Bassassin

Twin truss rods & bolt-neck means it's almost certainly a 70s Matsumoku build, meaning Aria, Arbiter, CMI etc. If the neckplate is stamped "Steel Adjustable Neck", that confirms it as Matsumoku. If not, then I don't know & would like to see some pics. J.

Forum rules mean I can't link to it, but there's a John Birch on Ebay now, looks similar to the green one above. Bids starting at £1495. J.

Seller is geographically challenged - it's a Czech-made Jolana Kolorbas. Lots of Jolanas seem to turn up in the UK - wonder if they were officially imported at some point? Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1433488608' post='2791407'] Were Shaftesbury made in the Matsumoku factory? I thought that some of them were rebranded Ibanez, possibly made in Fujigen? (Apart from the Rick copies which were probably made in the same unknown factory as my Cimar, I think). [/quote] This one's a Matsumoku - "Steel Adjustable Neck" plate & offset position dots are a 100% ID. Shaftesbury was Rose-Morris' top-tier brand & I think they sourced from various different suppliers, eg the early Rick-ish semi copies were mostly made by Eko in Italy but there are also some Teisco/Guya-looking MIJs, and there are various UK-made Ned Callans that turn up branded Shaftesbury. So I'd be surprised if there weren't a few Fujigen Shaftys around but most of the LP guitar copies seem to be Matsumoku. Regarding the 4001 copies, still no confirmed factory for these but on the vintage MIJ forums & FB groups, Chushin Gakki has become a catch-all culprit for most of the "unidentifiables" - including the Rick copies. Personally I'm not at all sure about this, particularly since you see Shaftesbury Fakers with major differences. J.

This sort of thing is going to happen if you buy/sell/trade much. The likelihood is that if you got what you know to be a fair trade value for your bass, but the person you traded with saw it as an opportunity to profiteer, chances are they'll end up more regretful than you. Good luck to them if they get what they're asking - but chances are they won't. Back in January I did a FB trade, swapping a very nice '70s MIJ Jazz copy for a beat-up Aria SB-Elite B&G. I'd been intending to sell the J on here for maybe about £150 - I thought a fair price for a very nice bass which was actually a bitsa made from period-correct components most of which I got through BC anyway. Anyway I'd intended to give the guy the bass + cash to be negotiated when we met - but he was happy with a straight swap. And so was I... The Jazz reappeared a couple of weeks later with a sale/trade value of £300-ish & has subsequently been circulated around the FB group at incrementally decreasing values. Last I saw it some moron had buchered the maple/black blocks neck by de-fretting it and sanding the fingerboard. Tragic because it was a nice vintage neck with excellent frets & it played beautifully. That hurt a bit - but then again, not my problem any more. I also sold a pretty but rubbish old Hohner bass on Ebay about a year ago, got about £70 for it. A week later it was back for £250 BIN, re-using my pics and with a pack of lies instead of an honest description. It didn't sell, I got bored watching it after 4 increasingly desperate re-lists & assume the guy ended up chucking it on the fire, where it belonged. Jon.

I'd never seen one of these until one came up about a year back - I think until then the speculation had been that Matsumoku never made an LP bass. Wonder if this is the same one? Rare or not, £284 is probably twice what it should cost. J.

[quote name='Mike' timestamp='1433363925' post='2790528'] Thanks for the headsup! [/quote] It's also on Ebay - on its third re-list: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EKO-BX7-1983-Custom-made-thru-neck-fretless-Bass-guitar-Made-in-Italy-/261908860495?"]http://www.ebay.co.u...-/261908860495?[/url] Jon.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1433321574' post='2790000'] Is it just me or do those pickups look slightly misaligned? [/quote] Agree with that. The bridge on this one looks like the licensed type used on Hohner Jacks & B2s, and isn't the same as the kit one. Jon.

If it's not a Satellite, it is identical to the ones that were sold branded as Satellite, and was made on the same production line. Probably well worth the £50 someone just paid for it though. Jon.

The makers of this bass posted it on a local FB muso group I use, mostly just to get reactions & feedback. This was my "assessment": [i]Aesthetically I love it - I'm a sucker for a see-through bass, but from a player's perspective I have a few misgivings about the practicality of the design & the pickup & switching choices. A bass is usually a pretty heavy instrument, and lots of hard edges & protruding fasteners might make this pretty uncomfortable to play over a long gig - the 4 sharp ridges where a forearm chamfer would be on a solid body look particularly eye-watering! Not at all convinced by the Strat-type pickup layout & switching - on the whole a pickup selector is pretty much useless on a bass, the facility to blend pickups (either individual volumes or a pan pot) is far more flexible. I'd be inclined to go for a 2 pickup arrangement with pan pot. And some LEDs. Lots of LEDs.[/i] Well, it's just a giant Strat really, innit? Jon.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1433187712' post='2788757'] Pretty sure this is a Satellite, though the bridge is the same used on Yamaki-made basses (were Satellites made there?) [/quote] No chance! Satellites, including these through-necks, were MIK cheapos through & through. I suspect the bridge design is a copy, pics aren't too clear but I think the saddles on this will be chromed rather than the brass used on Yamaki builds. Korean cheapo or not, this would likely be a good score at £50. As I type, it has 5 mins left & no bids... J.

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1433136440' post='2788078'] The tuner/tail piece unit photo is upside down. If you look at the body there is a step in the bridge rout,flip the tail piece and no doubt there'll be saddles on top. [/quote] You're quite right! No wonder it looks a bit steampunk! J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1433092055' post='2787750'] @Bassassasin - I've looked carefully, and I can't see what is missing. Unless it's a control cavity cover. What is it? And why are there two neck plates? [/quote] What's missing is an actual bridge. The pics show a tuner/tailpiece assembly which clearly has a section where a separate bridge unit should fit: I think it's likely that this is just a mistake with the pics, but I'd certainly want to see it properly if I was buying one. J.

JBs aren't straight copies, more "inspired by". They're high-end, hand-made basses and if you can find one, will cost around you'd pay for the real thing. A few random examples: These were made from the 70s onwards in a variety of different configurations, They were still being sold as recently as the early 00s, although AFAIK John Hall has made them go away now. J.

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1433028894' post='2787268'] Definitely seen one. (Wooden body, not perspex.) Link: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Guitar-DIY-Kit-Project-Headless-4-String-GK-SHB-20-Build-Make-Luthier-New-/390967297683?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_205&hash=item5b07778693"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item5b07778693[/url] [/quote] That's really interesting - I've fancied building a custom headless for ages & that would potentially provide a lot of the components at a good price, presuming they're not total junk. However there's something fairly important that seems to be missing in the pics of this kit, if I'm right. Clue - it's not the headstock... J.

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1433020026' post='2787198'] The Japanese Fenders are similarly described and there seems no difference, they just used different phrases at different times. [/quote] It's to do with the factory making the instruments. "Made In Japan" is exclusively used by Fujigen Gakki, who manufactured Japanese Fenders & Squiers from 1982 until the late 90s. Subsequently most production moved to Dyna Gakki & Tokai, who used "Crafted in Japan". These are all long-established & highly reputable factories, so build quality has remained consistent. I would expect the MIK/CIK situation is the same as in Japan, however I don't know which factories are involved. Jon.

[quote name='MutatisMutandis' timestamp='1432947960' post='2786574'] I got another one... A thru neck... but I don't know what i is..... [/quote] Show us a pic then. Might well be able to ID it. [quote name='MutatisMutandis' timestamp='1432948221' post='2786576'] Did Shergold make copies of Rickenbackers? Anybody? [/quote] No. But John Birch did. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1432931868' post='2786438'] This page shows a Korean bolt-neck Thunder II guitar, with three pickups! It's black and bolt-on like the bass in the ebay advertisement. Looks like your "Made in Korea" conclusion is bang on. [url="http://www.westone.info/thunder2.html"]http://www.westone.info/thunder2.html[/url] [/quote] Good work! That's it, same neck with dark stringers too, don't think any Mat bolt-ons had these. I've seen a few MIM Westone acoustics before but don't remember seeing electrics. What's interesting is that as far as I know, Westone was (initially at least) Matsumoku's own factory brand, so I wonder how come production continued at all after Mat closed. J.

That's really odd - never seen one like this before. Shame the pics show so little detail, but there apears to be no serial number & the headstock sticker looks suspiciously like it says "Made In Korea". Post-Matsumoku? J.

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1432754555' post='2784702'] wjs guitars up here in Scotland have this prototype for sale just now. [attachment=192960:Layer Bass.jpg] The Layer Bass. Not quite sure what to make of it but as it's a proto anything could change. [/quote] Saw this on one of the local muso FB groups - they've previously done layer-body Strats like this. Guess you can tell it was designed by a guitarist... J.

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1432731586' post='2784351'] I feel that this really would benefit from a contrasting pink pickguard [/quote] Where's the contrast there? Black pearl incoming... Anyway - I take back what I said about Shell Pink - Kevin Lindsay's P is . Maple & pink tug bar - it's all in the details! J.

Shell Pink? Half-arsed, insipid excuse for pink. This is pink:

A lot of private sellers on Ebay these days seem to be junk shop blokes or car boot scavengers, listing big quantities of random items. Most of what this particular seller's been shifting recently looks like a large coin collection broken into individual lots - but I'd doubt he's either a bassist or a numismatist! J.

Ended up going for £196, which considering the half-arsed ad is probably massively more than the seller expected. Still a pretty good deal for a rare bass that looks to be in good condition for its age. Anyone here? J.