Bassassin

Keep the Rick, Keep the VMJ, read this thread! http://basschat.co.uk/topic/252421-ditching-fender-for-squier/ Having had a bunch of excellent Squiers over the years, I think you'd be paying for the name & not a lot else. And these days Fender's a franchise, not a manufacturer. Jon.

[quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1421054169' post='2656490'] Who is Laura Doggett? [/quote] She was on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday Morning. Ed Milipede didn't stick around to watch. [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30766997"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-30766997[/url] Quite like her voice, but the song barely exists. J.

In fairness, it probably depends what sort of tone you're after. I struggled to nail the sort of bright/snarly/touch of overdrive racket I usually favour without getting microphonic feedback, chances are it'd be fine with more neutral amp EQ & no effects. I didn't perservere with it, it's surprisingly heavy for a hollow/light metal body bass so I only gigged it twice. Looks ace on the wall though! J.

I believe it was an Italia Mondial.

Tokai Talbo FTW..... ...until you plug it in & it starts squealing like a piggy. Most resonant, microphonic body ever. Jon.

Or that the world is full of very stupid people with far too much money. Which is a good thing, if you can find one. J.

Musky's right about the bridges - this seems to be a flaw on a few early 80s Matsumokus with 3-point bridges, but they are interchangeable with any 3-point design so finding a replacement (if necessary) shouldn't be a problem. This is mine when I got it: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:45688] On a bass like a Track 4 I might feel inclined to replace it with something like a Hipshot Supertone or the new Babicz 3-point. Pickups were DiMarzio as standard, again something found on a lot of Mat basses at the time, should be wired for series/parallel switching which makes them quite versatile. Cream covers should be standard, you can check authenticity by hex key size (DiMarzios are imperial) or wiring colour, which will be white & green/black & red. The Ebay sale at £190 is an indication how far vintage MIJ prices have fallen in the last few years, the Track 4 is pretty high spec (set neck/carved top etc) and 5 or 6 years ago £350-£400 would be more usual for a good original bass. These are actually pretty scarce, much less common than the single-pickup/bolt neck Track 2 like mine. Jon.

That Vantage is quite special - they don't come up in the UK very often & I'm pretty sure I've never seen that model in real life. Quite relieved I've got past my "have to have it" phase... J.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1420763132' post='2653290'] I bet its not a very cheap retro-fit [/quote] It's not available to buy yet, (mid-January, apparently) but it's probably not going to be much dearer than the standard Fender-fit Babicz - £79.00 from Bass Centre. Not really too expensive then, probably end up a bit cheaper than the Supertone. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1420735638' post='2652815'] I wonder if this will inspire Rickenbacker to have a bit of a rethink. [/quote] Just demonstrates the difference in corporate mentality - Babicz make a modern, improved update on Gibson's traditional design, Gibson start factory-fitting them. Hipshot make a modern, improved update to Rickenbacker's traditional design - Rickenbacker threaten legal action. Jon.

Looks like he's tried to clean the control plate by dipping it in the bog. In fairness, the logo actually does look a lot more like it says "Squizz" than "Squire". Jon.

Pretty sure I remember a bunch of nice-looking Marleaux knockoffs on Ebay 5 or 6 years back - that would've been around the same time the German HK brand started turning up, so this is likely one of that batch. Some of their other basses were quite interesting too - seem to remember a double-neck Steinberger copy. Jon.

Found a couple more pics: [url="http://blog.pupilo.com.mx/http://blog.pupilo.com.mx/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tumblr_ml7s8oXWb31qj6juso3_1280.png"]http://blog.pupilo.c...6juso3_1280.png[/url] (weird - pic shows in the editor but not when posted. Link should work) Lovely grain on that fretboard. I stand by my original assessment - it's a proper one-off, fully functioning bass. Never noticed the 24-fret neck, I'd also say it looks like it tapers less than a Fender, quite narrow string spacing, and it's square at the end of the fingerboard. The extended heel of the neck seems to go right up to the pickup. The bridge looks like some sort of 2-point Gibson-type fitting, presumably to go with the Mudbucker - that would account for the tight string spacing. The body has a clear scratchplate, unlike the wood used on Armstrongs, and the routing (which you can see better in the original pics) is clearly for just the existing pickup & controls, so the body isn't from any donor bass I'm aware of. Dunno what it is,but I want one. J.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1420464367' post='2649568'] As far as I know the only Acrylic basses that went into production were made by Dan Armstrong. The rest are probably one-offs. I've seen several acrylic P basses, John Entwistle had one and I saw one being used in Goldfrapp. [/quote] Most of the 70s Japanese factories did a Dan copy - really good article here: [url="http://www.danarmstrong.org/copies.html"]http://www.danarmstr...org/copies.html[/url] As far as other production seethroughs is concerned, budget brand Axl did a P a few years back, I built a rather lovely but too heavy to actually lift project based around the body of one of these: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:57742] Neck's a bit rubbish too, but it looks great! Off to read the TDPRI thread now... J.

[quote name='fingerz' timestamp='1420462211' post='2649538'] Good answer!! Great stuff [/quote] Ta! Possibly my only use in life is to identify (or not) obscure basses and in so doing, create confusion. My work here is done. Unless anyone else knows better... J.

Dan Armstrong shaped body with a P-type neck, might be a bitsa but probably more likely to be a one-off build. Pickup looks like a Gibson Mudbucker type, which you won't find on a Dan or any of the various 70s copies, as far as I know. Most of the copies had twin humbuckers, but there's no routing visible for these so I don't think the body's from an old copy. The base of the neck extends beyond the heel of the board so it can fit to the body, I would guess this neck's been made specifically to do this. Cool bass but I think if you want one you'll have to make one! Jon.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1420293625' post='2647623'] What would it be worth if it hadn't been owned by God??? [/quote] £600. [url="http://eastwoodguitars.co.uk/eub-1-black/"]http://eastwoodguita...uk/eub-1-black/[/url] So used (& a bit grimy) that'd be what - £350 - £400? Jon.

Sounds somewhat suspect to me. I'm inclined to think it's nothing to do with Lynott other than a "tribute" based on the fact he is known to have used a version of this bass. As far as being a collectable MIJ rarity is concerned, all those non-original & non-spec parts just detract from its value. As far as I know, Roland guitars & basses were made by Fujigen Gakki, I think through Kanda Shokai (Greco, Fender Japan etc) rather than Hoshino Gakki, who own the Ibanez brand. Jon.

Could happen, unless some sharp-eyed gyppo grabs it first.... But if that happens, I'll flog it to you for £175. J.

It makes perfect sense to me. I've never owned a Fender-branded instrument but I've had several Squiers, including 80s MIJ, 90s Korean & a current Indonesian VMJ, all of which have been very good to excellent. Fenders are as basic as it gets, I struggle to understand why such a simplistic mass-produced instrument should ever cost more than a few hundred quid. Jon.

It's a slightly depressing reflection of the current market value of MIJ stuff that this has been on for 3 days & is still there. I'm still amazed by the Washburn Force 40 which sold for just £124 a few days ago, and there's been a slew of those Matsumoku-built, DiMarzio-equipped Hondo Professionals which have failed to attract any bids despite starting at £99 or less. It's a rubbish time to be trying to sell JapCrap. J.

Buy a used SR500 for the same money as a new 300. They come up all the time. Jon.

Neck-dive is really just an inherent feature of any 34" scale symmetrical body bass - the reason your Ps, Js & other asymmetrical basses don't dive so much is just the way the weight's redistributed by sticking the top button out near the 12th fret. It's much less of a problem on shortscale basses. I've got a couple of lovely symmetrical-body basses that hardly ever get out because I find supporting the neck awkward. Perhaps I should copy Mr Simmons & build something into my clothes to support it. And maybe get some Godzilla boots, too... J.

I can answer a couple of your questions Gregdach - it's a good-quality bass, it's an original design, and it's well worth keeping and re-fretting, in my opinion. Does the bass have a serial number anywhere? As far as I know, the earliest IGBs (and presumably ASBs, since they appear to be identical) were MIJ & possibly Matsumoku. Matsumoku closed down in '87 but higher-end Aria products were, and still are MIJ, utilising other factories. I'd say it's quite likely this is a Japanese-made bass. It's interesting that this bass has the same bridge unit used on many MIJ Arias (including the SB series) since the late 70s. I'm by no means an Aria expert however, I'd try dropping a PM to [b]noelk27[/b], who's set me straight about various Aria & MIJ-related facts in the past! Jon.

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1419922034' post='2643925'] I am a huge Kiss fan but really do not like the design of this bass and think it is over priced I would rather have a Punisher [/quote] I think the Punisher (especially the original through-neck) is a really good-looking bass. Ironically the only reason I wouldn't have one is that I'm not a huge Kiss fan. That & the neck-dive. Jon.