148[/url] [/quote] Lovely example, looks in great condition. J.

Very sad. Those Dio-era Rainbow albums - Rising particularly - were a big part of the soundtrack of my teens. Jon.

Frtom a 2016 revisionist perspective I have no idea - it was such a fertile era for music of many styles. But from the perspective of what made an impact on me at the time, and had a huge influence on me as a musician & songwriter, I'd say The Crossing by Big Country. Released in 1983 - the height of fashionista synth-pop & insipid white boy pop-funk, it was a tour de force of loud guitars used in unconventional ways, huge, emotive songs and impeccable, structured musicianship. [media]http://youtu.be/QByihCyvNJI[/media] [media]http://youtu.be/u3xcfOCqtqQ[/media]

These are good and that's particularly good for £70. The one caveat (which makes no difference in real terms) is that some of these are ply - and the big black oversprays on the contours of this one does suggest that it probably is ply. 10 minutes with a hairdryer will get all the stickers off. A gyppo like me would do that then Ebay it for £200/best offer... Jon.

And they're Les Paul copies. Apparently. Anyway, never encountered Orlando before (I'd say not a UK brand) and this is actually fairly interesting. I'm about 99.9% certain the bass is a Kasuga, making it a lot more interesting than the plethora of plywood Chushin rebrands that most old EB clones are. It's likely a pretty decent bass, too. J.

Someone on the [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/"]Ibanez Collector's World[/url] board restored one of these with very similar damage a few years ago - I think he shaped a piece of maple to replace the missing bit. Jon.

Looks like one of David Konig's Retrovibes to me. Is it completely unrouted? I'd like to do something 4002 or 4004-ish with one of these. Jon.