Bassassin

I do like that - too bad it's on such a dull guitar.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1460907907' post='3029683'] Surely, that's why there are CS, MIA, MIM, MIJ, Squiers etc. [/quote] This, precisely. The Squier range was launched to compete directly with the far cheaper but often superior quality MIJ copies in the 80s. The company Fender contracted to do this was Kanda Shokai, owner of the Greco brand, and anecdotally the first run of JV Squiers began life as Grecos. J.

The Fender headstock design (well, the basic P/Strat shape) is "borrowed" in the first place! While it's not a straight copy, it's very heavily influenced by a 1940s Bigsby design:

Fender failed to protect their trademark designs, or "trade dress", which, under US law, meant it passed into the public domain, so now anyone is free to copy those designs. Gibson, on the other hand, took steps to protect their "open book" headstock profile (the so-called lawsuit that never actually happened!) and still retain that as a trademark. For further reading, consult the various R*ck*nb*cker/Faker threads. Jon.

[url="http://www.wdmusic.com/JBLR_1.html"]Kent Armstrong Jazz Lippy[/url] Would appear to be a standard J unit stuck inside a shiny metal choob. No idea what the ones on the Surfcaster are but doubtless they're bog-standard single coils of some sort. J.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1460381045' post='3025163'] Looks like a Charvel copy. [/quote] It is a "reissue" of the Charvel, hopefully properly licensed & everything. Oddly, I spotted this myself a couple of days ago, and, having a bit of long-term Surfcaster GAS, was quite excited until I saw the £700 price tag. I expect an original MIJ Charvel would probably be a bit less, if one came up. Jon.

The web's full of these lists compiled from older lists off the web and seemingly researched from Ebay listings. Not really very helpful at all, this does the typical thing of conflating brands and factories, and associating territory-specific importer rebrands with specific factories, trading companies or Japan-specific brands - without even pointing out which is which. Most importer brands came from numerous different sources, based on what was the best deal at the time. Any accurate info on this list is rendered indistiguishable from the gobbledygook, unless you already know the facts you're looking for. NB 80s Marlins were never MIJ - they seem to be either low-end Korean or rebadged Musimas from the old DDR! Jon.

Wouldn't pay more than £50 for it - this is post-Matsumoku, Korean made, probably plywood and nowhere near the quality of original MIJ Aria Pros. In actual fact I remember offering a guy at a car boot £30 for one of these, he told me to f*ck off, and I cheerfully did as he requested! Jon.

Home-made Alembic wannabe.

[quote name='wotsy' timestamp='1460238074' post='3024014'] Woah, I've just seen one of theses for sale on Gumtree for £399:99! It's not even got all the original parts. [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/vintage-daion-electric-bass-guitar-70-s-japan-emg-pickups-refurbished-upgraded/1163857108"]https://www.gumtree....aded/1163857108[/url] [/quote] Same one's been on Ebay for over a month. Going nowhere fast - wonder why? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-DAION-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-70S-JAPAN-EMG-PICKUPS-REFURBISHED-UPGRADED-/301923655012"]http://www.ebay.co.u...D-/301923655012[/url] J

Here's a pic I bet you thought you'd never see: [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Random/lemmy-B20_zpskoqpxe0r.jpg.html"][/url] J.

50 shades of shonky, that is. Seller has no idea what he's [s]talking[/s] lying about, this looks like cheap tat & if this was ever a Squier in the first place, I expect it said "Affinity" on the pointy end! He reckons it's '94-5, do I have to remind you that Fender-logo'd MIJ Squiers - early JVs - were all 1982? And does this look replica quality to you? J.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1459796015' post='3019779'] Did you mean "naughty-bottomed"? [/quote] Yes. Yes, I do believe I did.

The original Talman guitars from '94 are quite interesting. These hail from an era when manufacturers were experimenting more with non-standard materials like Luthite & Ebonol - back then Talmans (Talmen?) were made from something Ibanez referred to as "Resoncast" - which seems to all intents & purposes to be MDF! Have to admit I like the Kent Armstrong lippys & Fotoflame top! J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1459782700' post='3019562'] Thanks for the low down, Jon. It would appear that, all things considered, it has the features I am not keen on - heavy, wide-ish neck, middy aggressive pickups - useful to know should another pop up. Looks the biz, though [/quote] Ironically, I normally prefer a bass that's at least 2 or 3 pounds lighter & has a J-width neck - the pickup's the only thing on this I'd actually choose. And even that's not original. It does look badass though. Did I just actually say "badass"? J.

Questions! OK - Paul, can't make very accurate or direct comparisons because the majority of basses I own that have P units have are fitted with DiMarzio Model Ps, the same as this! I like them because they're loud, seem to accentuate mids & are quite aggressive sounding, which tends to be what I want. I went with 500k pots which have made this a bit more clanky & snarly. Neck width is 42mm and it's a fairly shallow C-shape with quite a pronounced radius. All-up weight is about 10.4 lbs so unfortunately it is a bit of a boat anchor! Stance - nothing fancy with the wiring, just a series/parallel push/pull switch on the tone pot, which thins it out & calms it down a bit. Geek99 - there were indeed Jazz copies. These would have been sold as Daion, JooDee & Yamaki. There probably are a few around but I've never seen one. [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Catalogues/yamaki03_zpspltgeehq.jpg.html"][/url] I'd happily give a home to the maple/pearl blocks one. J.

So, do you have to pay an extra six grand for someone to take it outside and fling it under a truck?

Thought it would be polite - and timely - to update this thread now the bass is done. In fairness my pics aren't a whole lot different to the original seller's because the bass wasn't too vile (on the outside!) when I got it. [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/daionbody_zpsbgawupm1.jpg.html"][/url] Now featuring the correct complement of knobs and matching strings! [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/daionhead_zpslg4m3a9e.jpg.html"][/url] Flaky lacquer repaired with Superglue, 1200 grit & T-Cut... [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/daionneck_zpspsperel0.jpg.html"][/url] Managed to capture a bit of the flame on the neck here. Very pretty in real life, the lacquer's a fair bit darker than the pics show. [url="http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/LanterneRouge/media/Daion%20Precision%20Copy/daionguts_zpsdnidbtm2.jpg.html"][/url] A bit cleaner & tidier inside now, with lots of pretty-coloured wires and The World's Biggest Orange Drop. An entire portion, in fact. 500k pots help to liberate its inner Burnel. What's good is that everything works as it should, no problems with the truss rod gearbox and it's a pretty damn good player. It could do with a couple of frets dressed up the dusty end & once I get around to that I think it'll be the equal of the Squier SQ I had a few years back - which was the only P that I regretted selling. So, very happy with this, it looks & sounds like a proper vintage rock beast - and I think I've finally got a P I might actually use! The only downsides are that my back will hate me, and that I'll definitely have to sell my lovely early 70s Ibanez 2366B... J.

[quote name='wotsy' timestamp='1459630687' post='3018269'] Aria pro ii rsb performer for £100 ono, I'm quite tempted by this, not sure. [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/aria-pro-ii-rsb-performer-bass-guitar-active-pickups/1162184356"]https://www.gumtree....kups/1162184356[/url] + an Eros eb2 [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/rare-1970s-mij-eros-eb-2-bass-in-original-hard-case/1162316674"]https://www.gumtree....case/1162316674[/url] [/quote] Buy the RSB. Just buy it. If it was near me I'd buy it. Twice, if I could. The EB3 copy's nice too, early 70s Matsumoku build - only ever seen one or two of these before. But buy the Aria. J.

I've always found superglue/1200 grit/T-Cut will fix most things. Literally!

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1459547701' post='3017684'] I have seen the Dio band... they've been looking for a vocalist for aaaaages. Not going to be an easy search! [/quote] I have too. When I saw them they had a tall, bald singer who sounded nothing at all like Dio and a bassist who plainly hadn't learned any of the songs. Weird.

Cheers for that Jack - should do my own research! J.

Good deal. Used AxesRUs for years, they're always well-priced compared with the likes of All Prats.

Serious mix 'n' match bodgefest, that looks to me. I don't know a huge amount about these, but this (mostly) looks MIJ to me, am I right in thinking these are not particularly sought-after by Voxanistas? Neck & body definitely don't look related so the hardware (which I'm 99% sure is MIJ) may be donated. Might be an interesting project for £125 or so but this price is a joke. Jon.

Thunders (MIJ ones, anyway) are great. And this is still here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/279698-westone-thunder-jet-dropped-to-l60"]http://basschat.co.u...-dropped-to-l60[/url] Sixty quid. SIXTY QUID??? J.