Bassassin

Finished this now & BassKS has been PM'd. Very good read, in my opinion, he's a good & very readable writer. I'm not as familiar with his music as perhaps I should be but he comes across as very idealistic, positively uncompromising & visionary in what he wants to achieve musically. Given that bassist/bandleader/composers are relatively uncommon it's quite an inspiring insight into how a successful career can be maintained, especially making music that's "against the grain". He doesn't talk specifically about bass playing very much, but this bit did make me grin: [quote]I now realise that when you accept bass as (essentially) an emanation of God (at gut level), as the "ground" of existence, let alone music, you make a friend of impermanence, everything vibrates, moves, is in a state of flux, therefore the fear of losing what you have, or of not getting what (you think) you want, diminishes. You will truly ride the rhythm, you will reside in the resonance of Om, to you the open E string becomes spiritually vehicular. You can ride the sonic boom to heaven.[/quote] I love the idea & philosophy but I'm usually too busy trying to remember what note comes next... J.

[quote name='Musky' post='768789' date='Mar 9 2010, 07:23 AM']Double hit with that last "Custom". It doesn't seem remotely custom to me - more like one of the early Fuji-Gens. Full width sparkley inlays - check. Mudbucker - check. Humbucker type at the bridge - check.[/quote] Certainly is. I am unhealthily interested in this one - been fancying a 2388B/DX for ages... J.

[quote name='hagguy' post='770809' date='Mar 10 2010, 07:20 PM']that roadster is by far one of thebest looking basses i've ever seen and i would love one if you get rid gimme a shout, looks a topper really like ibanez stuff especially the older stuff like this i've got an atk 300 thats not in this things leauge i know but going by how good that is think i'll try and track down one of these roadsters for myself, awesome collection man!!![/quote] Not thinking about selling just now but if I do, I'll let you know... Meanwhile keep an eye on the JapCrap spotting sticky in the Ebay subforum - if one comes up it'll get flagged. J.

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='768186' date='Mar 8 2010, 04:41 PM']Oh my god! Where is Captain Japcrap when you need him? (Said in 1960`s batman style). He`s your man. Jez[/quote] In Gran Canaria [i]sans[/i] internet connection. And [i]sans[/i] my lunch on a regular basis. Anyway I'm back now and taking solids as well, so help (of a sort) is at hand. First of all, Mr Falcon, Hondo II is a brand, not a model, so regrettably without pics I can tell you nowt about the specific bass - so get snappin'. PaulWarning - wrong way around - early/mid 70s Hondos were all Korean and anyone who tells you otherwise is plainly getting their facts from Ebay sales pitches. They were uniformly low/mid quality up until the late 70s when steps were taken to upgrade the brand by installing DiMarzios in some models, and others being MIJ. Later Korean Hondos can be quite decent (I had a lovely set-neck LP copy) as broadly speaking the Korean factories were about 5 years behind Japan in terms of quality. Hardware on all Koreans seems to be pretty guff, though. So anyway that's it until we see the pics. Jon.

Beautiful job bringing that back to health - I had one of these in 1981 (my first serious bass) and it was gorgeous. Don't think I really appreciated it at the time & wish I still had it. Great restoration work from Mr Parker there, impressed by his technique for rectifying the truss problem, and the ebony fillet in the back of the neck - I'd love to see clearer pics of that. Just one little detail though - this needs gold speed knobs, surely! Jon.

[quote name='philw' post='761500' date='Mar 2 2010, 08:46 AM']Pretty ugly guitars though I have to say. Phil[/quote] Agree. Italia do this sort of thing with infinitely more style. Jon.

Plenty of action tonight! First of all, £160-ish would be a bit of a steal for a Westy Track 2 (forget about my £60 one unless you share my GyppoPowers ) and they're great basses. Westbury prices seem to be going up at the moment & I'd think under £200 for this one would still be a pretty decent price.. Look closely at the Greco & you'll see a few similarities to 80s Ibanez - they're from the same factory (Fujigen) & share a lot of components and construction techniques, in fact one or two models are pretty much the same. Greco is technically a Japan-only brand, a few escaped to the US and even fewer made their way here. This makes this a bit of a collectable so don't be surprised if it gets hectic at the end! It's a lovely-looking bass but by 'eck it would benefit from a good scrub! J.

Erm... don't you think that description sounds a bit like [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=78472"]this[/url]? J.

[quote name='Musky' post='759783' date='Feb 28 2010, 02:28 PM']Removing the neck prior to shipping opens up your options for packaging considerably though. And bear in mind that some couriers won't insure if it isn't in a hard case, so check their T&C's.[/quote] I'd always recommend neck-off if it's a bolt-on. Much less to get smashed. Which raises an interesting question regarding couriers & insurance. ParcelFarce, for example, won't insure instruments over £150, and then it has to be in a hard case - which the insurance doesn't cover. So if you take off the neck, strings, neckplate, screws - it's a box of parts, not an instrument. Loophole? When I post a bass or guitar I go to my local Lidl & blag a bunch of those heavy-duty fruit box/tray things. When I get 'em home I modify them to make parts of one big box & stick them together with a hot glue gun. The instrument's thoroughly bubblewrapped & packed into the box with newspaper/expanded polystyrene/whatever so it can't shift, & the box is sealed up around it then gaffertaped to buggery. I've posted about 40 guitars & basses packed like this & it seems pretty much indestructible. Touch wood. J.

[quote name='bassman2790' post='759108' date='Feb 27 2010, 02:03 PM']I've had a quick squint and it doesn't look half bad.....why is everything I want in Scotland? .... lol Yeah, I'd appreciate that mate. Thanks for the (unitentional) heads-up[/quote] I'm guessing what you want isn't a decent 300w+ light-ish rig / 2x10 combo for sensible money then - they're all in Bristol! If it's still up when I'm back we can sort summat out - I'm quite keen to get a (guilt-free) look at it anyway. J.

[quote name='bassman2790' post='759016' date='Feb 27 2010, 12:12 PM']Which City is this? [/quote] Edinburgh. I could possibly check it out for you, but the problem is I'm away for a week, starting next week, so there's not much of a chance right now! If it's still there when I come back I could drop the guy a note, if you're interested. J.

[quote name='jude_b' post='759067' date='Feb 27 2010, 01:20 PM']Whilst a clear and open ad will encourage buyers, I can understand why people may be reticent about giving out their location to all and sundry.[/quote] Why, though? How would letting people know the town they're in realistically make them more prone to being robbed?* I really don't think that's why people don't - it's much simpler than that! *Mind you, if I do embark on a new career as a bass gear thief, I'm off to Brizzle. J.

[quote name='discreet' post='758993' date='Feb 27 2010, 11:55 AM']Eww... [/quote] You looked, didn't you? J.

[quote name='discreet' post='758967' date='Feb 27 2010, 11:21 AM']Points taken! It's really because I don't like the idea of you being behind my sofa... [/quote] You'd like it even less if you knew what I was doing there... :brow: J.

That's a lovely bass. Hard to be specific about price but there's an '84 RB750 - which is essentially the same bass only black with red binding & 21 frets - up for £175 on my local ScumTree & not shifting. I think things might be a bit different on Ebay, which is full of JapCrap hounds, but I haven't seen an Ibby of this spec/era on there for a while, so I couldn't really guess what it might do. FWIW I hope someone buys that RB750 soon - before I start to convince myself I can afford / justify it... J.

[quote name='discreet' post='758791' date='Feb 27 2010, 01:53 AM']Am I missing something? What about just putting your actual location after 'From:' in your profile? Instead of 'In the shed' or 'Up your mum' or similar stupid carp? Or 'Up your mum in the shed'. Whatever.[/quote] I suppose - but lots of people don't/haven't and this forum currently has 8744 members, each of whom would have to be bothered to edit their existing profile. It's only going to be a tiny percentage of them who want to use BC to sell bulky, unpostable items. For the record, I haven't sold very much on BC but have been happy to post everything I have sold - as are most people selling basses, effects & parts. This question really only relates to amps & cabs which are heavy & bulky and therefore difficult, inconvenient & very expensive to package and post. I haven't sold anything like that here but if I did I'd force myself to endure the hardship of putting my location in the subtitle field, so anyone scanning the Amps & Cabs For Sale page would be able to see at a glance how far away from Bristol it was. Crazy idea, I know. :ph34r: J.

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='758643' date='Feb 26 2010, 09:24 PM']Glad to see it`s back. Are you bidding on it Captain J?[/quote] Nah. Love the neck, but I have too many bitsa projects that will probably never get finished already. This has got off to a good start now he's seen sense, and will probably sell for something like the value of the good bits - unless he's shillin' like a villain, which all this secret bidder stuff makes me suspect. Crap/anonymous listing and already up to £77 with 8 days to go? Actually I think he's at it. J.

[quote name='davidmpires' post='758665' date='Feb 26 2010, 09:46 PM']Bassassin what you suggested was the location on the tittle and that was what people didn't agree on[/quote] No-one was able or willing to articulate a [b]reason[/b] why it was such a bad idea to put their location in the sub-heading. I can only guess it was because there are more letters in "can't be arsed" than in "Bristol" - because typing that in a box was plainly too much effort. J.

I tried to get him to split it & sell me the bass (Fujigen-built slothead longscale EB - rare as a rare thing) separately, as I have no use for half a PA! No luck though. Jon.

I think I have to have this - none of my other basses feature fantastic prics. Jon.

Pics please - there was more than one sort of Roadstar and there were changes over the life of the model. All I know with any certainty about yours is the age - it was made in February 1984. This is a vintage Japanese bass & values equate very specifically to what any one individual is willing to pay at a given time - but having said that, £450 seems a tad on the wildly optimistic side. So let's see it, eh? Jon.

And it's back, presumably following a reality check: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260559243524"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260559243524[/url] Or maybe he's been reading our pearls of wisdom - no mention of a Hondo body now. 99p / no reserve is the way to go so I'm watching with a degree of interest... wonder if he'll pull the auction [s]when[/s] if it doesn't make a grand. J.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='757801' date='Feb 26 2010, 02:19 AM']I think you can get a bit more specific than that. If JoeGarcia hadn't just carted 5 basses and 6 amps off to the studio it would all be within 20 feet of me right now.[/quote] QED. Let me know when Joe's back, I'll jump in the van & pop down to rob you. J.