Bassassin

Saw Polish proggers Riverside in Glasgow a week or so back, great live band. Off to Glasgow again to see Killing Joke tonight, and expecting to have an appropriately apocalyptic time. Jon.

Ibanez Blazers, Roadsters, Roadstar IIs, Musicians etc were all made in the same factory (Fujigen Gakki), at the same time as JV, SQ, E & A - serial MIJ Fenders & Squiers. And yes - on the whole they're a bit better than the US Fender output of that era. Jon.

[quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1446402769' post='2899134'] im interested to hear there new stuff, death magnetic was not a bad album, there i said it! [/quote] Agreed. DM is the best music they've made since Justice, and if it follows a similar blueprint (long songs, complex arrangements, hostility) I'll probably like it. Always got the feeling that a lot of people just haven't forgiven them for not just packing it all in when Cliff died... Jon.

Yes - my DiMarzios dropped straight in. I'd expect any standard size set would do the same. J.

Hi Jom. The tuner tension is adjusted with the collar from which the key itself protrudes, and tightening it down should reduce sloppiness. They look like there should be a tool to fit them - there's a tiny hole where a pin might engage - but mine tighten fine by grabbing & twisting! These round-end pickups were very common on various MIJ basses in the 70s & 80s, and I've had to deal with a few duds. Unfortunately the pole spacing is wrong to line up with standard sized J poles, so I've not been able to simply swap covers. On my CSL I did find that standard-sized DiMarzios fitted into the routes without modding either the bass or the pups, and the rounded shape of the route isn't obvious once they're in. On a different MIJ Jazz I went to great lengths once to graft the top of a replacement cover onto the bottom half of a black round-end cover - worked pretty well but, it would be trickier to match cream ones, I expect. If you want to retain the look, I'd just get standard cream covers for your pups of choice - in my experience, they'll fit OK. I did once try black covers/pearl plate on mine but didn't like it as much: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:71584] Jon.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1446271629' post='2898222'] Bloody foreigners comming on here, paying the marketplace subscription and selling us nice basses... [/quote] Ah. So [i]you're[/i] the market for ten grand Foderas, are you? J.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1446238570' post='2898102'] "[i]Custom[/i]" = "I bolted the neck from one cheap bass onto the body of another myself" [/quote] Yep. Done that... J.

That SB's stunning. Don't think I've seen a more striking example. [quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1446235543' post='2898065'] Factory fretless or defret? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-Fretless-Bass-Guitar-/281843462910?hash=item419f2df2fe:g:u3cAAOSw~bFWJldW"]http://www.ebay.co.u...3cAAOSw~bFWJldW[/url] [/quote] Defret. Could do with better pics of the board but it looks like a decent job. J.

Just had a quick look at Basses For Sale, and as I type this there are FIVE Foderas on the front page, all from low-posting EU-based members, prices ranging between £4750 and £9900. The marketplace as it stands is really of less and less use to the majority of contributing community members, and I feel somewhat alienated by this. I have a few basses I'd like to sell myself but can't help feeling my selection of £150 cheapos don't really belong alongside all this high-end exotica. And I do feel ever-so-slightly uncomfortable that I'd be expected to pay the same fee as a dealer with a ten grand bass for sale. J.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1446162219' post='2897487'] and that's the one you'll tell us about! [/quote] I'll freely admit I've made a lot more money flogging old guitars and basses than I ever have playing the damn things! In my defence, I've always put a lot of work in to make them look & play as good as possible, and all my Ebay sales were 99p/no reserve. Which means I've lost money a few times too. I'm sure I'm still going to hell, though. J.

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1446135954' post='2897236'] I keep seeing the word 'Lawsuit' when they are advertised. Was there ever really a lawsuit ? [/quote] Not really - Gibson's then parent company Norlin sent a letter threatening legal action to Elger, who were US importers of Ibanez, over the use of the "open book" headstock shape on Ibanez LP copies. This was in 1977 - however Hoshino Gakki (owners of Ibanez) had already changed the headstock shape the previous year, so it no longer infringed the Gibson copyright. So there was no actual "lawsuit". None of the other US manufacturers ever had any altercations with Japanese manufacturers or exporters - in fact Fender jumped right into bed with Kanda Shokai/Greco, and hence Squier was born! Anecdotally the first run of JV Squiers went onto the production line as replica-standard Grecos. J.

[quote name='Left Foot' timestamp='1446133538' post='2897213'] If its sold as an apple then its fair. If its horse sold for consumption as beef its not. I dont understnd how this case doffers from the horsemeat issue. The branding and the quality Mark have been removed... I understand your points 100%, im probably being irrational thinking its illegal without knowing what part of what legislation this woild fall under, just thought this would be covered. The seller has done more than simply sand it down, changed a pup, but the item discription is intentionally misleading. [/quote] There's loads of laws covering sale of foodstuff in the UK because it's a matter of public health. To be honest I couldn't quote any of them, but it's an entirely different situation to some bloke offering a modified secondhand bass for sale on Ebay. I don't think his ad's misleading at all - this is all he says: [i][b]Road worn 50s Style Precision Bass. Right-handed.[/b][/i] [i]This is a road worn 50's Precision bass that has been upgraded as follows[/i] [i]The pickup is a brand new Semour Duncan SCPB-3 quarter pound single coil and the strings are D'Addario.[/i] [i]If you want something different that sounds great then this is the bass for you![/i] [i]There is a hairline crack on the back of the bass which has been professionally glued. I have tried to show this in one of the photos[/i] If he'd included something along the lines of "this bass has been attacked by some idiot with a hacksaw, a belt sander and no idea, and now looks like a complete piece of crap", it would have been significantly more representative! However there's no actual lies, deception or misrepresentation in what he does say. He's free to ask as much money as he wants for his butchered £23 bass - fortunately it doesn't mean he'll get it! Anyway - back to the Dekos. Where's my £35 T-Bird? Jon.

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1446129560' post='2897167'] Absolutely right. I have still got an Eros Jazz that I bought new in 73, Plays better than most 70s Fenders, sounds good, was £100 cheaper than the white Precision I wanted at the time. Not many, if any Squiers around then. Antoria were usually considered the 'good' copies. Cant remember the last time I saw a nice Antoria up for sale. [/quote] No Squiers at all before '82 - but 70s Antorias and some Eros/Eros MkII came from the same factory. A very lucky BCer grabbed what looked like a very nice Antoria P for £68 a couple of days back. If it had said Squier on the end & JV on the back, you could probably add a zero to the price. J.

Some basses & guitars are rare these days because 30-odd years ago they were regarded as cheap throwaways & most were treated as such. Squier JVs are the most obvious examples but the same thing applies to loads of great-quality MIJ stuff from the 70s & 80s. A fair amount of it was total garbage, though. Jon.

[quote name='nightsun' timestamp='1446113098' post='2896932'] For example I have bought this apple for 10p from the farmer, I have given it a good polish, put a sticker on it and popped it in a bag...it is now a bit like an apple you can buy from tesco...that will be £1 ta muchly....nothing illegal, but it would make me a bit of a bastard [/quote] Simply to play devil's advocate - why? The essence of commerce is to buy cheap, sell for a profit - and that applies to anything that any of us have ever bought brand new - and probably to an awful lot of things we thought were secondhand bargains. And I speak as someone who once bought a guitar at a car boot for £7.50 and sold it for £250... J.

[quote name='Left Foot' timestamp='1446064945' post='2896679'] Well, thats helpful, ill shut up, turn the computer off, retire from basschat. [/quote] Or you could explain why you think this guy's committing a crime, as I suggested. J.

Explain how you imagine a private individual advertising an item of personal property could possibly be illegal? What criminal offence do you think he's commiting? He can ask whatever he wants for it, and like it or not, his description does not actually misrepresent it in any way. And even if it did - that would not be "illegal". You sound like you've been reading too much John Hall-style propaganda! J.

Nothing remotely illegal about it. Chancers gonna chance, though. Love the skilfully hacksawed headstock. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1445885194' post='2895074'] Your Antoria cost less than 10% of what this Ibanez Blazer is selling for. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-Blazer-Bass-1981-Japan-MIJ-P-Bass-Collectors-/131637860233?hash=item1ea63a5789:g:UjYAAOSwT5tWLjE6"]http://www.ebay.co.u...jYAAOSwT5tWLjE6[/url] [/quote] Incredible. That takes first prize for most optimistically-priced bass, from now until probably the end of all eternity. However if I'm wrong, it should provide me with the motivation to sort out my 1980 Mk1 Blazer, which has been sitting around in bits for, oh maybe about 7 years. Should be able to pay off the mortgage with that one... Yondergo - delighted to hear you got the Antoria, looking forward to seeing some pics. Wouldn't be surprised if you got most of your money back flogging that Badass - the original models are pretty scarce these days. J.

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1445797021' post='2894297'] Yup, gone now though... [url="https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_tb_70vs_deko.htm?o=12&ref=mal_a_12&search=1445796860"]https://m.thomann.de...arch=1445796860[/url] [/quote] £37.50. Arse. J.

I spent a couple of years away from BC, and the Marketplace seems to have changed an awful lot in that time. Aside from sellers' fees (which I have no particular problem with) there's now a hell of a lot more seriously high-end boutique stuff, and what feels like very little variety in the sub-£500 end of the market. Realistically that's the area that's interesting to me, and I'd suspect to a lot of other potential purchasers too. A lot of the sellers also don't seem to be active in the BC community outside the "for sale" section either - you can come away with the impression that there are lot of EU-based trade sellers using BC as an outlet these days. I can't help wondering if that has pushed sellers of more modest gear towards the various FB groups that have sprung up. Jon.

[quote name='super al' timestamp='1445858879' post='2894716'] Bought the guitar in the late 80s from Axe, it was £99.99 I think. As well as a cheap guitar you also got a tiny battery operated amp, a lesson book (more like a magazine than a book) and lesson tapes which I think I still have somewhere. The guitar was black with axe on the body, a mate rubbed it off for me so it looked relic'd. The frets were dangerously sharp on the ends and hardware a little cheap looking (what did expect for £99.99!). Oh, it also had a whammy bar! The Axe drum kit was about £200 for a 5 piece kit so you could kit out a band for about £400. The guitarist wouldn't be very loud though so everyone would be happy! [/quote] A friend of mine had that kit back in the late 80s. The cymbals bent when you hit them! That came with all the learn-to-play stuff too. I bought - and I still have - an Axe stereo chorus stomp box. Very cheap but quite a decent little unit, if a bit hissy. Turns out it's a rebranded MIJ Aria pedal. Jon.

What a bizarre thread! Are we really all stunned and reeling at the shock revelation that an awful lot of popular music is, was, and alway has been, quite unambiguously about shagging? You guys... Jon.

Fair enough - can't find it anyway! J.

Hi John & welcome to BC. You'd probably get a bigger response posting this in the "Bass Guitars" section - plus requests for pics! However, I do remember an "Axe" brand from the late 80s - in fact I have an old Axe-branded chorus pedal, which I think is a re-branded Aria unit, and a friend way back had an Axe drumkit. Which was a bit rubbish, to be frank. I think Axe was a UK importer's budget gear range, and I'm fairly sure they were mail-order only - I can remember ads in the old "Making Music" free magazine. I can't remember specifics about the basses or guitars but I strongly suspect that's what yours will be. Any danger of some pics? Jon.