Bassassin

No real reason, tbh, it's all just wood (usually) & wire. Unless there's something fundamentally wrong with the neck construction of a cheap bass, it can be set up to play just as well as its 4-figure counterpart, electronics & hardware can be replaced fairly inexpensively and more often than not the budget instruments these days are made from halfway-decent quality timber as opposed to the splintery plywood of a few decades ago. I like basses (and g*it*rs :blush: ) in general and like to have lots, and lots, and lots - hence I don't spend very much on individual instruments & I tend not to keep many of them very long. This also helps to explain my fascination with old JapCrap - there were some superb quality instruments which these days don't change hands for huge amounts of money so it's easy to have a varied & interesting vintage collection for the price of a couple of "decent" brand instruments. If I had limitless money I'd doubtless have as many top-end instruments as I do cheap old junk, though... Jon.

[quote name='2x18' post='594277' date='Sep 9 2009, 08:36 PM']Damaged Gherson neck through! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Old-Gherson-Bass-Guitar-1970s-PROJECT-or-SPARES_W0QQitemZ330358895582QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item4ceaecb3de&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Old-Gherson-Bass-Gui...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url][/quote] That one's really unusual - and potentially repairable if the fretboard can be easily removed & cleaned up.... But I'm not buying anything else, oh no, certainly not, not a chance... J.

Or, more specifically, my CMI Ned Callan circa 1971-ish: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120468362129"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120468362129[/url] Part of a concerted effort to clear the decks (seems to happen every year!) and there will be more to follow. Very uncommon bass in decent original nick for its age. If anyone from these parts is interested let me know, I'll happily pull the auction. It's a 99p no reserve sale - apart from the fact I always do that, I genuinely have no idea what it's worth, so if anyone's interested I'm afraid you'll have to make me an offer! Jon.

I use a Dremel-type tool with a wire wheel attachment. It's the dog's for cleaning surface rust off any component & works a treat on pickups. If the poles are the allen-screw type, take them out to clean them. Jon.

There are one or two... My No. 1 CSL (Fujigen) custom Jazz - £60 from local pawn shop. Current squeeze Westbury Track 2 - £61 delivered from Fleabay, replaced the bridge & switch & it's a stunner. 1981 Ibanez RS924 Roadster - practically mint, in original case, £80 from Glumtree. Bought it intending to make a quick profit but once I set it up & played it, no chance - it's a keeper. 1983 SQ serial Squier Precision - bad listing on Ebay which didn't get seen - apart from by me. There was an amp I didn't want included in the sale, I waited for the auction to end with no bids, contacted the seller & did a naughty off-Ebay deal for it - £140 delivered. Utterly orgasmically gorgeous P, it was so hard to part with it - but £420 changed my mind... :brow: A butchered Rick copy from Ebay for £65 delivered - it had been a really nice through-neck copy but had been defretted, converted to L/H and the body reshaped. Fortunately all the hardware & fitted hard case were intact. I stripped it & put the body/neck back on the Bay at 99p, no reserve. It sold for £180... Aria AMB-50 acoustic bass for £50 delivered - it turned up in a really smart, new-looking Gator rigid case. Inside the pocket of the case were two brand-new sets of acoustic bass strings & 3 sets of Roto Swing Bass. Strolled into Crack Convertors & saw an old Satellite Jazz copy on the wall for £50. Seeing a quick £40 profit, I asked to have a go, only to find the neck pup wasn't working. I asked if they'd knock a few quid off - and strolled away with it for £25. After I re-soldered the neck pup lead to the pot, I Ebayed it for £95. If I start telling you about the deals I've had on g*it*rs you'll probably want to come & kill me... Jon.

I think it's worth discussing - if for no other reason than it's becoming a talking-point - but I really don't think it's enough of an issue to require new regulations. No-one's getting ripped off & realistically it's only likely to be sellers who choose this method who will lose out. J.

[quote name='Daquifsta' post='594122' date='Sep 9 2009, 06:00 PM']I can haz prize now?[/quote]

"If you need to ask the price - you can't afford it" - J.

If a seller won't name their price it's usually because they know bloody well what they want is over the odds, & one way or another their sale is going to attract the wrong sort of attention because of it. The JV I mentioned was a prime example - the frankly absurd asking price was named on the thread by someone who'd PM'd, the seller had a hissy fit & the thread went to hell in the proverbial. I think sales like this are simply based on the hope that someone out there will be stupid enough to pay wildly over the odds, & keeping the price a secret means that no-one can point this out. Or allude to it in a roundabout & non-incriminating way. Like a good few other people have said, if a sale is conducted in this way then I'm simply not interested, no matter what the bass in question is. J.

Mystifyingly, it's sold. Don't know why anyone would spend £76 including postage on a foul, wrecked piece of crap like that when you can pick up a new J copy for less money: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHNNY-BROOK-JAZZ-BASS-GUITAR-BLACK_W0QQitemZ320419273106"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHNNY-BROOK-JAZZ-BA...emZ320419273106[/url] Available in pretty much any colour you want - apart from caked in someone else's filth. Jon.

This did come up quite recently - over an eye-wateringly overpriced JV Precision. Realistically most common mid-range basses on here seem to sell for about £30 - £50 less than their corresponding Ebay prices. It's not too hard to work out a reasonable price for most things IMO. Jon.

As it says: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epiphone-thunderbird-bass-spares-or-repair_W0QQitemZ270453042654"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epiphone-thunderbird...emZ270453042654[/url] J.

[quote name='Musky' post='591249' date='Sep 6 2009, 10:44 AM']Yeah, I pointed that out to the guy who owned it. He seemed a bit upset as he appeared to want to believe it was a Mat. It seems Mats are to JapCrap on talkbass what Ibanez are on ebay. [/quote] Ha - would've really pi$$ed on his chips if it had been Kasuga's version of the Corsair - all 3 factories made 'em. J.

Yes - looks like a 4001S or a 4000 modded to take a single P pickup. More interesting (to me, at least) is Paul Gilbert playing a vintage JapCrap LP copy - it's an Ibanez Deluxe 59er, pre 1976. Respect. Jon.

[quote name='nick' post='590764' date='Sep 5 2009, 04:10 PM']Yes, hopefully me! [/quote] Did you snag it? It didn't go for much.... J.

[quote name='bassman2790' post='590535' date='Sep 5 2009, 12:06 PM']No it doesn't but sometimes they're just necessary [/quote] Yep. Never know when you'll need a really long thumbrest. Jon.

That's the Fujigen version - identical to the Ibanez 2388B bolt-neck. I love the full-width glitter inlays on these! J.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='585929' date='Aug 31 2009, 06:06 PM']Cheeky Bu&&er!!!! G.[/quote] J.

I don't understand the question. It's the "or" bit that's confusing me. Jon.

'Course I would. :brow: I'm starting to think we need an "Are you man enough?" sticky - particularly considering how sorely tempted I am by [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110429803150"]this[/url]. Jon.

Me next after Rich! Cheers! Jon.

[quote]Wat material strings?[/quote] I used to have cat which ended up known as "Wat" - half cat, half-wit. For that reason I suggest catgut. Jon.

[quote name='owen' post='585963' date='Aug 31 2009, 07:13 PM']Interestingly (or not) Freur became Underworld - "Lager lager lager lager" (Born slippy)[/quote] F*ck me! I never knew that! Freur was really a sort of squiggle rather than a name, wasn't it? Jon.