Bassassin

Agree with the OP & like many replies have said, the reasons are down to the current economic climate. Most of what I sell & buy is elderly JapCrap, it was interesting a year or so ago to see that it was weathering the recession well - it appeared that people were still willing to feed their GAS but lowering their sights a little. That's really changed this year, and I've even lost money on a few Ebay sales for the first time - and that's not even taking the 15% combined fees into account. Definitely a good time to buy in theory - but my catch-22 is that I need to sell to finance buying. So bugger, then. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='929191' date='Aug 18 2010, 10:40 PM']Ta Jon. I was thinking after I posted that the post made it look like I thought the bass wasn't worth £150, but I didn't get around to editing the post. I was guestimating (wildly) that it might sell for £200, but with the high start, I wouldn't be surprised to see it sell for £150 with one bid. Over in the for sale section £150 gets you this: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=54995"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=54995[/url] I must admit I was tempted as I played a Korean Jackson, and thought it very nice indeed. But there is only a certain amount of money in my instrument purchasing budget and too many instruments to buy. (Though I did PM the guy selling the CMI Rickenfakerfor £50 immediately I saw it, but too late).[/quote] CMI Rickenfaker for £50? Was I asleep? Quite like the Charvel but even after all these years I have a gag reaction when I see those incongruous droopy/pointy headstocks! Interesting thing, not sure who made these, it might have been Chushin, who definitely made the bridge. Apart from the logo, it's the same as the one on my new-to-me Washburn SB40, which has Chushin embossed underneath. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='929069' date='Aug 18 2010, 08:59 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antoria-Les-Paul-Bass-Vintage-Made-Japan-early-70s-/270623895445?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV"]Antoria LP Bass[/url] How much are these worth? £150 seems a moderately high starting price.[/quote] Well yeah, but I think anything over 99p is a high starting price. These don't come up too often (and you never see the identical Ibby version) and I'd expect it to get £150+, so he's just guaranteeing he gets that, I suppose. This one's a bit grimy & rusty-looking, but complete - you don't often see them with the scratchplate still on. Those black-button tuners suggest it's very early - maybe 71 or 72. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='927509' date='Aug 17 2010, 01:20 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antoria-jazz-bass-copy-1970s-dimarzio-pickups-case-/120610298532?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV"]BIN Anoria with dimarzios apparently[/url][/quote] That was a quick turnaround: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150474677665"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150474677665[/url] Nice pickups, rest of the bass is a bit of a mess. Looks like it probably originally had those square chrome single-coils with the double row of poles. J.

Link it. If they want to sign up here & get stroppy - let 'em. I'm off to sharpen my razor wit. J.

Me neither - has Sterling Testicle had them deleted? J.

[quote name='51m0n' post='928103' date='Aug 17 2010, 10:22 PM']I also have a 'Japcrap' Vester, which is also a blinding bass[/quote] I think you'll find that one's KoreaDiarrhoea! Excellent basses & quite sought-after too. Anyway no - despite having a taste for esoterica I'm actually perfectly happy with a good Jazz. Love a nice P as well, but the tone doesn't really suit my music. The faintly depressing truth is that the old boy got it spot-on 59 years ago. Everything else since has been little more than tweaking and it's moot whether or not much of it's even been that beneficial, never mind necessary! This doesn't stop the GAS or stop me lusting after peculiar and unusual basses as well as their more conventional siblings. I'd love to have the money to get a design of my own put together - and it wouldn't look a whole lot like a Fender. Jon.

[quote name='bh2' post='927558' date='Aug 17 2010, 01:54 PM']Tokai?[/quote] No - it would say "Tokai" on it if it was. Moos3h is right - it's just a no-brand far-eastern copy, clearly a perfectly decent Jazz but it will have originated from one of any number of guitar factories with unpronounceable names in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia etc. It's not an anything! He's right about the value too - that's about £100's worth. Jon.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='927209' date='Aug 17 2010, 09:14 AM']Nearly all the Japanese copies from the early to mid 70s had bolt-on necks irrespective of whether the original did or not. Which is why I tend to equate bolt-on neck with not very good instrument. I had a friend who had one of these violin basses except it said "Grant" on the headstock. Pretty much the most horrible bass I have ever played.[/quote] I'd expect this to be OK quality - Grant & Antoria were never sourced from the same factory, so the similarity's likely to be because they were copies of the same thing. 70s MIJ Antorias came from Fujigen Gakki (they were identical to the equivalent Ibanez range) and were as good as JapCrap quality got, certainly in the early 70s when this bass would have been made. Most of them (apart from Fender clones, obviously) were made in set-neck or bolt-neck flavours, & plainly set-necks were more expensive which is why bolt-ons are more common. J.

I've just read through both threads - you really do have to see how all the exchanges go, right up to Sterling Bollock's IBTL [i]coup de grace[/i]! That DudePit guy at one point claims he knows both Ball & John Hall personally, and claims "John Hall's no Sterling Ball". He's quite right - Hall might be arrogant, hostile & condescending, but Ball is simply a complete and utter c@nt. Incredible. J.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAND-MADE-ELECRIC-TWIN-ARM-BASS-GUITAR-/130421327776"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAND-MADE-ELECRIC-TW...R-/130421327776[/url] Not familiar with either Nightingale of Niel (sic) Mack - but this is an amazing-looking thing and pretty close to my fantasy Prog Nightmare twin neck. If only the fretless was a 5er! Jon.

Awful, awful news. I really don't know what to say. Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='925578' date='Aug 15 2010, 02:01 PM']It looks extremely similar to my Cimar.[/quote] I think Shafties & Cimars may have been from the same factory. No idea which one, though. J.

[quote name='martthebass' post='924373' date='Aug 13 2010, 08:57 PM']the poor guy who very politely questioned the credibility of the claims made regarding the stability etc of the roasted necks saying that unless the claims could be backed up or substantiated in some way then the claims fell into the category of marketing.[/quote] No matter how eloquently, reasonably or diplomatically he put this - which he did - it was inevitable he'd get no support & be torn a new one. Corporate forums such as the EBMM board don't exist for any reason other than as marketing tools. This was a lesson I learned very rapidly when I signed up to the official RIC board (not RR, they're nice, reasonable folks by comparison!) a few years ago, to ask a very reasonable and non-inflammatory (or so I imagined) queston about RickenFakers. My post was deleted, I was permanently banned and I subsequently received what amounted to little more than personal abuse and insults by email from the delightful Mr Hall. Similarly, everything I've ever read about, or on the EBMM forum indicates it's nothing but a den of narrow-minded sycophants and has absolutely zero value as a musicians' resource. Jon.

It's hard to find a definitive answer when "truly awful" is quite so open to interpretation. Realistically there aren't too many technically incompetent professional bassists - by which I mean players who are unable to play well enough to execute a bassline appropriate to their specific musical context, so as usual we are left with the vagaries of personal taste. And I'd happily say that even my biggest influences have been responsible for some truly horrible crap in their time. J.

This one? A bit better but it still looks like a 3rd year woodwork project. J.

Looks like one of these shonky, lumpy knocked-up-in-a-shed things that turn up on Ebay from time to time. Yes I'm shallow. Jon.

There's a ZZB body on Ebay at the moment if anyone fancies a project: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320573957099"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320573957099[/url] I've got a neck that would suit that down to the ground... J.

Just so's I'm not getting implicated in the Myung-bashing, I think his playing is entirely appropriate for his band. It's just that the band is not appropriate for a discussion about music. For fear of turning this into a merits-or-otherwise of DT thread I have to point out that I've heard a lot of their music for a long time, dating back to 1994 when a guitarist mate forced a copy of Images & Words on me because "if you like Rush - you'll [i]love [/i]these guys!". Wrong. I've subsequently heard lots more, (including a boot of their early demos as Majesty with their original singer) and even sought out newer releases (most recently Octavarium) in case I'd misjudged them. But I still think they're f@cking awful. Anyway - this is very off-topic and I'm actually hard-pushed to think of a "truly awful" bassist. To me that suggests inept rather than over-busy, or lacking taste, or overly simplistic, or overrated because they possess breasts, or any of the other criticisms that have been levelled at the contenders. The closest thing to truly awful would be poor old Sid, but he doesn't qualify because he was only ever a gimmick, not a bassist. J.

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='924095' date='Aug 13 2010, 04:24 PM']My all time most awful bassist ever though is John Myung! How is it possible that someone so completely unoriginal and lacking in technique gets so much devotion and attention as being a 'special bassist!' Saw him live with Dream Theatre, and that has to be the worst gig I have ever seen - period. Talk about a band comprised of egos instead of musicians! sh*t![/quote] Speaking as an unrepentant, dyed-in-the-wool prog rocker, I agree with you 100%. Dream Theater are a horrendous celebration of seemingly endless simultaneous instrumental masturbation, topped off with caricature 80s cheese-rock histrionic squealing. Never before in the course of musical history has any band quite so roundly failed to get the point of the "music" they endeavour to create. Unrelentingly wretched. I'm sure they're all lovely people, though. Jon.