Bassassin

Looks fine for a Loft Monster, I'd be surprised if there was anything wrong with it that a good hose-down wouldn't fix. Don't expect it to go for any £50 though. Jon.

[quote name='Rickenbacker Bloke']That bass is a fake. To me it looks like an old Ibanez copy.[/quote] He's entirely wrong. It is absolutely [b]not[/b] an Ibanez, and it isn't any other Japanese brand either. I'm pretty certain this is one of the Italian manufacturers from the 70s (you see those big cream hex-pole humbuckers on late 70/early 80s Eko basses) and at this stage I'm sticking with Gherson. People who are aware of "lawsuit" copies but haven't actually spent any time studying the instruments tend to think they were all "made by Ibanez". The confusing truth is that none of them were. J.

[quote name='tino' post='1154228' date='Mar 8 2011, 06:32 PM']Tiz Not Tis a 30" but theres loads of arse left on it to drop a BA in further down if thats the length you need ..lol I was once considering puting a second pickup in that would have required the bridge moving down,I even bought a rikiripoff bridge to do it.....just others took priority and I fely this one should remain as is due to the good original condition,see I do have a heart [/quote] Good job you didn't mate - you can't shift the bridge without affecting the intonation & the pitch above the 12th fret! You'd need a longer neck if you wanted to reposition the bridge! J.

Hi - sorry to confirm that the bass is not a Rickenbacker. I'm not 100% sure what it is but the twin-trussrod adjusters are the same as those used on Italian-made Ghersons, although the Ghersons I have seen have different tuners and a more Rickenbacker-styled bridge. They also had the more common triangle inlays so this is possibly a different model from the same range. An interesting & unusual Faker, but not a real Rick, I'm afraid. Jon. Edit - just checked your other thread & if you got that for €250, you should still be well pleased, that's a steal for any Faker!

These are DiMarzio Model Js - they still make them and new they're about £100 a set. Sadly I don't think there's a vintage "premium" for old ones, they tend to go around the £50-£60 mark. Are you sure they're 1974? I thought the Model J & Model P lines appeared around '78/'79. They are nice, punchy, warm-sounding pups, I have a set (one 70s with the PAF sticker, one more recent) in my CSL Jazz and they do sound sweet. Jon.

[quote name='tino' post='1152723' date='Mar 7 2011, 05:41 PM']So it wasn't you offering the Gherkinns & a shiny 50p??? [/quote] Not me Squire. I could do you a box of Betamax videos (some featuring "adult" content) and one of those gadgets for shaving the fluff off of knitwear if you're game. J.

Nice lot of early bids your Maya's attracting Tino! Might even have a sneaky punt myself... J.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='1152021' date='Mar 6 2011, 10:55 PM']Am I missing something, or is this going for more than would normally be expected? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270713069923"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270713069923[/url][/quote] Lots & lots, no idea why but can't help suspecting a bit of shill action. I've watched a few of these in the past & they go for up to £150ish. So typically they go for a lot less than the Hohner B2A (also made by Cort), but this time it's arse-about-face: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260746887873"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260746887873[/url] Even odder as the black & white finish is rare as f*** - they only made these for the first year (1985) that B2As were around. Jon.

[quote name='chaypup' post='1151609' date='Mar 6 2011, 04:38 PM']I THINK I like this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Fame-861-Tokai-Bass-HC-Hondo-MIJ-Japan-/290541455679?pt=Guitar&hash=item43a59ec93f#ht_860wt_936"]Tokai[/url], but then I'm not so sure....[/quote] You mean the HONDO? Tokai, indeed. And people wonder why you get cynical. Very nice bass apart from the w@nky droopy pointy 80s headstock (I was in the 80s & the ubiquity of these things has left me with a spontaneous gag reaction) but this is a Samick, made in Korea, like 90% of Hondos. That round brown & white sticker with the writing is a Samick factory inspection sticker. There's actually a foolproof way of spotting & recognising Made In Japan instruments, and I really should do more to go out of my way to publicise & promote it. They say "Made In Japan" on them. J.

[quote name='meatbingo' post='1151411' date='Mar 6 2011, 01:03 PM']That was my auction. I still have the bass. For the record I certainly wasn't pretending that it was a Greco. Rather cynical of you to have assumed so. We don't all have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Rickenfakers.[/quote] Eh up, sorry, didn't mean to cause offence & I hope I did my bit for clarity when I messaged you on Ebay with the correct ID for your bass. It's absolutely fine to advertise Rick copies here, selling them here or anywhere else in the world is perfectly legal and your right as the owner. Ebay's an American company - in actual fact based very close to Rickenbacker International Corp in California - and they remove listings for "Rickenfakers" to keep themselves in the clear and avoid incurring the legal wrath of RIC themselves. RIC own trademarks for every element of the 4001/4003 design, and US law requires that a trademark owner must pursue every visible infringement of that trademark, or run the risk of it passing into the public domain - as has already happened for Fender & Gibson. This is why they - or Ebay on their behalf - shut down "infringing" auctions, regardless of where in the world they appear, technically it carries no legal weight in the UK & is just an effect of Ebay being a US company. Best of luck if you do sell the bass on here! Jon.

Hello Captain Search Function: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=105025"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=105025[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=96975"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=96975[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=57558"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=57558[/url] Some of them are quite pretty, but otherwise they appear to be inexplicably expensive Chinese (or wherever) - made knockoffs, some of which (the Rick "copy" particularly) are a bit rubbish-looking. Jon.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1150733' date='Mar 5 2011, 05:09 PM']I really liked the look of that. Then I [url="http://www.giggear.co.uk/p/Ibanez-Grooveline-G104-Bass-Natural/"]saw the price[/url]. I still like the look of it... I just know now that I won't be getting one. [/quote] Bloody hell - thought it would be steep but that's probably about a grand more than I would've guessed. The price of JapCrap these days, I dunno! So no, not for me, either. If I ever lose enough good sense to consider spending that much on a bass it'll be my own design, hand-built by the luthier of my choice. J.

A few on here have been getting a little bit tumescent over this: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=118571"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=118571[/url] I certainly like it, rather a lot. Pretty sure this will be at the rarefied end of the range (if it ever makes it to the UK) and I'm looking forward to getting a proper look at one. Jon.

That's so comprehensively butchered there's no remaining evidence that it ever was a real Rick! The funniest thing - or perhaps the only funny thing - is the price. Amazes me how these Ebay special-needs cases always imagine that their inept hack-jobs actually [b]increase[/b] the value of the poor bass they've been raping. Jon.

[quote name='tino' post='1149722' date='Mar 4 2011, 05:55 PM']Your not an orrid C**t at all [/quote] You wouldn't say that if I blagged your El Maya for a tenner! Now, that green thing's very interesting, looks in lovely nick too. You might well be right about Teisco/Kawai as a manufacturer, certainly looks related in a lot of ways. Never seen one of these before, so what exactly is it then? Ross - like you say, Global is one of millions of rebrands - most of the names on JapCrap are. This one is, I'd say Korean rather than MIJ, I'm basing that on the plain, narrow neckplate & the slightly odd-shaped truss rod cover. These are very Hondo-esque, as is the finish, which unashamedly displays its edge laminations - the Japanese at least tried to hide the plywood! I'd bet you'd find plastic buttons rather than metal on the tuners, too. For what it's worth I think that Columbus J posted earlier is Korean too. Still looks nice, though J.

[quote name='tino' post='1148709' date='Mar 3 2011, 06:31 PM']Cheers 99p tiz den[/quote] If you're gonna go that route - lots of very detailed, clear pics, an accurate & honest description - and a title stuffed with keywords to get the hits. And don't forget, there are no certainties - it could still sell for three quid to an 'orrible c*** like me... J.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1148105' date='Mar 3 2011, 10:20 AM']Do you have to go this route and change. in effect, two positions..? Is it that hard to find decent drummers..?[/quote] I don't think so. We're currently working with two different drummers, both are excellent musicians but each comes with a huge sackful of issues regarding availability & motivation. This seems particularly common with drummers, in my experience. If push comes to shove though I'm perfectly happy to gig with this fella: Wouldn't be the first time either. Jon.

[quote name='Musky' post='1147979' date='Mar 3 2011, 08:08 AM']The body routing is consistent with a late '73 to early/mid '76 Precision. I suppose it's entirely feasible it could have mated with a '77/'78 neck though - I'm guessing it's got an S7***** serial number, hence the dates he's given in the listing.[/quote] Cheers - didn't know that regarding early/mid 70s Ps. Anyway if anyone goes for this I'll be happy to take the pup & tuners off your hands, these being as he quite rightly points out, trash & a travesty fitted to such an exceptional bass. J.

[quote name='tino' post='1147692' date='Mar 2 2011, 09:06 PM']Hi Ho Jon any idea as to what a 70's ElMaya telecaster bass is worth in good nick???? Cheers[/quote] Hard to be sure, I think I'd hope for summat around the £200 mark. If it was mine I'd stick it on Ebay at 99p no reserve & let it find its own level. Spinynorman - inclined to agree, considering it's a cheap knockoff of the Kramer Duke & they sometimes only go for a ton or so more. J.

It occurs to me that the tuners he's sneering at, plus the pickup - a PAF-stickered 70s DiMarzio - might well be the only decent/genuine parts. Is that cheap-looking open body route consistent with a 70s P? And the fingerboard's strangely a different colour to the rest of the neck, almost as though it was glued-on - just like they aren't on maple-neck Fenders. I dunno, I might be wrong - hard to tell as the pics are so half-arsed & shoddy. Jon.

[quote name='Pow_22' post='1140394' date='Feb 24 2011, 08:39 PM']Ordered my fireglo today. Anyone know if the £50 AllParts ric style bridge will fit this? I want a ric style one but cant afford a proper hipshot or owt at the mo[/quote] These are accurate copies of real Rick tailpieces so no, it won't fit without some modding. The bridge/saddle assembly sits in a "well" which protrudes underneath the tailpiece so there's a route in the body of a Rick to accommodate it. Pretty simple job for a luthier, but not a bolt-on swap. To be honest unless you're going to get a Hipshot, you're probably better off keeping the stock Retrovibe bridge - at least you can adjust string height & intonation properly! Jon.

£8695? You could buy nearly 150 Sue Ryders for that. If you chucked them in a river for a few days they'd come out looking pretty much as destroyed. The law of averages would probably suggest that a good few of them would probably play & sound as good as this one too. Jon.

Sounds like you want [url="http://www.axemusic.co.uk/products/Dimarzio_DP123_Model_J_Bass.html"]DiMarzio Model Js[/url]. Still available with cream covers too, like in the Olden Days. Jon.