Bassassin

Missed it - but Eastwood will now forever be FASIWOON to me. Anyone else remember the Squier listed as a 'Squizz'?

Aria reissued their old Mosrite types a few years back, 34" scale, fitted with J type pickups & under their old Aria Diamond label: Interesting to see this new one's a closer reissue, 'correct' shortscale and more accurate looking pickups. As a vintage MIJ nerd I am amused by the use of a Univox-style font for the logo - the Univox-labelled Hi-Fliers are somewhat more sought-after than the old Arias!

Aria's Sarzo sig (the SB-RSZ) appears to have been a Japan-only rebranding of the SB-ELT, from 1989-ish. Pretty sure RS himself never played one, all the pics of him with an Aria look like a Matsumoku-era SB Elite II. I have an ELT and an '83 SB Elite B&G - the later bass is quite different when you compare them side-by side - slimmer neck, thinner body horns, different proportions. Electronics are completely different too - a simple v/v/t layout + 2x microswitches, as opposed to the stacked pots & rotary selector of the SB-Elites & SB-Rs. The RSZ & ELT definitely appear to be the same bass - can't be 100% but it even looks like the same image in both brochures. Anyway, I'll stop cluttering up a Peavey thread with gratuitous Aria guff! Lovely pair of Sarzos, @BassManGraham!

Br*x*t bonus - it's now...

Wanx Norton.

I really couldn't say...

You say that like it's a bad thing! The most hilarious (and 100% maddest) bike I had was a Yammy TDR250 - basically a proto-supermoto with a 50bhp TZR twin stuck in a lightweight street trailie chassis. Would have another in a heartbeat. If they didn't go for 7 grand these days. Not sure what the bass equivalent would be - maybe a dayglo Ibby Soundgear, if it had a knife-edge powerband, spent half its time with its nose in the air & would happily chuck you through a hedge if you weren't careful.

The 'Argos' thread in OT made me wonder if this qualifies as properly pointy: Vester Argus Always thought these were genuinely great-looking basses, 90s or early '00s I think. Rare as anything. Can't believe I passed one up on here for £99 about 10 years ago, due to being brutally skint!

I think I remember reading that he's regretful...

You're doing it wrong! This is a Geddy Pee!

It's an apt comparison - it had occured to me but I never really thought it through. Two iconic US brands, both broadly creating quite brash & ostentatious products, with technology & design sensibilities those of a bygone era & relying on tradition & reputation (deserved or otherwise!) to maintain a niche, dedicated market. Latterly both brands succumbing to the inevitability of having to modernise their products. Just a bit, under the surface and not so's you'd really notice. I've never owned a Rick or a Harley - however I've always loved the look & sound of Rickenbacker basses and have a number of accurate & not-so-accurate Rick copies. On the other hand, I've never wanted a Yamaha DragStar, Honda Rebel, Kawasaki Vulcan, Suzuki Intruder or any other H-D knockoff - Harleys & H-D style bikes always strike me as slightly embarrassing weekend toys for midlife-crisis bank managers & financial advisors* cosplaying as badass bikers - and in no way suited to the realities of UK roads! *Apologies to any Harley/ cruiser-owning financial advisors. To be clear, one of my best mates is a 51 year-old IFA who rides a 1998 Honda Hornet 600. I think he quite fancies a Harley...

Never was a fan of the pointy/droopy headstock on an otherwise conventional-looking bass, just looks like a mismatched bitsa. However - proper out-there 80s pointiness: hook it into my veins! My first 'serious' bass was one of these: Washburn B20 Stage. Sold it to buy something you could slap on, a somewhat less pointy Aria RSB Deluxe II. Always had GAS for an Iceman or a Westone Dynasty. Maybe a Raider in one of the 2-tone glitter finishes. Or an Aria ZZB in blood splatter...

The pre - Kaja Beggsy, circa 1979. Tells you all you need to know. Kasuga EB-750 from '75-ish, if you were wondering.

Depending on the bass, I'm quite partial to a bit of pimpage. Usually reversible, but not always. A few victims examples: My no. 1 bass is a 1980-ish Japanese CSL Jazz copy, which I picked up for £60 from a local pawn shop 20-odd years ago: Schaller 3D bridge, DiMarzio Model J pickups, stacked controls, black pearl plate & lots of T-Cut. Bought this to hose down & flip, ended up being the nicest-playing J I ever picked up, and the one I'd save in a fire. Next - simple but effective bling on my MM V7 fretless - clear acrylic scratchplate & replacement knobs: Still haven't ruled out reshaping the headstock to Tele-style... This one goes beyond mere pimping into full-on butchery. Denizens of the builds folder may already be familiar with this particular exercise in nightmare fuel: It's a cheapo Ebay thing called a Wesley Europa, picked it up for £100 brand new. neckthrough, active, 2-way truss rod, quite a nicely made thing but with a finish on the back that fell off after 2 or 3 gigs and a misconceived headstock. Languished on the to-do pile until last summer (full uncensored story here), on reflection my Laurus-esque headflap wasn't quite the aesthetic improvement I wanted, so it'll have a second appointment with the hacksaw as soon as it's warm enough to work in the garage...

Always liked these. Stylistically a little bit influenced (especially those inlays!) by the Aria Pro SB-Elite II Sarzo played:

Pretty colour, pretty eye-watering price. Woul quite like this as an unrouted body/neck project, maybe for £150 or so. Apart from than massive housebrick heel. Why do all Chickenbackers seem to have that?

Bitsa. Borked MIJ 70s Antoria J neck on a random veneered pancake body. Blank, elongated neckplate & bridge with front screws say Korean. Overpriced by about £120.

Thought I'd seen that before. Gets a passing mention & a pic in this thread: Genuine rarity turning up in Crack Converters. What a world...

Even better than the real thing.

That'll cost you £80 & a bit of sandpaper, assuming it's a refin.

It's definitely not! A bit late to the bickerfest (on holiday, not paying attention!) but Kawai Gakki was a manufacturer in its own right with a guitar making history going back to the mid 60s when they acquired Teisco's manufacturing facilities specifically for that purpose. The Fernandes Alembic copies (related but not identical) were also made by Kawai. I suppose it's because of the prominence of the through-neck Aria Pro basses that Matsumoku is indelibly linked with all things stripy & MIJ, but every major Japanese brand/manufacturer did them (Ibby Musicians, Kasuga Scorpions & many others) and the irony is that the entire trend was 'influenced' by Alembic in the first place! Anyway, 'nuff pedantry, absolutely delighted to see this one being given a new lease of life & the care & attention it deserves.

Cheapo early 80s Korean P copy, unless it's had a refin it's not a Satellite or a Hondo (as both were just brand names), but probably from the same factory, which was likely Samick. He's claiming it's a Satellite now (suggesting he's reading this thread), and the £80 BIN he wants for it is probably about right.

Single-pickup 4000 series & some 4001S (same bass with an added neck pickup) had set-necks. The double-neck 4080 had bolt-on necks. Through-neck Ricks are known to collapse & bend at the body/neck junction because of the vast neck pickup route, leading to the same effect. They'll insist it's because of the 'wrong strings' though.