Bassassin

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1449922304' post='2927984'] Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees.Who is not very well at the moment. [/quote] How did I manage to forget Severin? Always loved his playing. Didn't know he was unwell, hope he recovers soon. J.

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1449896476' post='2927817'] No-one will give a stuff about the new material, giving it a polite clap for it getting them all back in the studio... [/quote] That's better than the traditional heading-to-the-bar-in-droves. J.

JJ Burnel (the main reason I picked up a bass in the first place) Bruce Foxton Russell Webb (Skids/Armoury Show)

[quote name='stevebasshead' timestamp='1449841559' post='2927396'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yNAABKD4IA[/media] [/quote] Alternatively - and probably my favourite Tool song: [media]http://youtu.be/Lm38Ojh61lY[/media]

Gutter Cat Vs The Jets - Alice Cooper [media]http://youtu.be/VjJMgCSEcS0[/media] Lovely solo bass intro into a superb line from the great Dennis Dunaway. Alternatively from the same man - and from the same album: [media]http://youtu.be/QgzoYzZiI7w[/media]

Good deal. Don't these have the Seymour Duncan Rick replacement pickups as standard? If so, that's probably about £150's worth. Jon.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1449737128' post='2926313'] Nice looking bass!! Jon (Bassassin) should be along soon, he'll tell you all about it!! Cheers. [/quote] Well, I can tell you a lot about what I don't know! Ok - never seen a Force 30 before, that's a really interesting & cool old MIJ Washburn. There's a lot of uncertainty about who made MIJ Washburns. What we do know is that early ones were indeed made by Yamaki. They have numerous manufacturing details and hardware types identical to Yamaki's own Daion range to confirm this. Yamaki seem to have made Washburns up until around 1981/2 after which the same designs were produced by a different factory. Until recently Matsumoku was universally creditied with building these later instruments - in fact the [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/ggboard/index.php"]Matsumoku forums[/url] have an entire board dedicated to Washburns. However recent research does seem to lean towards Chushin Gakki as manufacturer - there is some evidence to support this but I have to admit I'm not as up to speed on what's what as I could be! Anyway, I'm confident your bass is from the Chushin/Mat/whoever era, not Yamaki, based on its date, build & hardware. As I said earlier, I've never seen a Force 30 before, but the model appears to be a P/J version of the single-pickup Force 4/Force 8 models. There is a possibilty that it's been modified - I'm not sure the scratchplate is original, and the pickups may have been swapped, possibly for DiMarzios. You can check these things by popping the scratchplate off - if the plate's been changed, there will be unused screwholes for the original and possibly non-original routing in the body, and if the pups are DiMarzios, they will have red/black/white/green wiring (the J-unit will be a twin-coil) and the pole pieces will be imperial sizes and will not accept a metric hex key. However I may be wrong about both of these things - having never seen another Force 30 (and there are no pics on Google that I can find) I'm just guessing from the look. That's probably as much worthwhile info as I can give. I'd suggest, for further research, trying the Mat forum linked above, and the [url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/55074615631/"]Vintage Japanese Guitars FB group[/url]. They may know more than me (certainly more about the Chushin/Matsumoku thing) and if not, I'm sure they'd love a look at it! Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1449651317' post='2925473'] Too many unrealistic starting price Matsumoku basses today. Then, by comparison, there's this one: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brown-WESTONE-electric-quitar-/262180986016?hash=item3d0b345ca0:g:bZEAAOSwfZ1WZDOH"]http://www.ebay.co.u...ZEAAOSwfZ1WZDOH[/url] [/quote] Proper bargain, I'm saved by the fact it's so far away. J.

Probably not a bad price if it all works & plays well. If it hadn't been stripped & refinished, I'd think it would be worth a fair amount more. J.

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1449599725' post='2925059'] How dare you call me bignose. [/quote] I'm sure he said "blessed are the Bignoses"... J.

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1449596243' post='2925029'] Oh no he hasn't: [url="http://prog.teamrock.com/news/2015-12-08/geddy-lee-clarifies-neil-peart-retirement-rumours"]http://prog.teamrock...irement-rumours[/url] [/quote] Member of successful band who absolutely doesn't want to jack it in in desperate wishful thinking shock. Get over it, Bignose, he's quit. Edit - this is the full piece he's written for Drumhead magazine. Seems pretty unequivocal: [url="http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/drumhead-12.2015.php"]http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/drumhead-12.2015.php[/url] J.

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1449590070' post='2924935'] You missed off R1200GS rider... [/quote] I suppose without his boring, never-changing choice of boring motorcycle, he probably wouldn't have written quite so many boring books. Hang on, there's a thought - if he rode an exciting bike, d'you think he'd write similarly exciting books? Nah, I doubt it too... J.

[quote name='randythoades' timestamp='1449588513' post='2924906'] Maya P Bass [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EARLY-70s-MAYA-PRECISION-BASS-FUJIGEN-JAPAN-LAWSUIT-EL-MAYA-JOODEE-ANTORIA-/311498544109?hash=item4886c293ed:g:zpsAAOSwv-NWYNbL"]http://www.ebay.co.u...psAAOSwv-NWYNbL[/url] Very nice looking but overpriced methinks [/quote] And very dodgy, IMO. Screams "bitsa" to me, headstock logo screams fakey transfer, neck looks about 30 years younger than the body, tuners & pups aren't MIJ Mayas were not built by Fujigen, the only thing on this bass that might be is the neckplate. And I'm not even convinced by that. J.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1449564557' post='2924599'] Still on the hunt for another like this one! [/quote] I'd like to hope, so you can sell me that one!

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1449579382' post='2924785'] Gutted, but expected. I was hopeful that they would just retire from touring, but still record new material as Rush. If Clockwork Angels is their final studio album, then they've left on a high note. [/quote] Pretty much what I feel - CA is their best work since Power Windows, in my opinion. TBH their output has been very hit or miss for a long time, the likelihood of another quality album would be pretty low should they record again. Glad I saw them for the last time on the CA tour - touring a new album is what they're meant to do, rather than these nostalgia shows they've been prone to recently. Not that sorry then to miss R40 - but I'll probably buy the BluRay, because I'm weak... Apropos of very little - Peart's retirement: awesome, inspirational, genre-defining drummer, Marmite lyricist, woeful writer. So, which one does he pack in? J.

I expect Flat Eric will be along soon - he's got two! Jon.

This has been pretty much certain since their R40 nostalgia jaunt wrapped up. It's been hard not to get the impression that Peart's been doing it under duress (and for the $$$$$) for the last few years, to be honest. Jon.

Love it. The physical modifications look well though-out and very competently executed. Shame about the scruffy paintjob, but give it a refin up to the standard of the modifications & it'd be a lovely little bass. Jon.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1449488885' post='2923883'] IIRC it was Paul from Arrowhead Guitars who was on a mission to try and buy every version in every colour... [/quote] It was indeed PaulC - when he sold off his fabled collection, I had a blue SBV500 from him, which I still have & use regularly. As others have said, no neck dive. Pretty lightweight, skinny, comfortable Jazz-shaped neck and sounds like a J on steroids. The only downside is trying to find a case or gigbag to fit the thing. That and the fact it's now always going to be the "Doctor Who Bass". Jon.

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1449055496' post='2920345']whats the main differences between a 4001 and a 4003?[/quote] Mostly the redesigned truss rods. The old system was really designed for use with low-tension flatwound strings, bassists exploiting the 4001's naturally aggressive tone started using high-tension rounds, necks started bowing, people started adjusting the rubbish old rods like they were normal ones - and fretboards started popping off! Rick probably started using modern adhesives for construction around this time as well... There are a few other differences - 4003s have a 2-piece neck without the skunk stripe, early ones had heel-end truss adjusters & a 2-part scratchplate for access, and the vintage sound push/pull Chris Wareham mentions is a recent addition. J.

Just to condense everything into the same thread, c/p from the Fakers topic: [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1449012511' post='2920162'] Yes. One of the best MIJ-era Fakers. [/quote] [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1449018036' post='2920200'] No cons that I know of. These have a very good reputation, and apart from the generic tuners & single truss rod, they're very accurate copies. More sturdily-built than some of their contemporaries (Matsumoku through-necks have a weak point where neck meets body) and probably better-made than 70s Ricks were. I have a bitsa Faker built around what I'm 99.9% sure (no trc to confirm) was a Shafty body/neck and it's rock-solid and an excellent player. Hardware & electronics were mix & match so I can't comment on the original's sound, but from what others say, they sound the part too. There are a fair few Shaftesbury owners on the[url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/78514186083/"] FB Fakers group[/url], so I'd suggest canvassing them for opinions. If you haven't already... [/quote] From the pics this one looks pretty tidy and original. Apart from the stuff you'd want to check is OK on any 40-odd year-old bass (fret condition, truss rod function, electronics etc), look for cracking & delaminarion of body wings at the neck/body junction - this happens on Matsumoku copies and real Rick 4001s, never seen it on a Shafty but check anyway. It's caused by overly deep routing for the neck pickup, and is understood to be why Rickenbacker eventually moved the neck pickup position on later 4001s & 4003s. As far as I know the same bass as the Shaftesbury was also sold as Cimar (as AT says) El Maya, CMI, JHS and various other brands. These Fakers are a bit of a mystery because as yet it's not clear which factory made them, but they are high quality instruments, many of which have survived the last 4 decades well. The truss rod thing is no big deal - dual rods on a properly-built 4-string bass are really a solution in search of a problem. The original Rick 4000 series design dates back to the 1950s, and up until the 4003 was introduced in the early 80s, had a very crude truss system - basically two strips of metal rather than properly-designed adjustable truss rods. For this reason old Rick necks can be incredibly temperamental. Modern Ricks have standard rods, and really only retain two for tradition's sake, and fortunately all MIJ copies had conventional & reliable truss rods and do not have the same problems as old Rickenbackers. One problem Fakers can share with real Ricks is tail-lift - and even brand-new, 2-grand Ricks can suffer from this. The tailpiece is a hollow, soft alloy casting and over time, string tension can cause the back end to bend up, which can eventually mean the strings no longer seat on the saddles. However, while I'd say 99% of Ricks & MIJ Fakers have this to a degree, severe cases are uncommon, and a slight lift on a 40-year old bass is unlikely to get worse. If push comes to shove, replacement copy tailpieces are £40-odd from Thomann, or a lot of people go for a Hipshot replacement bridge, which IMO is a massive improvement on the original in every way. Jon.

No cons that I know of. These have a very good reputation, and apart from the generic tuners & single truss rod, they're very accurate copies. More sturdily-built than some of their contemporaries (Matsumoku through-necks have a weak point where neck meets body) and probably better-made than 70s Ricks were. I have a bitsa Faker built around what I'm 99.9% sure (no trc to confirm) was a Shafty body/neck and it's rock-solid and an excellent player. Hardware & electronics were mix & match so I can't comment on the original's sound, but from what others say, they sound the part too. There are a fair few Shaftesbury owners on the[url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/78514186083/"] FB Fakers group[/url], so I'd suggest canvassing them for opinions. If you haven't already...

Can't ID it specifically, but it's a pretty generic-looking 60s, maybe early 70s shortscale. I've seen that style trc before, can't place it but it may come to me. Reminds me of mid/late 60s Kawai/Teisco stuff but other factories did make this sort of thing. Lack of badge doesn't mean much really, likely would've been an importer's brand and not much of a clue to its origin. Might be worth your mate signing up to the [url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/55074615631/"]Vintage Japanese Guitars FB group[/url] and posting a few pics there. Someone will probably be able to ID it better than I can! J.

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1448999370' post='2919990'] Is the general consensus on shaftesburys a good one? Sorry random question, I just need to know quickly! I'm talking more about the 4001/4003 models [/quote] Yes. One of the best MIJ-era Fakers.

The ad actually says it's a Rockwood LX100B. So, low-end, 90s Korean Hohner sub-brand! J.