Bassassin

[quote name='LWTAIT' post='460773' date='Apr 12 2009, 08:49 PM']wow, thats really cool looking. im not sure i'd like the sound (liking a more modern, very trebly clicky sound, but with lots of bottom end rumble there, too) but just for looks i'd give it 10/10[/quote] Funny thing is, despite looking like old Gibbo mudbuckers, those old Japcrap pups are single-coils & very bright sounding. Great-looking bass but rare as the proverbial. [quote name='BigRedX' post='460770' date='Apr 12 2009, 08:44 PM']That is just awesome. A totally original design made out of bits of copy basses. Have you ever seen one for real?[/quote] Never seen one in real life, I think I've seen two on Ebay (in living memory) & both sold for frankly ludicrous money. I'll be keeping an eye out at the car boot next week though. J.

Probably a 2615B Artist: [url="http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/313/4.jpg"]http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/313/4.jpg[/url] Or perhaps a 2388B/DX, early version with full width sparkly inlays, or a Black Eagle, or a 2364B Dan Armstrong copy, or... I like old Ibbys, I do. Jon.

Lovely - if I had the dosh (and the physical space!) I might well... Always makes me smile to see the old JapCrap tuners they used on these. Jon.

[quote name='D-L-B' post='459114' date='Apr 10 2009, 10:44 AM']My comment was intended to influence him to offer even lower for the bass in question by showing him the price 'better' versions have sold for. You could hardly argue that the RS924 was an inferior bass. Somehow you've turned it into some sort of misguided nit-picking, point-scoring opportunity, interesting that.[/quote] What? I simply pointed out that it was different in terms of specification, not "quality". I'm a collector, restorer & general enthusiast about vintage Japanese basses & guitars and have a little bit of knowledge of the instruments. Most people on this board (who have an opinion) tend to consider that a useful contribution, as far as I can tell. I'm not remotely interested in "misguided nit-picking & point-scoring", and don't consider pointing out that this is [i]not[/i] a lower specification instrument - simply different, to be either. However if you're spoiling for a scrap, which you appear to be, I suggest you do this: go stand in front of the nearest mirror, & then you can scream and flail away all day. Jon.

[quote name='Musky' post='459396' date='Apr 10 2009, 04:02 PM']Eagle eyed there Jon. [/quote] Never miss a bit of JapCrap, me. Mind you, that's pretty much my dream Rick it's stuck on! J.

[quote name='oz of the bass' post='459326' date='Apr 10 2009, 02:29 PM']I was informed it had an ability to fetch this sort of money anyone who is interested please pm me forwhat you would be willing to pay[/quote] Hi Oz & welcome to BC. I'm interested if you don't mind my asking - how were you informed & by whom? Information about these is pretty thin on the ground. Jon.

I've found its missing tuner! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170318313541"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170318313541[/url] (this will take a while to load!) Shame it (the Aria) is in such a state - black with a maple board looks great. And that tail-lift - J.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='458768' date='Apr 9 2009, 08:03 PM']That went for £160. Bidder No6 was a weird one joined today and bid six times but didn't want that badly.[/quote] Must remember that next time I try & flog a crappy old car-boot P copy: bullsh!t, "ignorance" and a bit of last-minute shill bidding - gets 'em every time! J.

[quote name='jmstone' post='458065' date='Apr 9 2009, 08:09 AM']That's interesting. With the placement of the pup on the RS800, I would have thought it might sound more like a MM Stingray than a precision (although it is a single coil), but I haven't actually played either. It does have a very nice sound though - nice and solid but not too boomy. James[/quote] I wasn't suggesting it would sound like a P - just that the basic design (passive, single pup, 20-fret bolt neck) is derived from the Precision template. I've never played an RS800 so I couldn't make a comparison as far as tone's concerned - but for the reasons you state it probably doesn't sound like one. J.

Well, if it turned out to be a Kay, it wouldn't even have the dignity of being JapCrap - they were Taiwanese or Korean. J.

It did - I think it "helpfully" mentioned that it wasn't one... J.

All kosher apart from the scratchplate & bridge, as far as I can see from those rubbish, blurry little pics. Scratchplate's a home-made "upgrade" and I've seen a few 70s & early 80s Ricks with these brass bridges, they were proper aftermarket replacements & have been discussed on Rickresource a few times - can't remember who made them though. The pups look OK to me but it's hard to be sure, & I think maybe the camera angle's making the head look a bit odd. I'm finding the easiest way to spot a real Rick is the inlays - I've never seen a copy with the same dull greyish-looking ones, they're always much brighter & pearly-looking. This is after getting a new Faker project with a very authentic-looking orangey fretboard. [quote]Yes, yes, yes, but apart from all that, what have the Ricky's ever done for us?[/quote] Neck-through construction. But apart from that, what [i]have[/i] they ever done for us, eh? Eh? Jon.

[quote name='D-L-B' post='457889' date='Apr 8 2009, 10:20 PM']Mine, I sold it on here last year. Went for a steal of a price and probably a superior bass to the one you're talking about. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=28420&hl=ibanez+roadster"]IBANEZ ROADSTER[/url][/quote] Only in terms of kit - the RS924 is active & has 2 pups whereas the RS800 is based on the Precision template. Construction & materials will be equal quality, Fujigen was incredibly consistent across the board quality-wise. The guitarse in my band still favours his ancient Roadstar II - his first guitar from 1980-something - despite having a vintage Gibson SG & Telecaster & all that stuff. J.

It's bloody Rodan, assuming Rodan was a bird. Cheapish looking 70s JapCrap which has had the frets clumsily ripped out. Ply - or at least veneered body - look at the big black oversprays on the arm & gut contours. And the one that should all have you kicking yourselves - it's got a Gibson-type nut, stuck on the end of the fingerboard, very common on 70s copies particularly the lower end ones. That huge gap between the strings is a dead giveaway that there's a 2-saddle bridge under the cover, another JapCrap bargain bin trait. The tuners also look a bit suss to me - too small. The "Les Paul" is - or was - a nice early 70s Matsumoku copy, probably would have been a Shaftesbury, Jedson or Arbiter before some mouthbreathing oxygen thief decided that shonky stickers & cheapo new parts were an [i]improvement[/i]. J.

[quote name='jmstone' post='457593' date='Apr 8 2009, 04:52 PM']Fantastic info. Thanks! Any suggestions of a good place to buy knobs from!? James[/quote] Big fan of [url="http://www.axesrus.com"]http://www.axesrus.com[/url] here - good range, good prices, free postage, very fast & efficient. If they don't have what you want, try [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS"]CH Guitars[/url] on Ebay. Sterling advice from Sgt Pluck too - except I'm a pikey and my opening offer would be £60. J.

Yes, and f*ck the "normal life" consequences. I'd rather regret something I did than something I didn't do. Jon.

[quote name='jmstone' post='457309' date='Apr 8 2009, 12:47 PM']He hasn't really said a price. He said they would be happy with whatever the "going rate" would be. I will definitely keep an eye on the ebay auction. Take your point about "bodges". In my defence, something much nastier seemed to have happened to the place where the strap button is supposed to go - there is a gaping hole about 1cm across, which won't hold anything.. next to it is the snapped off end of a screw (not sure when this happened), then the place where I sited the button (which fortunately covers all the nasty looking mess underneath). As a matter of interest, what would be the proper way to fix this? Fill the hole with something? What other things would you advise fixing? I would quite like to add some non-ibanez knobs (although I know it would make it less collectible). Any suggestions about this? James[/quote] Personally I'd plug a hole like that with cocktail sticks (several if it's a big hole) & epoxy adhesive - sets in no time and easy to trim flush. You can then re-drill & the strap button will likely cover the repair. Although it does sound like there'd been a previous repair anyway. The original Ibanez knobs would probably have been Sure-Grips: Black on this bass, as far as I can tell. These things are ridiculously rare & Ibby anoraks pay a fortune for them if & when they ever come up. I'd think bog-standard speed knobs or LP-type bell knobs would be an OK compromise. Other than that, a stripdown & thorough clean-up should sort it out - I recommend T-cut for the lacquer, & I like to soak hardware & screws in WD40 for a day or two & then scrub with an old toothbrush. Quite likely it might need a bit of solder on that loose pot, but that's no big deal. That could be a lovely bass over the course of a weekend. J.

Definitely - but I bet he didn't think it would go through so low! It's always cool when you get a "stealth auction" - that for some reason no-one else has noticed. J.

I can't see that you'd need to spend much money on it - it looks like it needs a couple of knobs and a nut & washer for one of the pots. Otherwise it looks pretty tidy for a largely neglected 30 year-old bass - the serial tells us it's August 1979. The bass looks in fair cosmetic condition for its age, and I'm confident it would clean up very nicely - to be honest most of the basses I gig with came to me looking far more dilapidated than this one. It's worth taking some time & care to do the work well and properly - these are rare & collectable basses and bodges (like your strap button fix, unfortunately) will have a negative effect on its value. On the other hand, allegedly having once been owned by an obscure member of a band that most people won't remember too well probably doesn't affect its value! It might be interesting to watch this auction to see what these are doing at the moment: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Roadster-Bass-Series-Rare-Vintage_W0QQitemZ110374262550"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Roadster-Bass...emZ110374262550[/url] Have you asked your mate for a ballpark idea of how much he's looking for? Jon.

Ibby from It'ly: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350187871320"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=350187871320[/url] Early 2388B bolt-neck, sparkly inlays, checked binding, sounds better than a real one because it's "not a simple copy". It says here. J.

Great price - if you don't consider the six quid postage. Probably cost about 75p to post. Jon.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='454230' date='Apr 4 2009, 05:39 PM']...the one on Ebay is the only one of these I've ever seen apart from mine & the one The Ox has in the ads. Also, Neepheid on here has an ongoing restoration project with a short-scale, set neck version of the same design.[/quote] Only just realised looking at the pic again, this Ebay one is short-scale, & presumably the same as Neepheid's. Which means Big John's is still the only one like mine I've seen. Quick, ain't I? J.

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='454000' date='Apr 4 2009, 12:11 PM']That the pickups have hex key pole pieces suggests they're DiMarzios - I think that was one of their identifying features (although I don't doubt that another pickup maker has done the same).[/quote] Schaller PBX pups have these - as do the JapCrap no-brands on my Ibby RS924, which are probably Maxxons or Gotohs. That aside - I now have some GAS pains for an Atilla Balogh Oddysey. And the urge to write a prog concept album of the same name. Jon.