Bassassin

Maybe, but it looks like the short-term effect has been to make vintage Faker prices even sillier, recession notwithstanding. They are definitely thinner on the ground now, which doesn't help, but old copies that get through Ebay have been topping £600 this year, which is bloody ridiculous. I suppose the oldies appeal to a broader market of geeks & collectors than the modern ones do so that will help keep the prices up. Ian - really curious to get a look at your Anniversary, take lots of pics when you get the bonnet up! Also to re-ignite the Tokai/Rockinbetter debate - this is interesting: [url="http://www.jsdguitarshack.com/dillion_guitars/dillion_rockinbetter_bass.html"]http://www.jsdguitarshack.com/dillion_guit...etter_bass.html[/url] Did a bit of digging & it seems these are Korean-made & exported to Canada by a Korean company called SIC. I can't find any more info than that - manufacturer, etc, but what's curious is that these basses look like they have more in common with the Indie attempt than the UK Rockinbetters. Same construction & pickups, I think, but with an "authentic" headstock shape. Having chatted to the Indie CEO guy about these at Music Live a few years ago, he did say that they chose a non-Rick headstock shape to try & avoid copyright infringement. Jon.

[quote name='Stingray5' post='512060' date='Jun 12 2009, 12:57 PM']Not sure anyone has mentioned [b]Lee Jackson[/b] (The Nice, Refugee, Jackson Heights) I saw Refugee a couple of times at the Marquee in Wardour St and IIRC he was using a blonde RIC 4001. Here's Refugee and some Prog-rock riffery on the OGWT with Jackson on a rather nice all-black 4001. (Bass close-ups from around 1:27 ). [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDbizQz_ZhM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDbizQz_ZhM[/url] Cheers Steve[/quote] Never heard Refugee before - there's some great rhythm section stuff going on in this track. J.

[quote name='riff raff' post='511987' date='Jun 12 2009, 11:49 AM']you've said exactly what the shop owner said about not wanting to tighten it any more to avoid popping the fretboard.it is genuine and has the authentification from rosetti.the guy is very genuine and th price is reflecting the work needed.and based on the fact that we have a good relationship with him in the band maintaining valve ampegs and mesa's.[/quote] No disrespect to the seller but some copies - particularly the Matsumoku-built neckthroughs, were near-indistinguishable from the real thing, & many have ended up with real Rickenbacker TRCs and serial numbered jackplates. If you can take some detailed pics & post them here then it will be possible to confirm 100% whether this is genuine or not. 4001 trussrods are very eccentric - they don't work simply by tightening the nuts & what the guy said sounds like perhaps he doesn't know this. Essentially the neck needs to be bent by hand to the desired relief, and the rods are then tightened to hold it in place. It's also possible that the truss rods aren't the problem - Rick bodies are very thin & where neck & body join is a potential weak spot because of the big pickup route under the scratchplate. Years of high-tension strings can cause it to warp there, and to be honest I don't know how repairable that is. Signs of this might show as cracking in the finish at the join between the body wings & neck section at this point. Jon.

Does "under the stairs for ten years" count? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Jazz-Bass-Replica_W0QQitemZ170341491236"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Jazz-Bass-Rep...emZ170341491236[/url] Although at £450 BIN for a beat-up JapCrap Jazz with a shonky sticker, it should probably be in the heroically overpriced thread. Nice enough - possibly a Matsumoku going on the slightly odd end-adjustment pickups, but over the odds by about £300! J.

[quote name='kevbass' post='511378' date='Jun 11 2009, 04:28 PM']Im not sure how shine have pulled this one off[/quote] Probably to do with them being a Korean company & RIC having little or no real influence outside the US. They have clout where Ebay's concerned because Ebay's a US company - it's even based in the same state. However most Ebay auctions just get pulled because they breach Ebay's T&Cs rather than as a direct result of being reported by RIC. These days Ebay can & do pull listings for such innocuous things as calling a Precision copy a Precision copy. Funny how that only seems to apply to private sellers, though... Anyway I think this is old stock or an old pic - Shines I've seen recently have "proper" Rick-shaped heads & bound bodies: Obviously not the same bass! These are pretty similar to the Gayro/Jayro & Anniversary copies which are turning up recently. These aren't identical, they have set necks & (oddly) 22-fret necks while the Shines are neck-through & 20 fret.. Jon.

You can read Made In Japan on the heel on his Ebay pics. Can't quite get my head around this - does he seriously believe these basses are worth what he's asking or is it just the hope/assumption that someone, somewhere will be stupid enough to pay those prices? J.

[quote name='2x18' post='509518' date='Jun 9 2009, 08:39 PM']Hes also got a "Vintage model" for sale at £1,100.00 buy it now including some free masking tape!!!!!! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Fender-Precision-Bass_W0QQitemZ250441144108QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item3a4f74972c&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Fender-Preci...%3A1%7C294%3A50[/url][/quote] And oh look - he's "improved" that one by hitting it against a wall. What a clever boy. J.

It's Crackmonkey Tuesday! Jon.

Dennis Dunaway (original Alice Cooper Group) - to my ears simply the god of pick users: [i]Gutter Cat vs The Jets, Blue Turk, Halo Of Flies, Billion Dollar Babies[/i] etc etc. Outrageously good. Other plectrum deities (in addition to those already mentioned): JJ Burnel, Steven Severin, Tony Butler, Peter Steele, Russell Webb, Hooky, Jason Newsted. It's probably fair to say most of my favourite players are pick users. Edit: And Lemmy - fufuxake, how the hell did I forget Lemmy? Jon.

What - for 27 years? J.

[quote name='sgt-pluck' post='508603' date='Jun 8 2009, 09:43 PM']Collection only! Brave! I like Supergrass - quality live band. His main bass is that natural Ibby - pretty sure I read somewhere that it's Roadstar II. Pluck[/quote] It's a Blazer - I think I read it was his first bass & he saw no reason to "upgrade". Cool that he chose another elderly cheapo as a stand-in while his back was injured. Jon.

[quote name='"Honest" Ged Dixon of Ebay']Wow!!! I can't believe we found this again... Languishing in an attic since at least 1982...[/quote] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=140324776699"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=140324776699[/url] Actually a nice & very old Antoria Jazz, probably 1971. I fully expect this to get quite silly in its last few hours. Jon.

For anyone smitten by vintage Korean plywood GAS, this is the same bass, different colour: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hondo-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ330335867321"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hondo-bass-guitar_W0...emZ330335867321[/url] That's probably a DiMarzio in this one, they were standard on a lot of Hondos from this era. Jon.

[quote name='swlaschin' post='507292' date='Jun 6 2009, 10:56 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/csl-vintage-precision-bass-made-in-japan_W0QQitemZ140325407370QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item20ac0bca8a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1688|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50"]Defretted CSL P Bass[/url] from Ibanez factory? Don't like the defret job much...[/quote] I'm fairly sure the neck & body of this bass don't belong together but it's interesting all the same. Shame about the defret, these are lovely necks - my no.1 Jazz is a somewhat modified 1980 CSL with the same neck: [attachment=26634:CSL2008.jpg] For the new-to-JapCrap I'll point out that this wasn't made at the Ibanez Factory because it doesn't exist, as Ibanez is just a brand name. However it was made at Fujigen Gakki, the same factory as most 70s & 80s Ibbys - and subsequently MIJ Fenders, so there is a connection. The headstock shape here is the same as the older Ibby Blazers - although you won't find any of them with black blocks... J.

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='507307' date='Jun 6 2009, 11:53 PM']I'm sorry - I haven't seen this - I never venture outside off topic don'cha know? PS: you know full well that in a certain light and with the wind behind you (and beer steins in front of you) you look just like JBJ [/quote] Beer goggles! And I assume you're an impostor then - what have you done with the real Terri? J.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='507162' date='Jun 6 2009, 07:04 PM']What does Bruce Dickinson know about the great plec/fingers debate?[/quote] Clearly I am his evil ginger twin & we share common thought patterns. Can't see the resemblance myself (and you obviously haven't heard me sing!) but it's better than being likened to Jon Bon Jovi - yes Mrs T I am talking to you! J.

[quote name='jonsmith' post='506870' date='Jun 6 2009, 11:28 AM']It's OK, we can rebuild her. Believe it or not, this is the same instrument.[/quote] That is outrageously lovely - the sweetest 4080 I've ever seen. Would that be Mr. Wilczynski's handiwork? I've seen some stunning restorations he's done on RickResource. Edit: I'm guessing that the 12 neck's a replacement? Jon.

[quote name='Clarky' post='506948' date='Jun 6 2009, 01:31 PM']I play with a plectrum because I am sh*te at playing with my fingers .... fact Discuss that[/quote] J.

It is a bit of an old chestnut, this. The answer is simple. "Bassists" who use plectrums are not true bassists - they are failed guitarist scum and it is the duty of every right-thinking real bassist to seek them out and smash their hands with a hammer, so they do not cheapen & degrade the purity & skill of proper bass playing with this abominable perversion of theirs. Praise The Lord. Easy, really. Jon.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='480716' date='May 6 2009, 10:15 AM']It should get a gig on Saturday so we'll see how it plays sounds for real.[/quote] I've been pretty much exclusively gigging the Frankenbugger for the last month - It is f@cking great! Loads of compliments about my sound, and it's a real head-turner, people keep wanting to know what it is! Jon.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='506560' date='Jun 5 2009, 06:59 PM']Apologies, from an ill-informed bigot.[/quote] Graciously accepted, sir! J.

[quote name='noirpunk' post='506361' date='Jun 5 2009, 02:07 PM']Well, British Music Strings which was based in Cardiff. The instruments were imported from Korea, inspected and sold. The operation went belly up long ago. They're not uncommon, you see quite a few in cash generators and car boots around the South Wales area. Not particularly well made guitars, but a lot better than the old 'Axe' brand they used to seel in the back pages of Kerrang years ago.[/quote] Marlins were ewe-biquitous in the 80s & early 90s, most of them were Korean but I have seen examples that were made in the former East Germany. Not sure how they got over the Berlin Wool. I suspect BMS were also associated with the Hohner RTX "Eurofighter" g*it*r, assembled in Wales from components sourced from all over Yurp. Jon.

It actually works OK - wonder what happened though? This is basically a Rick crossbred with a Hohner B2A - looks like the Hohner's donated pickups & possibly active circuit, as well as bridge & string retainer. I'd like to think the Rick suffered a disastrous headstock break, rather than somebody just thought this was a great idea! J.