Bassassin

[quote name='tino' post='968540' date='Sep 26 2010, 04:49 PM']Jon....... any idea on this ebay item 270635291014,Im computer illiterate so cant do the link bit....my daughter fancies it though.. Cheers T[/quote] Here's the link: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270635291014"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270635291014[/url] Looks nice, obviously depending on condition. I think it's a Fujigen J copy, fairly early 70s going on the tuners, pickups & trc. It's had a headstock pin badge, which from the outline I'm fairly sure was Eros (compare it to the one on [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=31025502980"]this rather nice EB-3 copy[/url]), which would support the age & the Fujigen theory. Early Eros guitars were sourced form Fujigen & Matsumoku - I had a Fujigen Tele & Mat LP, and the EB-3 is a Mat. I think if you can get it for around the £100 mark it would be something of a bargain, assuming everything's OK. J.

[quote name='noelk27' post='968615' date='Sep 26 2010, 05:54 PM']If you're defining worth purely in monetary terms, sure. But the worth of early SB designs, to my mind, is more intrinsical than financial, hence the distinction.[/quote] Of course - I understand completely & concur. Realistically this is the basis of my obsession with vintage MIJ basses & guitars. J.

[quote name='noelk27' post='968028' date='Sep 25 2010, 10:38 PM']What it's worth and what it'll sell for are two different things.[/quote] Surely any secondhand instrument, rare or otherwise, is worth [i]precisely[/i] what a buyer will pay for it! J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='967287' date='Sep 25 2010, 01:39 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar-walnut-project-/180565950877?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2a0a91c19d"]Oooh, a variation to break the monotony.[/url][/quote] Pretty sure I remember seeing that a few weeks back - not sure if this is a re-list after being pulled or the next buyer moving it on. I'm guessing it doesn't work, he claims he[quote]have not amp to check that this bass works[/quote]but I don't know if there's a particular mystical reason why he couldn't plug it into this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Orange-Crush-PiX-35LDX-Guitar-Combo-Amp-/180565957390"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Orange-Crush-PiX-35L...p-/180565957390[/url] Oh - but there's me trying to be rational and forgetting this is Ebay. [i]Ebay[/i]! Stupid me. J.

Horrifying posed mugshot warning: [attachment=59640:seethrough1.jpg] :ph34r: Jon.

[quote name='Jigster' post='967299' date='Sep 25 2010, 08:00 AM']great name for a band![/quote] It's got potential... Aural Gloop Consortium - prog supergroup? J.

Grinderman/Nick Cave was the best thing by a long way for me (although Scissor Sisters were occasionally fun) - the show needed something feral & demented to counterbalance the po-faced, sickly aural gloop that the rest of it was. Just awful. Jon.

Was mucking around with some covers in the practice room last night, basically my originals band & a different drummer. Red Barchetta Free Will Ghost Rider La Villa Strangiato (sort of!) YYZ Secret Touch And just as a theme was appearing we ended up playing Whole Lotta Rosie, which is quite odd with a female singer. It was f@cking excellent and we might have a new drummer. I bloody hope so. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='966146' date='Sep 23 2010, 09:36 PM']Is it just me, or is there something fundamentally odd about this Maya. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-MAYA-P-BASS-70s-BADASS-BRIDGE-SCHALLERS-MIJ-/330476397258?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4cf1eda2ca"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-MAYA-P-BASS-...=item4cf1eda2ca[/url] The bridge seems a bit close to the end of the body. And the shape seems slightly off. Might be the angle of the photo, I dunno. Edit: After going through the photos, I think it's just the badass bridge being a bit bigger than a bent metal bridge that makes it look odd. 99p start price though.[/quote] Why on earth would someone stick a BAIII on a bit of crumbly plywood guff like that? And he's totally, utterly and absolutely lying about the "Lipstick Dano" (what?) pickup. 99p yes, undisclosed reserve - anyone's guess. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='965900' date='Sep 23 2010, 06:09 PM']I'd buy that just to part it out.[/quote] Agree. Bonus if it plays well. Can't be more specific about age than 80s, probably. But Cort built some very nice stuff in the 80s. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='965992' date='Sep 23 2010, 07:31 PM']Just spotted this one myself ... I was going to put it under JapCrap but for all I know it's his uncle's vintage Fender that he found in the attic. [/quote] It's JapCrap or KoreaDiarrhoea - looks a lot like the suspected Columbus I had a few months back & flogged chez BC, only a bit more cracky. Baseball bat neck on that one but it played really nice. Actually, looking at the inlays & square heel, might be an early MIK Hohner. J.

If you post a lot of basses & guitars, supermarket fruit boxes are the business: [attachment=59500:fruitbox.jpg] Your local Lidl will be delighted to let you take away as many of these as you can carry (they have to dispose of hundreds every day), and four of these & a hot-melt glue gun will build you a bomb-proof bass box. These are extremely rigid, with reinforced corners - they're designed to be stacked while filled with fruit & veg so they have to be sturdy. You have to unstick a couple of ends to make them overlap, bubble-wrap the bass, pack the box out with newspaper/whatever to stop it moving about inside and glue the top on by undoing ends to make it overlap. Cover any holes (these often have perforations/carrying handles) with sticky tape. They're adaptable too - use fewer boxes for guitars or instruments posted with the neck off. They come in half-sizes too which are useful for different sized instruments. I'll do a photo tutorial next time I pack a bass! Jon.

[quote name='Johnston' post='964831' date='Sep 22 2010, 07:48 PM']That has to be a shilled auction!![/quote] He's claiming it's graphite composite - that might encourage a few people. Never seen one of these before either but I seriously, [i]seriously[/i] doubt it. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='964197' date='Sep 22 2010, 10:18 AM']I'm not going to be buying one of these. But I see them coming up and wonder how good they are. Does anyone have any direct experience? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HK-7-string-bass-guitar-walnut-body-and-KA-PUs-/330467333347?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4cf16354e3"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HK-7-string-bass-gui...=item4cf16354e3[/url] Oh, construction not so good it appears. Unless they've improved in quality over the last year. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=63819&hl=hk"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=63819&hl=hk[/url][/quote] Still doing the cheeky [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HK-5-string-bass-guitar-fretless-masurpop-ash-top-/330474766269"]Marleaux looky-likey[/url] - but bloody hell, that's some inflation in 11 months! That was £199 last October! Jon.

[quote name='stevie' post='964241' date='Sep 22 2010, 11:08 AM']I just tried to make a payment to a fellow Basschatter using the usual "gift" option and they've now changed it. It looks like they won't let you transfer funds for free any more. I expect Ebay is not making enough money.[/quote] The personal payment/gift option's still there, just checked. I sent a tenner yesterday as a gift, worked no problem. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='964171' date='Sep 22 2010, 10:02 AM']the first few links talked about them being "lawsuit" models and made in the "Hashino factory" (sic) I started losing the will to live[/quote] There are a few Ventura enthusiast pages out there and they seem to feel the same way - they're at pains to point out that the copy-era stuff was Matsumoku and nothing to do with bloody Ibanez! J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='963877' date='Sep 21 2010, 10:18 PM']Ventura Jazz Bass. Not sure where these were made. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-VENTURA-BASS-GUITAR-SUNBURST-PLEASE-TAKE-LOOK-/400156128105?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item5d2b29f369"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-VENTURA-BASS...=item5d2b29f369[/url][/quote] In China, about three years ago, by the looks of it! I've seen a few modern cheapos with the Ventura brand, they're no relation of the 60s/70s Ventura, owned by US importer C. Bruno & Co. Not exactly surprising that Ebay sellers would try & fob them off as such, though. Jon.

The 99p no reserve SB's going to be interesting to watch - I think this sort of auction is the most accurate test of an instrument's true value. I would be very surprised if Aria offered a valuation service - and other than an Ebay average I can't imagine what criteria such a valuation would be based on, since any vintage instrument is only worth what people are willing pay. I suspect his Aria "value" is more likely based on the price of the reissue SB1000. J.

[quote name='Soloshchenko' post='962833' date='Sep 20 2010, 11:10 PM']This is possibly become the project bass I've been thinking of. Got some Mex Jazz PUs knocking about (maybe require some woodwork?) And want to do a nitro finish as I've never done one and I'm not a fan of the burst. We'll see how she looks when she arrives.[/quote] With luck the Mex pups should drop right in - I recently stuck a set of DiMarzio Model Js in my CSL Jazz, which had the same round-end pups. The holes seemed slightly oversize & they fitted no problem. If you do a refin I'd recommend a solid colour - otherwise you'll have all those lovely lamination lines around the edges and on the contours - that's why they're solid black on the original burst! J.

[quote name='Soloshchenko' post='962506' date='Sep 20 2010, 06:25 PM']Interesting. Do you know if there was any cross over between Ibanez and Columbus? Reason I ask is because I've recently bought a Columbus bass with a remarkably similar headstock design to this:[/quote] Apart from being Japanese & a Fender copy, there's no connection, I'm afraid. The main similarity in the pic you posted is the big chrome truss rod cover - these were very common on early Japanese Fender copies, probably simply down to the way factories were tooled up to make necks, and the available parts. Most factories sourced hardware from one or two parts manufacturers, hence there's a lot of crossover. Anyway later Ibanez, and other basses built in the Fujigen Gakki factory have small white plastic truss rod covers, and eventually as the instruments got more accurate, they disappeared altogether, as did the Fender-type nuts. If you could put this Ibby & your Columbus side-by side there are a lot of differences - the Ibanez has a 3-piece neck, body construction is butcher-block as opposed to ply, the Columbus has round-end pickups while the Ibanez has more accurate square-ended ones and so on. If you're interested, go through the early catalogues on [url="http://www.ibanez.ru/info/index.php?catalog"]this site[/url] and you'll get some idea of how Fujigen designs changed over the years. You got a pretty good deal on that Columbus - I had one of these a few years back & actually managed to sell it for £170 - odd! These weren't built byFujigen, it's not clear who did build them, but many Columbus instruments are identical to Maya-branded guitars. Maya was owned by a company called Rokkomann, and it's believed they owned their own production facility, so that's a possibility. Columbus is a UK rebrand, thought to have been imported by FCN, who also owned the Kimbara & Satellite brands. The Jazz copy is the Columbus N77 - here's one depicted in a 1974 catalogue: [url="http://personal.inet.fi/surf/lorse/bellcatalogue/26.jpg"]http://personal.inet.fi/surf/lorse/bellcatalogue/26.jpg[/url] The pic here looks like a factory catalogue shot - it's unbranded and there are some detail differences from yours if you look closely. I think it's probably an early version. Jon.

That's a spectacular-looking thing right enough. But 12.4lbs? My back hurts just looking at it! Jon.

[quote name='King Tut' post='961744' date='Sep 20 2010, 12:08 AM']What was the bass the guy in Manics was playing? Looked groovy and didn't sound too bad[/quote] Italia Maranello Jon.

[quote name='BottomE' post='961229' date='Sep 19 2010, 03:07 PM']Thanks - it sounds pretty cool too! For some reason i believe i need a Fender Jazz (i blame the guitarist in my band as he is a Fender nut) but when i go check them out the build quality isn't as good. I end up playing the Cruise Bass and thinking why would i want a Fender? Maybe familarity has made me not appreciate this baby?[/quote] I think it's stunning - a really striking take on a Jazz with masses of character & style. I love Jazzes but on looks alone, you'd have to be mental to consider trading that for a same-as-everyone-else's Fender - don't do it! Jon.

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='960994' date='Sep 19 2010, 10:39 AM']Thought she sang well but something was missing that made the band sound like an average covers band.[/quote] Agree. I did think the rhythm section felt really stiff, almost mechanical. J.

[quote name='Musky' post='960205' date='Sep 18 2010, 10:05 AM']It wasn't a weird co-ax type thing was it? I've come across that on an old early 60's cheapo before, though I can't remember the brand. I think it might have been a Rosetti or something.[/quote] It might well have been, I really don't remember too well! Like I said, if only I'd taken a picture! [quote name='allighatt0r' post='961108' date='Sep 19 2010, 12:40 PM']That Cimar headstock is the shape of the Ibanez Blazers... Are they the same beast?[/quote] Not the same, but closely related. The relationship between Cimar & Ibanez isn't entirely clear, but the Cimar "original" (well, ish) designs were made by Fujigen, like Ibanez, and marketed alongside Ibanez by brand owner Hoshino - sometimes as "Cimar by Ibanez". There was actually some complete crossover - the early Blazer design (with the big single pickup & skinny headstock) was also sold branded as a Cimar Stinger. So this isn't exactly the same as a Blazer but you can expect the same quality components & build. It's later than the guy claims - the serial looks like 1981 to me - which puts it in the same timeframe as the Blazers. J.