Bassassin

It sold for £99?? Bloody hell. J.

Rickenfakers have been around for a while - the earliest ones probably date from when John Hall was in short pants. The Italian-made Shaftesburys (made by Eko) were mid 60s and amusingly were sold through Rose-Morris, official importer of Rickenbacker at the time. Around the same time, there were some Fujigen-built guitars (360-ish things) badged as Antoria & Ibanez, and some interesting early Aria semis, including a rather nice 4005-alike. The earliest 4001 copy I've seen appeared in a 1970 (approx) Greco catalogue for the Japanese market - the bass is the Fujigen through-neck copy commonly seen badged Ibanez, with Gibson-style pickups. Instead of the usual full-width glitter inlays, it has alternating single & double dots and a triple dot at the twelfth position. I saw one of these go through US Ebay a long time ago, never seen another since. Not a big fan of these funny little Kays, but this one looks very tidy. Some of these early Taiwanese instruments are better than you'd expect. Jon.

Lovely bass - I bought the el cheapo Korean-made C5 Zephyr 5-string years ago 'cos I couldn't afford a "proper" Cirrus! Think I'd have gone for Cyrus rather than Cyril... Jon.

Hi Loula - £40 for a Thunder 1a as a great score and these are excellent basses. Stick around and no doubt someone will be selling a Rail sooner or later, a few members have them - there's a fair bit of passion for Westones and other Japanese basses from the 70s & 80s. Jon.

[quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1391278264' post='2355350'] Just won this one and thanks to Annoying Twit for the earlier heads up post about the Cimars. Fingers crossed it'll be a half decent Bass. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cimar-P-J-Bass-Guitar-/331116537418"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/331116537418[/url] [/quote] Good score - this is a [url="http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=34&now=3"]Cimar XR2065BS[/url] and looks in much better condition than the one I restored a few years back: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:63117] I might trouble you for a tracing of the scratchplate at some future point - the one on mine's a cheap Precision plate & it ain't quite right! J.

If anyone does grab it for parts, I'm interested in the case. J.

Looks like it's mostly things stuck in the holes from the original scratchplate. Apart from the defret butchery & additional holes, this might restore OK. Most rattlecan resprays are over the original finish and once removed, the old lacquer can be re-polished easily enough. Looks like it's got all its original parts so it could potentially be a bargain project. Has that fingerboard been painted? Jon.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1391069511' post='2352798'] That's ruined my day!! [/quote] Ruined [i]your[/i] day??? How do you think [b]I [/b]felt? Pics, saved for viewing anytime I feel just a bit too smug & fortunate: And the text from the ad: [quote][b]Electric Guitar for sale or swap £30 Edinburgh City Centre An electric guitar sitting in a cupboard not being played. Happy to sell for £30 or swap for something interesting. Possibly swap for any old wind up mechanical clock that isn't working since my son has taken an interest in trying to repair old timepieces. Any questions just ask. [/b] 01-12-13[/quote] Plainly it's a litle bit challenged & neglected, but thirty quid? Or a bloody broken clock... Sorry to anyone expecting content of a more Jap, or indeed crap nature. J.

Not familiar with the Kimberly brand but I don't think this bass is anything to do with Teisco - they did make a Jazz-inspired design, but it was nothing like this: [url="http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/bass.htm"]http://www.mark-cole...teisco/bass.htm[/url] bottom l/h corner. All the Japanese manufacturers built to contract & would put any name on an instrument that the customer wished. Pin-badge instruments like this would be as likely been badged up by the distributor prior to going to retail. This bass looks early 70s to me, pin badges had pretty much disappeared by around 1975. I wouldn't think it's earlier than that, for reasons I'll get to. This is quite an unusual little bass and not very common - it would be a pity I think to butcher it, simply because you're unlikely to ever find an identical one. The other reason I'd be loath to spent a lot of time, cash and effort modding it is simply that they're really not very good. I can say this with some authority because my very first bass, bought in June 1978 for £59 from Unisound in Chatham High street was pretty much identical to this, apart from having clover-leaf tuners and "Grant" on the headstock. And it was [i]hateful[/i]. [sharedmedia=core:attachments:53794] [sharedmedia=core:attachments:53795] Not mine (I killed it with extreme prejudice years ago) but identical. It is short scale (so your neck-swap plan may be complicated), the body is plywood, pickups are weak single-coils in fake Hofner staple cases and I suspect it's difficult to do better than approximate decent intonation. Considering that what you plan on doing is to bin everything apart from the body, and the body of this bass is cheap plywood, I'd recommend you hang this on the wall and just build a decent parts bass fro scratch! Jon.

Lovely, that. I'd be interested if the seller wasn't an apathetic git who's too lazy to post it. Jon.

[quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1390855808' post='2350565'] This one's near me. Not sure what he means by look after neck but hey, a bit for me. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Japan-Cimar-Jazz-Bass-early-70er-/261365108973?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cda9310ed"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3cda9310ed[/url] [/quote] No reason to think it's a Cimar - there's nothing on the headstock. I suspect just he pulled the name Cimar out of [s]his arse[/s] thin air. I don't think this ever said Cimar on the headstock, more likely a Columbus, as they're far more common - I've had both and there are some differences, this looks more like the Columbus to me. £300 for this is ridiculous, dunno what he means by "look after neck" but the neck does look like it's spent about a decade underwater. J.

I've had 3 of these, all car boot specials, the dearest one cost me £28. Sold that one & really regretted it - it was the nicest-playing Strat I've owned. Guitarist in my band has one I bought water-damaged for £5, I dried it out, tidied up some peeling lacquer, re-strung it & gave him it for his birthday! He loves it & gigs it regularly. The third one is still in bits in the Bassment, awaiting rewiring & reassembly. Think it was a tenner but I don't really remember. All of mine have been the Indian FMIC ones, and I did do some research about these. It seems Sunn Mustang was UK or EU only - in the US these are Squier IIs, and fairly sought-after. They are late 80s/early 90s and there are some interesting - but of course unsubstantiated - internet claims, including the suggestion that bodies & necks were actually Japanese-made (end of Japanese Squier production or some such tosh) and assembled in India with budget, locally-produced components. I take this with a massive pinch of salt but there is a huge difference between the excellent quality necks & solid timber bodies, and the rather ratty electronics & crumbly hardware. On balance they are super little guitars for the money, never make more than £70-odd on Ebay and if you have one & like it, it's definitely worth hot-rodding with decent pickups electronics & hardware. Do keep the old bits if you ever intend to sell it, though. Jon.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1390814858' post='2349699'] Ah yes, I was fancying that one too. I had no idea what it was, but for £30 it would have been worth buying and then researching later! These things do always go fast though... [/quote] I think the sad thing about that Odyssey is that it's such an obscure instrument that chances are whoever bought it has no idea what it is, and will just treat it as a cheapsh!t beater, presumably like the seller did. J.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1390748782' post='2348923'] May look (a bit) like a Ritter, but it certainly isn't going to perform like one..I wonder how long before these appear in the UK [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Guitar-Unique-5-String-new-/171184187008?pt=Guitar&hash=item27db5f6680"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item27db5f6680[/url] [/quote] I'm tempted to import some & brand them Rotter. Jon.

Very nice body - looks like it didn't sell, though. Wolf is another brand I remember from Ebay from maybe 7 or 8 years back, they had some other interesting designs too if I remember right. Jon.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1390769284' post='2349343'] Was just gonna pm you this one Jon. Band always says my timing is sh*te [/quote] Never mind, too much firewood 'round the place anyway! Hope someone on here got it & it doesn't just pop up on FleaBay for £150. J.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1390747814' post='2348910'] I don't need it myself and I'm trying not to fill the house with stuff [/quote] Likewise - but I've just sent him a message anyway... £40? Rude not to... J. EDIT - Too late, its gorn. That's the second ludicrous local Gumtree bargain I've missed in the last month or two. The previous one was more upsetting though - a Canadian Balogh Odyssey guitar for £30. Just ask Flat Eric about these...

Maya/El Maya are a bit of an enigma. There are a couple of confirmed facts about their origin - the brands are owned by a Japanese trading company called Rokkomann, which is based in Kobe. Anecdotally, Rokkomann operated their own manufacturing plant which (again anecdotally) was destroyed in the Hanshin earthquake in 1995. I have been able to find no confirmation of this, so the origin of Mayas & El Mayas still remains a mystery. El Maya is usually understood to be the higher-quality tier of the Maya brand, although you do see a fair bit of crossover of models. Regarding the age of the bass, I'd say it's probably pre-1980. Really, by the end of the 70s, most Japanese brands (including Maya) were focusing more on exporting good-quality original designs, while the copy market was fulfilled by the emerging Korean & Taiwanese manufacturers. Home-grown copies remained popular in the Japanese home market, probably due to less pressure from copyright owners than the US & European markets experienced. I'm not knowledgeable enough to be able to either identify or translate the heel stamp from your bass - however, there are a couple of Japanese-speaking BC members (Annoying Twit & noelk27) who might have an idea what the Kanji means. J.

Greco as a brand was never officially imported to the UK - for that reason alone, this almost certainly isn't one. I'd say it was possibly originally branded Maya or El Maya - unbound, dot-neck examples of these do turn up, in fact a BC member had/has one. Can't remember who, though - curse my failing memory! That said, there were dozens of UK importer brands and like any old MIJ bass with no name, it could have been any number of them. J. EDIT - sorry NightGoat - just realised you're in NL. Having said that, I'm not sure Greco went to Europe at all, and I'm afraid the only Dutch 70s brands I know are Gerrinez and (I think) Custom.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1390438665' post='2345566'] Don't hold back, Jon - tell us if you think it's any good or not. [/quote] Hang on - it wasn't me who described it as "ply junk"! Some of those old MIJ bodies were veneered butcher-block, which is at least a little bit more "woody". Anyway, ain't a Fender, & I doubt the neck was born with that sticker on it, & the only bit that's what it says it is is the bridge. J.

Bitsa fom hell. The body's low-end 70s JapCrap/KoreaDiarrhoea - you can see it's originally had those round-end pickups found on Columbus & Satellites. Dunno what the neck is - Squier Affinity if you're lucky, the whole thing's worth about £80 for the BadAss & a few bits. Jon.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1390426786' post='2345437'] Never heard of Mazetti, but I do like that. I take it they're not Italian . [/quote] Ebay brand from a few years ago, and almost certainly Chinese! I remember these - actually looks like a nice plank apart from the fact someone's clearly drilled the string-through holes & screwed on the saddles in the dark! Jon.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1390392156' post='2344788'] Wonder if it was a very early one, before the new logo? If you look at this it shows a Cimar one that looks very similar ( Cimar were an Ibanez brand I think) from 1980 [url="http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=52&now=1"]http://www.ibanez.co...cat_id=52&now=1[/url] [/quote] Cimar Stinger & Ibanez Blazer mk1 were the same bass. Not sure what happened, looks like the later, more P-like Blazer appeared just a few months after the debut of the original one. Maybe the remaining Mk1 Blazers were re-badged as Cimar to sell off the production run. Anyway the Ibbys are fairly common, but you hardly ever see a Stinger. To clarify the Ibanez/Cimar thing - both are just brand names owned by Hoshino Gakki, who contract various factories to make their instruments. Not 100% sure but I think Hoshino owns the Tama brand too. Most 70s & 80s Ibanez were from Fujigen Gakki but from what I've seen of Cimars I don't think they were made there. The Stinger looks like an exception, having the same hardware common to Fujigen-built Ibbys from this era. Either way, the Cimars I've had my hands on are good-quality instruments, wherever they're from. In the mid-80s Hoshino used the Cimar brand on what I think were Korean-made cheapos - I seem to remember Strat copies - sold as "Cimar by Ibanez". Jon.

Just thinking I quite like it in white - shows off the German carve much better than black. I can imagine mine in a sort of subtle pearl blue-white, with the neck stripped & lacquered and the headstock face painted to match the body... No! Stop! J.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1390398399' post='2344915'] Anyone recognise this thing? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-guitar-made-in-Japan-/321304112158?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4acf37ac1e"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4acf37ac1e[/url] Looks kind of nice. I wonder how heavy/how wide the neck is etc? [/quote] Westbury Track 2, slightly modded & refinished. These are usually black with a DiMarzio pickup, they were Matsumoku-made and this one would appear to be from '81 assuming that's a known Mat serial. Tidier/more original ones don't tend to go for much more than £150 so I wouldn't drop too much on this. Weight 4kg/8.75lbs, nut width 40mm. Noel - do you remember if your Artist Jazz had the same logo as that Ebay thing? Really racking my brains to remember where else (and when) I've seen this brand. J.