Bassassin

There will always be people who will pay a massive premium to own a brand, because they think it says something about them. There will always be people who will pay for a premium product because they think they can buy talent. For me this sort of thing occupies a peculiar grey area between amusement and indifference - but to be honest I'm uniquely unqualified to be entitled to an informed opinion, having never played a Fodera. I did know someone who bought one, though, he was OK but not great before he bought it, and funnily enough was OK but not discernably better afterwards. Probably because it turned out not to be made of magic, but wood and wire, just like my £60 MIJ Jazz copy. Jon.

I would expect all the ditch water inside it ain't helping much. Jon.

Absolute stunner, might well be the best-looking bass to ever carry a Rickenbacker logo. If only it had checked binding. And didn't have the Drool Of Hall all over it... Jon.

Agree - all the current crop of "Chickenbackers" are very generic, same builds, same hardware etc. Also available very cheaply indeed from popular Chinese retail sites, in a wide variety of fetching colours. J.

Are these not The Bass Centre's own brand? J.

Don't smear goo all over it, it's not a sideboard! If your bass has a modern poly finish (which if it's the Cort in your sig, it amost certainly has), then T-Cut (or similar paint polishing compound) will make it glossier than a very glossy thing. Test a little bit in an inconspicuous area first, but I'm confident it'll give the effect you want. I've polished several satin-finish necks like this and you can get a factory, high-gloss finish. It is very labour-intensive though (and will possibly result in hand cramp!), but is worth it. I use cotton wool make-up pads to apply & polish, and wipe off the residue with a clean, soft cotton rag. Jon.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1427969752' post='2736397'] ^^^ Nice work! [/quote] What he said. Although the listing's still up, unamended, and Ebay makes it very easy to cancel a listing before the final 24hrs. Not entirely convinced he's going to do anything about it. If it's still unchanged this evening, I'll message him myself for a bit of reinforcement... J.

Modern reissue of a 1965 Eko "Rok" bass. Jon.

It's probably been "Halled" away by now... Jon.

I don't think he's deliberately trying to flog a fake. He doesn't buy or sell other musical gear, and like I said, the Letraset headstock decal wasn't applied anytime this millenium.. Thebrig - did you tell him it's being discussed on a bass forum, & we know what it actually is? J.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1427911993' post='2735838'] If people are reporting it, why is it still on there? [/quote] Ebay don't give a sh!t. Unless some fatarse corporation's doing the complaining. J.

I'd vote for the Ibanez too, but that's because I've previously owned two SRs and they're brilliant - versatile, well-balanced, lightweight. I would play before you buy, whatever you choose - in the case of the Ibbys, the necks are very thin & a lot of people don't get on with them. Jon.

Italian copies like this are a lot rarer than MIJ but (currently) a lot less collectable - a surprising amount of them get punted as MIJ, either because sellers don't know what they've got, or they appreciate there's more money in MIJ. That said, I have a pre '75 Ibanez P copy, I doubt I'd get £300+ for it. I still think it's a dumb buyer issue, as far as this one's concerned. For the half-dozen or so that might be interested, a Melody 5000 P copy, different tuners & body wood (or possibly stain), but otherwise the same as this one - neck build, truss adjuster, neckplate, and that odd offset scratchplate screw. Same slabby body & not-quite fitting scratchplate too: [url="http://www.fetishguitars.com/castelfidardo-recanati/melody/melody-solidbodies/"]http://www.fetishgui...dy-solidbodies/[/url] (scroll down a bit) J.

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1427817534' post='2734616'] I thought that you might be able to nail it Jon. Surely anyone paying £330+ will have the savvy to know it isn't a Fender... or is a Melody worth £330+ [/quote] It's actually a nice, fairly unusual copy, probably worth about £150ish, with its proper headstock logo - although in fairness I have seen unbranded ones. Quite hard to tell from some70s MIJ copies, but these tuners, 3-piece neck, wheel-type truss adjuster & Gibson-type nut all turn up on the Italian-made ones. The seller doesn't necessarily know it's a fake (that's not an Ebay-era decal, after all!) but it is surprising that punters still fall for it. J.

Been going to loud gigs since I was 15, played in loud bands since I was 17, unfortunately it goes with the territory. I have (and have had for as long as I can remember) a noticeable loss of HF sensitivity in my right ear, meaning I always favour my left. I have constant low-level tinnitus which I'm so used to I have to focus on it to notice it - I also can't remember not having this. I can often find it hard to distinguish conversational speech if there's significant (not necessarily loud) background noise - I've always thought that's probably one of the reasons I'm fairly socially inept. I will need to wait until I have a silent environment before I can attempt the test in the first post, but it's only going to tell me what I already know - rock 'n' roll has f***ed my ears, and very probably my entire life. Jon.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1427752592' post='2733972'] Apropos nothing in particular, my buddies and I were all going to print off fake 'missing cat' posters and go into an especially dirty Korean restaurant in town to ask for them to be displayed in the window. [/quote] [Clarkson] Missing dog, surely? [/Clarkson] J.

It's an Italian-made Melody, 1970s. Jon.

Is that a dead cat? Jon.

I wouldn't mess around too much - cardboard's a perfectly suitable material, just cut it to shape using the heel-end as a template. Jon.

Here hands, there hands, every bleedin' where hands. J.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1427456902' post='2730569'] Good job for my bank balance that it's not 5+5. [/quote] Good job for mine that the top neck's unlined. I already have one fretted/fretless twin-neck that's impossible to play for more than 3 minutes standing up! However - small, offset body, headless, through-necks (with the lined fretless top neck angled a couple of degrees back) passive J pickups... Wonder if they do a twin-neck Streamline? J.

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1427403768' post='2730084'] Like this one?! My main gigging bass for the last 6 months. Looks, plays, and sounds fantastic [url="https://flic.kr/p/qRT4Hs"][/url] [/quote] The very one. Checked binding would've pushed me over the edge... J.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1427396990' post='2729967'] Why make the body so big?.It looks like you could slim the body to an average width, controls would have to be laid out different, but it would look nicer and be lighter. [/quote] Agree. I think it would be perfectly possible to build a double-neck that would be physically just a bit bigger & heavier than a standard P or J. Jon.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1427382335' post='2729691'] You'd feel pretty silly if that meant that you couldn't travel for any longer than an hour and you needed to get from Birmingham to Edinburgh. [/quote] Not if you're Jeremy Clarkson! ...sorry, wrong thread. J.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1427359509' post='2729225'] I don't think I've ever sat in front of the TV noodling. In the days when I still owned a TV if I was watching it, I was watching it and not doing anything else. If I wasn't watching it, the TV was either off or I was in another room doing something more constructive like practicing the bass or guitar standing up. ;-) [/quote] Fair enough. Probably calls for a poll ("do you [i]never[/i] play sitting down?") but frankly don't care, can't be arsed... Anyway - Daisy Rock, undoubtedly targeted at a young girly market - but I've been GASing for a shortscale for ages, and their Stardust Elite bass is unqualified top of my list. Say what you want.... J.