Bassassin

[quote name='tino' post='866143' date='Jun 13 2010, 04:43 PM']Jon did the Kasuga not have 2 inputs as a Riccy,I may have missed something but does this not have a single jack?????[/quote] Mine's got one, the through-neck that the thread's about has one but the one in the catalogue has two. Seems to be quite common that copies from various manufacturers are inconsistent with the number of outputs - I've seen exactly the same thing with Fujigens and bolt-neck Matsumokus. Does your Ibby have one or two? J.

That's the article that's led to the popular Ebay myth "Kasuga, made by Tokai"! Anyway, that's the story, and I think they're the undiscovered gems of 70s MIJ guitars. Kasuga was a manufacturer in its own right - in fact the factory postal address appears on their old "K-Country" acoustic guitar catalogues & you can even find the original factory site on Google Earth! They do turn up everywhere - in the UK there are Kasuga-built guitars with the Arbiter & CMI brands, they built the Canadian Northern range (some of these are stunning) certain models from the US Electra brand, Japanese BC Rich - and I've even seen an Aria-branded Kasuga Les Paul copy, just to upset Matsumoku purists! Jon.

I'd say that if you're not going to use the neck for more than a week or so, definitely [b]do[/b] loosen the truss rod. It's designed to exert counter-pressure against string tension, remove the string tension and all it's doing is distorting the wood. I found this out to my cost - in actual fact it was a bass I bought which arrived with the neck off. It needed some restoration and for a few reasons, I didn't get around to working on it for several months. By this point the neck had developed a twist, & a hump around the 7th fret that no amount of truss tweaking would remedy. The frets had already been levelled several times so there wasn't enough metal to be able to dress any of the damage out. I had checked it when it arrived and it was fine - just some back-bow from the rod tension. Not a mistake I'll make twice. Jon.

[quote name='Musky' post='865813' date='Jun 13 2010, 11:40 AM']It has some similarities to Jon's Kasuga, so that be my guess. We'll have to wait for the man himself for a positive ID. [/quote] Well spotted Musky - that's a Kasuga copy. Mine's the bolt-neck variation, but it shares many common details: checked binding, identical hardware/electronics (apart from the tuners) and most tellingly the incredibly neat hand-routing for the 6 individual pole pieces of the Toaster pickup. Rickenbacker could learn a thing or two from this sort of attention to detail. The tuners aren't original - the through-neck Kasugas I've seen before were factory-fitted with genuine US "wavy" Grovers. Anyway, a similar bass appears in a Japanese "Heerby" catalogue, the only difference seems to be the finish & stereo outputs. Heerby was one of Kasuga Gakki's home-market brands: [url="http://brochures.yokochou.com/guitar-and-amp/heerby/197x/index.html"]http://brochures.yokochou.com/guitar-and-a...197x/index.html[/url] The plain trc's quite interesting - most vintage Rickenfakers have had their covers swapped for pretend Rick ones, but I'd say it's possible this bass was sold unbranded, as quite a lot of 70s MIJ copies were. Tino - it's not a Fresher, but just wondering if you have any idea who made them? I don't think it was a manufacturer in its own right. Jon.

[quote name='JimD' post='864403' date='Jun 11 2010, 03:04 PM']The other choice so far is two passive Schaller JB6 bridge units. The only problem I have here, and it's very subjective, is the Schallers have polepieces and the original Westones do not. I'd like to keep flat black pickups, even though the bottom line for all this is sound.[/quote] I think it's the Schaller JBX's that are twin-coil. DiMarzio Model J's are as well - these all have exposed hex pole pieces, but I expect you could screw the poles flush with the bobbins & stick a pair of [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jazz-Bass-Guitar-Pickup-Cover-Closed-Neck-Black-/130397541981"]these[/url] on. However the screening option's loads cheaper & easier so definitely try that first - and I'd [i]always[/i] recommend keeping that vintage JapCrap original! Is yours red/black like the pics? Jon.

£179??? [i]Very[/i] good deal if it's not a typo. Buy one. No - buy two! Jon.

[quote name='vmaxblues' post='863407' date='Jun 10 2010, 03:58 PM']Anyone want one? How about a nice B2A for a mere £100 + P&P (Hijacking thread)[/quote] Blimey that's a bargain. If I didn't already have one I'd buy that one. J.

[quote name='Gust0o' post='862679' date='Jun 9 2010, 10:08 PM']Wouldn't mind your opinion on a further issue. How would these have been stringed originally? Assuming a light gauge for the set neck, but flat, round or something else? Thanks for your help so far, very much appreciated at this end [/quote] Happy to help & pass around what little I know. Knowledge is power, or something. Anyway, flats, definitely. I think Entwistle popularised the use of rounds on bass & The Who weren't around when this was built. Besides, flats are typically lower tension than rounds, and on a bass with no truss rod & a delicate-looking neck/body joint, you won't want much tension! J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='862729' date='Jun 9 2010, 11:05 PM']Could this have been something at some time? Doesn't say where it's from, but does it look vaguely Matsumoku era Hondo II? Or not? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Solid-wood-thru-neck-bass-guitar-restoration-project-/170497583029?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27b272a7b5"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Solid-wood-thru-neck...=item27b272a7b5[/url][/quote] That's a Cort, Korean-made from 1980-ish, would've been branded as Kay for the UK market. Nice project, only needs pups & pots really - shame he's not posting! There's another, rather ambitiously overpriced example here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230484531702"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230484531702[/url] Not sure how original that one is. Nice basses if you get a good 'un - many have a high action due to a thin fretboard & chunky bridge, which can really only be sorted by recessing the bridge into the body. I had one, sounded great but was hard work because of the string height. J.

[quote name='Gust0o' post='861993' date='Jun 9 2010, 12:28 PM']This [i]is[/i] an Ibanez 1250, from 1960 or 1961. Made for Ibanez by Tokyo Sound Corp and possibly branded as Guyatone in the absense of the Ibanez badging.[/quote] There are a [i]lot[/i] of opinions knocking about on ICW, but the trouble is many of the posters over there don't know/care a great deal about brands other than Ibanez. There's no empirical evidence to connect the very early instruments to any particular factory & unearthing the history of early MIJ guitars requires a [i]much[/i] broader view & open mind than many single-brand enthusiasts have. I stand by my earlier position that while this is the same instrument as the Ibby 1250, unless it actually says Ibanez on it, or we can see that an Ibanez badge has once be on it, then it simply isn't one. Ibanez is only a brand name, and most of the 60s & 70s Ibanez models frequently turn up with various other names, or with no name, because the factories would happily sell to anyone. There's far too little information about these very old instruments to be able to connect them to one factory or brand at this point - and ironically on ICW you'll find any number of posters who (correctly!) maintain that if it doesn't say Ibanez, then it isn't one, no matter how much you might want it to be! They've even coined a name for the no-brand & other brand guitars that people frequently claim to be vintage Ibbys - "Imaginez"! Looks like I gave you the wrong URL for the Vintaxe forum - it should be: [url="http://www.vintaxe.com/boards/index.php"]http://www.vintaxe.com/boards/index.php[/url] You might get a little more insight from there, there are a lot of 60s MIJ collectors there, plus the guy who runs the site has a massive archive of vintage catalogues & frequently is able to ID & date unusual instruments. J.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='862054' date='Jun 9 2010, 01:33 PM']I sold my shell pink squier musicmaster, but I'm keeping my violetburst daisy rock: [/quote] I love these. There's a short-scale hole in my armoury (and perhaps in my [i]life[/i]) that this would fill perfectly. :wub: J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='861211' date='Jun 8 2010, 04:55 PM']Maybe the same place the modifier of this bass got one. [/quote] I'll avoid making a "Prick" joke about this. Or pre-empting any subsequent "knob" gags... Oh. Bugger. J.

[quote name='Cygnus x-1' post='861289' date='Jun 8 2010, 05:57 PM']somebody told me because this shop was big on yamaha keyboards, piano's and organs, thay they could have been early yamaha copy's, possible?[/quote] Yamaha sold copies in their home market but didn't really sell them in the UK, and by the 80s was well-established with their own original designs. If these basses & guitars were around in the 80s then it's likely they were Korean imports rather than Japanese. The Japanese copy era was pretty much over by the end of the 70s, with the major brands establishing themselves with original designs. As the Jap instruments went more upmarket, budget ranges started to be sourced from other countries, predominantly Korea, where the guitar manufacturing industry had followed a similar pattern to Japan's in the 70s, with factories like Cort, Samick & Young Chang able to achieve similar high standards to the Japanese but far more cheaply. Jon.

I'd absolutely love a pink bass - and I mean a proper, lurid, glows-under-UV fluorescent pink, not any of this insipid, washed-out baby-clothes crap. This sort of thing: [attachment=51702:Daisy_Ro...tar_Bass.jpg] And yes, I'd gig that. Why not? Jon.

I've got a diagonal black/white B2A, bought it new in 1985. These were the very first Hohner Steiny copies, there were 3 colour schemes - black, red & diagonal black/white, and I think these were only around for the first run of the basses, consequently they are pretty scarce. If it's like mine, it won't say Licensed By Steinberger on the bridge, mine has a plain top plate, but the Steinberger branding appears under the Hohner Professional logo on the body. These are very good quality instruments, made by Cort in Korea, as were all of the 80s Hohner Pro range as far as I know, construction is neck-through & the pickups are licensed EMGs. Mine's the active version, with the boost selected by a 2-way micro switch on the front. On the whole the preamp on the early version really only seems to give an overall volume/treble/bass boost, and the only adjustment is an output level tweak, under the back cover & adjustable using a screwdriver! The boost on mine has a tendency to clip unless you back it right off, so I prefer the passive mode - to the extent that I stopped replacing the battery & ended up unscrewing the selector switch & poking it back into the control cavity, to avoid accidentally switching the bass off mid-gig! Other than that it's a lovely little bass & is still my regular gigging spare, because it's so small & portable. Doubt I'll ever part with it. Jon.

[quote name='Gust0o' post='861033' date='Jun 8 2010, 02:33 PM']Will post on those forums you've linked me to, see if there are any additional comments. Am I telling Ed he's sitting on a goldmine with this one?[/quote] It's hard to say. A little tin badge reading "Ibanez" would certainly help, but it's worth a bit more than that tenner, I'd expect. Things like this don't really come up enough to have much of an informed idea but if I was Ebaying it I'd probably hope for at least £150, and possibly a fair bit more depending on how good I could make it look in the pics! So not exactly a goldmine, but certainly better than a poke with a sh!tty stick. J.

[quote name='throwoff' post='860805' date='Jun 8 2010, 11:05 AM']Aria are not a hugely desirable brand to many musicians[/quote] That's broadly speaking true - Aria's heyday was the late 70s to mid 80s period with their original designs, produced by Matsumoku in Japan. Matsumoku ceased guitar manufacture in 1987 and the majority of production was transferred to Korean factories, & the name rather rapidly gained a "budget brand" reputation which it has kept. That's possibly a little unfair, as I've played & owned several post-Matsumoku Arias and those have been good quality instruments. However, this is a Mat-era bass, and they are quite sought-after, so it'll take an Ebay fluke for this to stay particularly low. I'm inclined to agree with Bloodaxe - I don't think this looks like a through-neck bass, I would recommend asking the seller for some pics of the back, and a serial number. Jon.