Bassassin

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1393098245' post='2376238'] Satellite P Basses often come up on eBay though prices can vary considerably... [/quote] Usually highly overpriced, should be avoided at any price. Badly built early Korean-made driftwood tat. Jon.

Wish I could help but I'm not too clued up on acoustics. "Yama" isn't ringing a bell, but in addition to Yamaha there was also Yamaki (related to Daion) and Yamato (prob. an importer rebrand) so it's not impossible it could be related somehow to one of these brands. It's equally possible that it was an importer trying to use a familiar-sounding name for a product - same as the Isonez, IBZ & Gerrinez brands and (perhaps more even more obvious) Founder & Fresher! Just guesswork, so hopefully Noel will be along with some proper facts! Anyway it's a very pretty box, and £60 for a decent guitar is a steal, whoever made it. Jon.

It's said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and having skimmed this thread I'm now quite content to accept that the incompetence that I put into my bass gets turned into music by the fairies. Jon.

Nicest looking bit of plywood I've seen in a long time - possibly ever! Most old Eastern European stuff is as crude & weird as that other bass, but I really like this! £328 is a bit steep, though. Jon.

This is a 60s era Japanese bass, it has specific hardware (pickup & tuners) which I've seen used on Teisco & Kawai instruments. It's not consistent with any Teiscos listed [url="http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/"]here[/url] but it is similar to several & this is far from an exhaustive resource. Musky might be right about Guyatone, who were a major Japanese manufacturer of the same era. The name on the headstock probably won't link it to any particular manufacturer - a huge proportion of what was exported from Japan was sold under importer/distributors' own brands. Try asking on the forum at [url="http://www.vintaxe.com/phpBB3/"]Vintaxe.com[/url] - either the Japanese or Unknown Origin boards - chances are someone will have seen this bass before. Jon.

[quote name='MB1' timestamp='1392486780' post='2369357'] MB1. I have a feeling it will be remaining Local. [/quote] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/229533-aria-pro-2-sb-special-2-mij-1982/page__view__findpost__p__2366064"]It'd be nice to think the first person to ask might get first refusal...[/url] J.

I killed a couple of my early starter basses but the only properly worn-out one is my Aria RSB Deluxe 2. Bought new in 1984, my only gigging/recording bass up until 2000, permanently strung with Roto Swing Bass, so the frets were ground to nothing by 1986! Retired when the neck developed a twist so bad it now resembles an Archimedes Screw - I've been looking for a replacement neck for 14 years now, would love to revive it. The body's still in great cosmetic condition, just a couple of knocks & a bit of corrosion/wear on the bridge & pups. Jon.

Captain Predictable to the rescue! Of very little, as the question's already answered - generic 70s J pups typical of Japanese and Korean copies from that era. I assume they made these round-ended because it was quicker & easier to do the crude round-ended routes they got fitted in. Also all the J copies back then had ashtrays, so they weren't really designed to be seen. Never seen 3-wire examples of these, but I have seen this on other old MIJ single coils, extra wires are additional grounds. Doubt if these will turn out to be twin coil but I wouldn't rule it out - they won't be potted so the covers should come off with a bit of careful encouragement. Jon.

Pretty sure you've met before: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/227071-fender/"]http://basschat.co.u.../227071-fender/[/url] I guess the Crack Converters web gonk must've had a reading lesson. Jon

Pretty bass but a pale imitation of the [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/catalogs/78_pb1500_slick/78_pb1500_slick.jpg.html"]PB1500[/url] it's based on. Jon.

Beautiful - looks like you've done a great job of cleaning & tidying it. Persist with for a while it before you make a decision, however if you do decide to move it on, there are plenty of people here who'd be interested. Well, me at least! Jon.

This philosophy inevitably originates with guitarists, to whom the only "real" bassist is by default a guitarist's girlfriend. I have been told I "play bass like a guitar" which, as well as being a load of arrant testicles, is contradicted by having being told by guitarists that I "play guitar like a bassist". I prefer to think that I play music, with a musical instrument. Jon.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1391981865' post='2363335'] Which time? [/quote] Referring to the shenanigans involving the gentleman presumably trying to sell an "awesome" (and doubtless "raer") Grant P copy a couple of years back. J.

Result! How much more than the £95 did you end up paying? Looking forward to seeing the pics. Jon.

I doubt you can go too far wrong bolting a Fender copy together, but I'd be very wary of splintery amateur defrets patched up with epoxy. If it was a factory fretless neck it'd be worth a watch, but I wouldn't touch it with that defret job. Jon.

Blimey, the fun I missed while I was away! Anyway, Grant, like most importer rebrands, were a whole bunch of different things - some were fine, some were woeful (like my first bass) and most were pretty average. This one will likely need some TLC and acetone but it's at least solid wood, which is a good sign. I'd happily pay £40 for that if it was down the bottom of my road. J.

I personally (can't speak for bandmates past, present or future) have never broken any of these "rules". Except maybe 2, if cropped combats count. Anyway, I now feel that having inadvertantly adhered to this asinine "code", I have somehow failed, so I must make it my priority to go out of my way to flagrantly commit each & every one of these so-called transgressions. All at the same gig. Jon.

A few years back there was an acrylic bodied P copy branded Axl. I managed to find a body from one (on BC as it happens) & made myself a bitsa: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:71956] It's a nice thing to look at, unfortunately it weighs so much it has its own gravity well, and the neck I used is rubbish. Jon.

This is the third or fourth time it's been relisted, price has been dropped by a couple of quid. Nice looking bass but something seems a bit "off" about the ad - can't help wondering how come a one-off custom bass is being sold by someone who plainly doesn't have half a clue about it. Jon.