Bassassin

Nice Jack, always fancied one, particularly the J/J variant. Same seller's got one of those odd [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPEAR-S2-THRO-NECK-ACTIVE-BASS-4-STRING-RED-SEE-THRO-STAIN-/271758828554?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f4616a40a"]Spear singlecuts[/url] too. Singlecuts usually provoke a gag reflex in me, but I quite like these. Jon.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1422639542' post='2675082'] But while I am here - what is poxy about a Westone Thunder? [/quote] Nothing at all - great quality budget basses. But yer Force 40 was top of the range & should be more akin to an Aria SB1000 or Ibby MC940 in terms of prestige. You probably saw my original post, but anyway: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/7473-japcrap-spotting/page__view__findpost__p__2636357"]http://basschat.co.u...ost__p__2636357[/url] J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1422629949' post='2674866'] Washburn Force 40 just been re-listed, collection only from Witney. Starting bid £40. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Washburn-Force-40-bass-guitar-/321655482637?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4ae429290d"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4ae429290d[/url] [/quote] Is that the same one that sold for "less than a poxy Westone Thunder" a couple of months back? If so, stupid failed buyer! Hope it either a: sells for a more sensible price, or b: sells for less than a poxy Westone Thunder to a discerning BCer who appreciates quality bargain JapCrap*. [size=2][i]*Not me, because I've got a near-identical (but rarer) SB40[/i][/size] J.

[quote name='mr pablo' timestamp='1422614694' post='2674576'] Good wee find there J! Have you finished that old Ibanez blazer project you got from me? Was musing about getting another [/quote] I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't finished it! I cleaned up all the hardware & neck, didn't need fret dressing so I just polished them. Started to sand the body a bit & got a lovely effect where the black stain had sunk into some parts of the grain & not others, almost like a sort of zebrawood effect - so I decided I'd sand it like that & lacquer it. And it's still waiting to get lacquered... Good news is that where I've moved to, we have a bunch of old sheds out the back & one's been earmarked as a spray booth. [quote name='cocco' timestamp='1422610914' post='2674523'] I love the elite series. I had a pearl white double pickup model that I foolishly sold because my band at the time didn't like it. What's the output of the J pickup like compared to the original? [/quote] TBH the J's pretty weedy when it's compared to the original in series mode & on full chat, so as it's set up (or not) at the moment the J's not doing a great deal when the two are run together. However with the positioning that close to the bridge it's never going to sound full-bodied, that & the fact it's about 1cm further away from the strings than the original. I'll see if it's possible to set it up and/or wire it for more balanced output, if not it can go. I should be able to fill & finish the routing reasonably well if I decide to bin it, plus a nice vintage Barolini in the spares box would be a bonus, anyway, and would doubtless end up in some future Frankenbass! J.

Oh, it definitely has character! Should look a bit better once it's had a good hose down, but not looking forward to getting the bridge screws out, there's not a great deal left of them! More Black 'n' Rust than Black 'n' Gold at the moment. J.

Got my first-ever Aria Pro SB series bass! Traded a '71 (mostly) MIJ Jazz copy bitsa for this yesterday. The J was a great bass (built almost entirely from parts sourced from BC members) but I already have an old MIJ Jazz copy as my main gigging bass, so this one just didn't get played. So - what I have now is a very roadworn & somewhat modded 1983 SB Black 'n' Gold I - or SB-Elite I, depending on where you live. This is pretty damn cool if you're a bit of a metalhead, as it's "The Cliff Burton Bass". This has been played a lot, and at some point has had a Bart J pup fitted. It has knocks, dents & chips all over, and a fairly big bit of lacquer worn off the back. Frets are OK but will benefit from a crown & polish, neck is a bit bowed but not too bad - hoping the truss rod will tweak that out but I admit I've not tried yet. Having recently moved house, I don't yet have a useable area set up for this sort of work, so this one will have to wait until I do before it gets a proper going-over. Not sure yet whether to remove the Bart & return it to standard - it's currently wired with 2 volumes but I'm pondering whether I should stick a couple of stack pots on it & see what it sounds like with both pups & functioning tone control. Anyway, for now I'm most highly pleased with this, I've wanted an Aria SB since I was about 18. So it's about time! Jon.

Nasty Grant-branded shortscale sorta J copy, bought brand new from Unisound in Chatham High Street, when I was 16. £58, it cost: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:53794] [sharedmedia=core:attachments:53795] Not mine but identical. It was horrible; intonation all over the place, action you could limbo under and string alignment so bad the G was practically hanging off the board beyond the 12th fret. In fairness, I was a kid, my musical experience a that point amounted to being shown how to play a Status Quo boogie rhythm by a guitarist mate. I had the Grant for a month before I sussed how to tune it properly. I suspect it would have been very easy to set up action & intonation properly, and even reposition the bridge a couple of mm - but at that age I was clueless about such things. However, it got me to the point where I could play along to Rattus Norvegicus from start to finish, and when I finally got my hands on a seriously good-quality bass (Washburn B20 Stage Series) years of struggling with the Grant meant I'd built up some pretty good dexterity & stamina. At least that's what I'd like to think! Jon.

Very nice! I have a Track 2, always fancied the Track 4. Jon.

Beautiful Snotburst. Can't imagine why Fender don't do that as standard. Jon.

Bb is like that guy who doesn't say very much but when they do it's usually interesting. And a little bit weird. I find when I'm messing around with an idea around Am or C, no matter what I do, F will always manage to ebow its way in. Jon.

What worked for me was to cunningly start a band with my partner, which means any extravagant & unnecessary bass & gear purchase can easily be spun as being essential for the furtherance of our mutual musical ambitions. In the unlikely event of this tactic failing (which hasn't happened yet) my fallback position will be to point out the number of sound modules, wind synthesizers, random incomprehensible percussion instruments, vocal processors, microphones, stands, megaphones, and other unidentified items of musical esoterica she has accumulated, and which is largely occupied by dust-collecting. And the shoes. Many, many shoes. The staggering success of this tactic has contributed to my currently owning some 30 functioning basses & guitars, and probably about 10 "ongoing" (more like abandoned) projects, as well as 4 bass amps, 3 guitar amps, recording gear, and god-knows-how-many effects units Someone, somewhere along the line, might have made a mistake. Jon.

I'd like to hope that being pre-JH era, that's both OK to link to, and OK for me to say it's bloody lovely. I do like solid colour Ricks with black binding. Jon.

Yes - that's the original bridge. Considering it's restored (scratchplate, probably pickup, looks like a refin too) it's definitely a bit steep. I have the P/J version of this that I'll be moving on soon, similarly a restoration, and I won't be selling mine for that much. [sharedmedia=core:attachments:63117] I do like the El Maya but I already have too many P-type basses I never play & don't need another, no matter how many innocent coffee-tables died to make it! J.

That El Maya's pretty gorgeous, if you've got a thing for hippy sandwich stripy wood, like wot I do. That was listed a few days ago, and I'm surprised it's taken this long to appear on here. Anyone going to take a punt? J.

I'm pretty certain 99.999% of people have no idea who Rush are, and a good proportion of those who do couldn't name, never mind recognise their drummer! The only people likely to recognise Peart are Rush fans, and he's made it abundantly clear for decades how he feels about fan interaction, so the majority should know to steer clear. Obviously there will be exceptions, but one can't help getting the impression that the armed bodyguard/hired "travelling companion" thing is a faintly scary overreaction. Although I do wonder if he's made a rod for his own back. The "I'm a private person, you don't know me, you don't have any right to approach me, leave me alone" thing is massively at odds with a man who in the last 15 or so years has published a seemingly interminable series of books, in which he's revealed uncomfortably intimate details of numerous aspects of his personal life. I wonder who he thinks reads these books other than the more obsessive Rush fans, such as those who might imagine that they feel they know him because of who he is to them? For the record the only reason I've read any of his books is because I've been given them by people who thought, being a fan I'd be interested. J.

That could almost be cool, if it wasn't for the B&Q emulsion paintjob. Jon.

Black Eagle reissue! Talman basses! Oh, and that Volvo, or Vulva or whatever it's called... Jon.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1422194863' post='2669679'] That's a bit OTT mate. If he doesn't want or need a fan to say that to his face, that's fine with me. [/quote] Me too. But it's the need for an armed bodyguard that I find OTT... J.

Pretty generic 70s starter bass, my very first one wasn't too different. This is Korean rather than MIJ I think, plain neckplates are quite uncommon on Japanese basses, also the mahogany neck & that square pickup design are Korean traits. Quite cute, but I wouldn't... Jon.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1422175195' post='2669383'] If you read any of Neil's travelling books he makes it quite plain that his job is as a professional musician... [/quote] OK, maybe "despise" was an overly-strong word, but having read a couple of his books I also know that he tours (& travels in his spare time) in the company of a hired armed bodyguard, whose sole purpose is to protect Peart from the attentions of any member of the public who might happen to recognise him and say hello. So if you wanted to take a moment to, say, politely thank a musician for his craft and the enjoyment & long-lasting influence that music had had on your life and on your world-view, you might be put off a little by the prospect of being manhandled away by a 6'5" ex-marine shoving a Glock in your face. Happily I'm far too reserved to consider doing any such thing, anyway... J.

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1422131748' post='2669141'] The obvious reasons were the fact it was the first bass, not because of the quality [/quote] [pedant] [url="http://www.vintageguitar.com/1782/audiovox-736/"]Wasn't.[/url] [/pedant] J.

I'd think the most obvious thing (beyond the quality of the basic timber) would be standard of construction, fretting, finishing etc. Not that I'm a particular advocate of megabucks expensive botique coffee-tables, mind, lots of modern mass-produced "budget" instruments are great quality for the money. Which makes me interested - what are these £100 through-neck kits of which you speak? Jon.

It does have that look of having sat under a leaky sump for a week. Jon.

Hmm. Wouldn't be surprised if we've seen the last of them. Peart's repeatedly said how much he hates touring, and he's frequently made it clear that he despises his audience. It's not like they need the money. I don't expect they'll come back to the UK, and if they do it'll be a few shows in London & f*** the rest of us. After this tour I'd be surprised if they don't knock it on the head - they've always said that if a band doesn't gig it's not really a band, & that's why they continue to tour. Glad I saw them on the Clockwork Angels stint - definitely the best Rush gig I've seen since Hold Your Fire in '88, and playing the best album they've made since then. J.

I've had a lot of MIJ basses (including licensed Fender products), and the only non-metric allen screws I've ever encounterted have been the pole pieces in the DiMarzio pickups fitted as standard to many early 80s instruments. Jon.