Bassassin

[quote name='Johnston' post='1045949' date='Dec 3 2010, 07:41 AM']Anyone know if there are many Manufacturers in the Chezch republic ??[/quote] I think we can be 99.9% certain Bach aren't a manufacturer. I would imagine like everyone else who would like to make money selling cheap guitars, they source from China, Indonesia, Taiwan etc. Their Rick 4004 copies are lovely. J.

A listing should always commence with the phrase "And here we have...". Any cosmetic damage must be referred to as "dings, and "dongs" or possibly "dinks" and donks" - research has shown that baby talk always makes broken sh!t seem less broken. It should then be pointed out that the dinks, dongs and chunks of missing paint and timber "do not effect the playing and sound in any way what so ever". "What so ever" should always be expressed as three separate words. If the instrument has a missing string, do not attempt to replace it. You should point out the fact that it has a missing string, but reassure your purchaser that a suitable replacement can be obtained on Ebay for a pound. The same restoration advice can be used for most other missing components, with the possible exception of the Kneck/Arm/Handle. If the Kneck/Arm/Handle is missing from the Base Guiter you wish to sell, it's appropriate to describe the remaining component as "fully loaded". J.

[quote name='apa' post='1045494' date='Dec 2 2010, 07:17 PM']I'll say what we're all thinking shall I? 50+ of us all send it the spec for our 'dream bass'. We go to one of these poor innocent and simple business men in the far east and tell them we are a prospective new international company looking to see how good they are and here is a list of samples as a tester. All done to the highest spec at £50 a throw. Now what could possibly go wrong with that plan?? Whos in? :-D A[/quote] Flaw in your plan - he ain't gonna do 50 entirely different dream basses for £50 a pop. However if 49 other people want a modernised Maton Ibis clone... J.

The vast majority of small brand names are importers' own - they simply order a batch of guitars from a factory, or through an exporter, specify models & colours, and have their own brand names put on the instruments. You've probably seen the rather sexy Retrovibe & Probass models a few BCers have been getting into - the guy who sells these appears to order small batches of instruments built to his spec and with his brand on - I have every intention of buying one of his red Rick copies - after all, when they first appeared in black or white, I did say that if there was red with black binding version, I'd have one. And lo & behold... I have been seriously thinking about experimenting with doing something similar myself, if I could verify there was a market, and if I could scrape together the capital. Anyone fancy a modernised Maton Ibis clone? Jon.

I started out with a pick, because most of the bassists I wanted to play like like were punk & HM pick thrashers. Got fascinated by slap in the early 80s, however I never mastered it to a particularly useable standard because I was always in rock bands where I had little use for it. I stayed predominantly a pick player until about 7 years ago when I decided I really should work on different techniques a bit more, and these days I'd say it's about 90% fingerstyle. There's a lot of light & shade in my band's music and I think fingers make it easier to be more versatile within the context of the same piece, and I've managed to get my technique to the point where a lot of the faster & more intricate parts actually feel better played fingerstyle. Some things still sound & feel right with a pick though. I do still muck around with some slap when there's no-one looking - but like a wise man once said (it was me, actually), a gentleman is a man who can play slap bass - but doesn't. It doesn't help that I'm quite rubbish at it, but the reality for me is that while the technique's interesting & fun, 99% sounds, well - w@nky. Double-thumbing interested me from the "how do you do that, then?" perspective so I worked on that enough to understand how it works (your thumb is a pick, basically) but not enough for the stunt-bass antics it allows, because I have no motivation to be able to play like that. Same goes for 2-handed tapping. In the context of my band's songs, I've found plenty of use for stuff like 3-finger triplet fills, plucked arpeggios using thumb & fingers, and even the occasional right-hand hammer-on but I like to think (pretend? ) it's more to do with song dynamics than being flash... Jon.

Maybe "learning the hard way not to leave your gear in a 'secure' practice room"? Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1044424' date='Dec 1 2010, 10:23 PM']Putting a Gibson logo on a bass that looks nothing like a Gibson is a good idea. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Matsumoku-Westone-Spectrum-bass-guitar-Japan-85-Black_W0QQitemZ320621800322QQcategoryZ4713QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DDLSL%252BSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%252BDDSIC%26otn%3D8%26pmod%3D120654289830%252B120654289830%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5338709543184181872"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Matsumoku-Westone-Sp...709543184181872[/url][/quote] Amaze. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1044228' date='Dec 1 2010, 07:58 PM']I'm staggered that this one has made it through, given both the description and the (frankly awful) fake TRC. What's with the bridge pickup by the way? Is that really what they look like without the casing?[/quote] These strange bridge pups only appear on the Matsumoku copies - the Maxon pickups most of the others have are very accurate copies of the original Rick hi-gains. Loads of Mat basses turn up with these either swapped or not working, suggesting these were as reliable as they were attractive. Considering how well-made & accurate (particularly the through-neck) these basses were, it's hard to understand why they'd cut corners with the electronics. J.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1043660' date='Dec 1 2010, 12:19 PM']You forgot. Never measure the scale length. Give the totally length from the top of the paddle to the end of the body (do we have a better word for body yet?)[/quote] [quote name='icastle' post='1043686' date='Dec 1 2010, 12:46 PM']How about the "shovel" end? [/quote] We should really stick with terminology which is, and has been used in genuine Ebay sales. I have seen the big bit referred to as the "base" but under the circumstances (it's base guiters we're talking about) I thought it would be a bit ambiguous. I'm certain there are other terms but memory fails me. I do know the Dials are attached to that part though. Good call about the length, and it's worth remembering there are two types of base guiter - the Percussion and the Jass, and it's very important to point out what they're not: Not Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Tokia (like the phone) J.

[quote name='bosozoku' post='1043258' date='Dec 1 2010, 03:21 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-1977-IBANEZ-BASS-GUITAR-JAPAN-RICKENBACKER-4001-/230557509165?pt=Guitar&hash=item35ae4c662d"]'77 Ibanez[/url] It will probably be taken down because the seller put 'Rickenbacker' in the title.[/quote] Yeah - it's a US listing so will definitely get stamped on. Very silly. J.

The joy of it is, I honestly didn't make any of them up, and I don't think it's even a complete list. In fact it's not - the Kneck/Arm can also correctly be referred to as the "Handle". How could forget that? J.

I'm not an Elton John fan, but for what it's worth I think some of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin compositions from the 70s (including Your Song) are rightly considered among the classics of the era. Ms Goulding's interpretation of this song, to my ears, is wretched. Jon.

[quote name='chaypup' post='1042903' date='Nov 30 2010, 08:37 PM']Nice! I never understand though why basses are "becoming rare and collectable"? Is someone burning a load of them? [/quote] A lot of 70s & early 80s JapCrap is pretty hard to come by these days - back then these instruments were seen by a lot of people as cheap, disposable rubbish, and it's fair to assume a lot of them were abused, trashed & just chucked away. Still millions of Thunder 1s around though! J.

If you intend to sell a musical instrument it's imperative that you convey an impression of knowledgeable authority to your potential purchaser. Make sure you Google any reference to your particular instrument, and if you get a result which includes any of your search terms, copy/paste the entire thing into your description. It doesn't matter at all if it's really not anything to do with what you're trying to sell - the thickies out there in EbayLand won't have a clue! Familiarise yourself with the correct technical terminology for the components of your item. It is a Base Guiter. The long part can be referred to as a Kneck, or alternatively, the Arm. The short strips of metal inserted transversely across the Arm/Kneck are Fretts. Some Base Guiters do not feature Fretts, these are known as Frettles Bases. The flat part at the end of the Arm/Kneck is the Paddle, and inserted into the Paddle are a number of devices which can be referred to as String Tighteners, or if you prefer, Turners. It is important that your buyers are aware of the good condition of your Base Guiter, so be sure to reassure them that it has little or no Frettware, that the Trust Rod is fully functioning, and that there are no problems with the Knut. If you feel you lack the confidence to portray yourself as the knowledgeable expert all the above will make you appear, simply say that you know nothing about guiters, but you took it to a shop, and this is what The Man In The Shop told you. This will instil absolute confidence in your customers, because everyone knows that the knowledge & experience of shop assistants is beyond question in these matters. J.

If you really, really want to grab your potential buyer's attention, don't use keywords in your title pertinent to what they might be searching for, and don't make your title a concise description of the item - just go: [b]L@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/b] Jon.

Cimar was sort-of an Ibanez sub-brand, seems it was distributed by, and subsequently owned by Hoshino Gakki, owner of the Ibanez brand. Later Cimars were even badged as "Cimar By Ibanez". I won't speculate until I've seen pics of the beast, but it'll be decent - I've got a Cimar of my own and it's a very decent bass. Jon.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1041890' date='Nov 30 2010, 12:52 AM']Sumbro jazz bass: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70s-Jazz-bass-Sumbro-Fender-copy-collectable-/220703657796?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3362f68f44"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70s-Jazz-bass-Sumbro...=item3362f68f44[/url][/quote] That looks quite tidy, definitely needs a bit of a setup, though! Shame the pics are a bit arse, would like a better look. J.

Nah - the bobbins have clearly warped & deformed, the poles (particularly on the neck pup) appear to be different heights, so presumably they're loose. No reason why they shouldn't be functional, but like you said string levels are probably all over the place. J.

Is it a Rickenbacker copy? Eh? Eh? Is it? Bleedin' chancer! J.

I've seen pups like these before on old Jap basses, but they're really not very common. I'm fairly certain the units wouldn't have had covers of their own, and the screws holding them in are the originals - there are no other holes. This is the way P90 guitar pickups are fitted, too. Remember on these old 70s Jazz copies the pickups are intended to be hidden under chrome ashtrays, as per the originals, so it's very common to find pickups that aren't copies of the originals hiding under them. On cheaper copies, small chrome Telecaster-type "lipstick" pups are common, and on slightly better ones you often find square chrome high-output singlecoils. I've seen other Matsumoku basses with pups very similar to proper J units, except the adjuster screws are at the ends, rather than the sides. As time went on, JapCrap got more authentic and pups tend to be more like the originals - although Jazz pickups with rounded ends always stayed very common. Same thing applies to P copies too - I've seen some pretty strange pickups on some of them. This is a little bit overpriced - to the tune of £75 - £100 or so. Jon.

[quote name='steverickwood' post='1040132' date='Nov 28 2010, 05:18 PM']It isn't. I'd have hoisted it as a teenager;) I think the bass I built was still there but we left in 1991. Unless this is another band you're talking about?! Hows the GK?[/quote] That was a couple of years earlier Steve, if I remember rightly. Didn't know your mum's house even had a basement, otherwise I probably would've left stuff there... With Abstract I had a 70s HH VS combo, which lit up green but only worked properly lying on its back (the amp, not me!), which I PX'd for a Session 410 Bass Compact (poor man's Trace-Elliot back then!) at Frenchy's in Duncan Road - which was run by a Mark Knopfler wannabe & amateur pornographer called Geoff - remember him? The GK's great - I really want a decent 2x10 to use with it now. Oh, and a band with some bloody gigs would be good too! J.

Just had a listen, and to me it sounds like his problem's control rather than lack of range - he can hit the notes, just not every time. He needs some lessons, and some structured practice. He does have a decent voice & the rest of the band are on the case. If you (as a band) intend gigging, you will have to learn to be very self-critical and this is as good a place as any to start. I wouldn't be too bothered about rocking the boat or denting his ego either - if you were playing bum notes in every bar, I'm sure somebody would be quick enough to point it out to you. Jon.