Bassassin

Is your bass a JV Squier? If it's '82 I'm guessing it will be. Don't replace your BA with anything that requires drilling new holes - this will damage the value of your bass. If the only issue with the BA is string height, why not experiment with a shim - this is really easy to do, & there are various topics on here describing how to do it. If you do replace the bridge, a Gotoh might give you the same problem you have with the BA - these have a cast baseplate which is thicker than the original Fender "bent tin" jobby, and that automatically means your saddles will be a bit higher. Personally, although I like a chunky bridge from an aesthetic perspective, I've never been 100% convinced they make any real difference to tone... Jon.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='808726' date='Apr 16 2010, 06:08 PM']Unusual to see a 3x single coil bass. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ESP-Edwards-bass-4-string-3-pickup-Jaguar-Jazz-unique_W0QQitemZ160424178901QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item255a06b4d5"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ESP-Edwards-bass-4-s...=item255a06b4d5[/url] Edit: I can't delete. This isn't 70s/80s, surely.[/quote] It is cool though. It's also [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=82447"]here[/url]. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='807703' date='Apr 15 2010, 09:57 PM']Does anyone believe the claim that this is a "factory reject" TRC? I can really imagine Rickenbacker selling off their reject TRCs cheaply. Not.[/quote] Absolute rot - it's a fake, probably cold-cast resin - which is why it doesn't have the "made in USA" lettering. Watch it get pulled. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='805447' date='Apr 13 2010, 10:06 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4001-BASS-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ270563145415QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item3efed1f6c7"]4001[/url][/quote] Looks a bit refinned & modded to me - never seen a Faker with black binding before & the seller describes it as "ropey". I'm inclined to think it's been replaced - as have the tuners, scratchplate & (obviously!) the TRC. Which is probably one o' them there Eye-talian counterfeits. J.

A low action plus a hamfisted right-hand technique means buzzing, clattering rattling & thwacking are as much a part of my "style" as all the wrong notes. Jon.

I've got an interesting neck I'd put on that Thunder body, if it was cheap enough! J.

[quote name='Soloshchenko' post='803522' date='Apr 12 2010, 11:16 AM']Wonder what this is/was? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-PROJECT-70-S-JAP_W0QQitemZ260583732988QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item3cac0036fc"]70s project[/url][/quote] Satellite through-neck P shaped thing. Korean, from about 1980 and (surprisingly enough) nothing to do with Ibanez. I've got one that's a long-term project (which remains long-term because it has a chewed/seized truss rod nut which I can't budge) and they're pretty decent quality. Very heavy, though. J.

[quote name='Johnston' post='803429' date='Apr 12 2010, 09:41 AM']bugger [/quote] No problems - I'm not particularly serious about it & my max for something like this would be about £25 anyway, considering the condition & the £20 postage. If you want it I'll happily sit it out & wait for one to turn up at the car boot! J.

[quote name='Johnston' post='803064' date='Apr 11 2010, 09:15 PM']Paws off I seen it first [/quote] It's been in my watched list since Thursday night. J.

[quote name='Johnston' post='802938' date='Apr 11 2010, 07:24 PM']I'm guessin jap crap Anyone know for sure ?? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130381572540&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT[/url] A les paul mid conversion to a bass apparently [/quote] It's a no-name MIJ EB-0 inspired shortscale from the early 70s or possibly even the late 60s. it's not modified or converted from anything - apart from being quite beat-up, this is how it came from the shop! These come up fairly often, in fact at least one's been sold on BC in the last couple of years. These are actually pretty nicely-made basses with quite a unique style - they're far from being straight copies. I quite like these. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='802299' date='Apr 11 2010, 02:20 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MODIFIED-BASS-GUITAR-ELECTRIC-UNUSUAL-WORK-IN-PROGRESS_W0QQitemZ130382076579QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item1e5b609aa3"]Possibly the worst one yet.[/url][/quote] That's one of those funny little Kay short-scale efforts - the pinnacle of Taiwanese guitar manufacture in the 70s! Not surprised the seller thinks it's "modified" (it ain't!) - the last one of these I saw was being advertised as "home made" because it was so crude! J.

[quote name='Bassclef' post='800897' date='Apr 9 2010, 02:30 PM'][font="Arial"]Hi Jon, Thanks for mentioning the new URL. I have quite a backlog of contributions to post, but will try to keep the site going. No worries about Nick, he made a sensible decision. And if I ever get my hands on him....! Hopefully catch you guys live sometime. Graeme[/font][/quote] Hi Graeme! Good to see you here - I'll give Nick a slap from you next time I see him! J.

I'm afraid I know nothing about Seiwa & I don't recall ever seeing one of those before. Marco - I'm a bit sceptical about the Blue Book suggestion - never, ever heard this name connected with Ibanez/Hoshino, so first thing I did was a search for Seiwa on the Ibanez Collectors World forum, which came up with nothing - and if anyone would know, those guys would! Hoshino (Ibanez' parent company) used the Cimar & Starfield brands in the 80s (Cimar was their good-but-budget range) and these are fairly well documented. Having done a bit of Googling, there's a low-end Strat-type Seiwa with a slightly Ibby Blazer-ish headstock. I think people would like their Seiwas to be Ibbys - this is common & the ICW guys call it "Imaginez". You'll find the same headstocks on instruments branded Oakland & Jarock, amongst others. Azumi was a brand thought to be used by the manufacturer Chushin Gakki (various other spellings, Chu-Sin, Cushin etc,) who evidently were originally a light-engineering firm which made guitar hardware. Latterly they moved into instrument manufacture & are known to have made MIJ Charvels, Jacksons & Robins. I'm quite persuaded by a connection between this Seiwa & Chushin by the fact it has quite unusual hardware, most of which I'm not familiar with (although the tuners appear to be the same as those used on 80s Yamahas) and it's reasonable to assume that Chushin made hardware in-house, unlike most manufacturers. I keep seeing that truss rod cover style on "odd" Japcrap instruments like this one. I have seen it associated with a particular brand but I can't think what. Will have to have a think about this. I should say - that's a stunning bass & I want it. Jon.

An RS824 - nice, don't see too many of them. I just picked up 1981 MC150 Musician guitar (for buttons, of course) so I'll take some pics of that when it's cleaned & sorted out. J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='799500' date='Apr 8 2010, 09:21 AM']Shuker six string Rickenfaker. You don't see those every day. [url="http://www.limeshark.com/shukers.html"]http://www.limeshark.com/shukers.html[/url] (apologies for lack of ebay link)[/quote] That's a guy on here - can't remember his name offhand. He got Mr S to build him a matching pair! J.

I can't see the fret wear from the pic, but the other two issues would take about 10 minutes to sort out. Do you have any reason to believe there's a problem with the truss rod? Just looks like a little bit too much relief to me. Jon.

That's fascinating - I didn't know about the "Fakai" knockoffs. Looks like Dillion themselves weren't involved though - the first post on the thread says Tokai's Canadian distributor used the factory that makes Dillions to source the Fakais when he couldn't get the spec he wanted from Tokai. I love the idea that they were better quality copies than the copies they were copying! Anyway there's a connection there, so I think we might be onto something... As far as thickening plots are concerned, I first came across the Dillion brand on the RickResource forum - it seems that they got slapped with a Cease & Desist from Big John Hall for, funnily enough, making Rick fakers. But it gets worse. There are two completely distinct & unrelated Dillions on the other side of the Atlantic: [url="http://www.dillionguitars.com/"]http://www.dillionguitars.com/[/url] And the first thing they tell you is: [quote]Dillion U.S.A is independently owned. Our guitars are hand crafted in Korea. We are not affiliated with Dillion guitars in Canada.[/quote] They don't have a Ric copy - or a Rockinbetter - in their range. So I wonder which Dillion's arse JH got legal on? J.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='798301' date='Apr 7 2010, 08:00 AM']Who does actually make the Rockinbetter copies? If I search everyone says Tokai, but is this actually the case?[/quote] They're not Japanese, so even if the Rockinbetter brand is anything to do with Tokai, they'll be from whatever Korean/Chinese/Taiwanese/Indonesian factory Tokai Gakki subcontracts to make their cheapos. There's no reference to be found to Rockinbetter basses or guitars on Tokai's UK or Japanese sites. It's curious that they would be coy about putting their own brand name on them too - after all they had the audacity to call their original line of LP clones "Les Paul Reborn". Historically, they don't seem to have ever made a 4001/4003 copy, but they have fairly recently made a 325 guitar - which says "Tokai" on the TRC: [url="http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/tokai20013.jpg"]2000 catalogue[/url] However, here's a Rockinbetter that absolutely isn't a Tokai: [url="http://www.jsdguitarshack.com/dillion_guitars/dillion_rockinbetter_bass.html"]http://www.jsdguitarshack.com/dillion_guit...etter_bass.html[/url] The bass itself is different - it's more like the Indie copy, but with a correct-shaped headstock. However the specs of these things seem to change regularly. The only references to "Tokai Rockinbetter" to be found outside of forum discussions is on retailers' websites. Make of that what you will. J.

Not a bass - but here's a [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MAYA-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-MAYBE-70S-RARE-BARGAIN_W0QQitemZ320513211816"]real, live, tongue-swallowing, frothing-at-the-mouth nutter - on crack![/url] Incredible. J.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180490438653"]Through-neck body project[/url] Despite being listed as a Rick 4001, this is a copy - routing & inlays do not check out as original. It also has a nasty-looking refin & an even nastier-looking neck/fretboard separation. Jon.

I like the sparkly bass. Unsure about all the pockatapockataboinkityboinkitypockatapockataboinkityboinkity stuff though. Heard a [i]lot[/i] of that since 1983. Jon.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='797205' date='Apr 6 2010, 08:54 AM']Anyone else notice the location? [/quote] Buttf*ck, Tennessee? Jon.

After doing a bit of Googling, you're probably right about the guitar being a reissue. From the seller's perspective, yes it could've made a lot more, but if the two instruments were a £30 car boot find then they're probably happy enough. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-SG-500b-Hard-case-/170444715844"]Although it might have paid to do a bit of research![/url] J.