Bassassin

I paid five quid for this. I freely admit I was robbed: Jon.

[quote name='Clarky' post='427214' date='Mar 6 2009, 02:11 PM']I like the fact that in the Q&A its pointed out to the seller that it is indeed a Korean-made instrument from Cort stable (presume the comment is from Bassassin) and he says he will change the advert .... yet no change, still describing it as US made [/quote] In fairness, he says he'll post it on the listing - which he has. I messaged him before it had any bids, so he did have the chance - however once a bid's placed you can't edit the original listing - only add bits at the end. Shame he didn't change it - that blew my chance of grabbing it for £50! :ph34r: It's a bit ruff & ready finish-wise for a Cort - but I'm not arguing with the inlays, trc, hardware & general construction. This is only the second one of these I've seen, that was on Ebay a few years ago so there's a strong likelihood it's the same one. J.

It's old & it's purty, but who's gonna tell me what this [b]really[/b] is? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280318065147"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280318065147[/url] No cheating, just look closely at the pics... Jon.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='427137' date='Mar 6 2009, 01:02 PM']...and Tales From The Riverbank.[/quote] Spooky - I've been practising that this morning. Used to do it years ago as a little jokey solo/intro & thinking about reviving it for a gig tomorrow. +1 to Grange Hill - or Chicken Man, to give it it's proper title. Great fun bass part & near-obligatory when it was current! Jon.

A lot of Shafty LP copies were Matsumoku - you can spot these by the "Steel Adjustable Neck" plate, arrowhead trc, 3-screw pickup adjustment & the like. The Rick copies are definitely not Mats, but haven't yet been matched to anything with a positive manufacturer ID. He's sort-of right about Shaftesbury - if a little confused! Rose-Morris' retail shop was in Shaftesbury Ave at the time & clearly that's where the brand name comes from. As a youth I spent many an hour in there & the various other emporia around Denmark St & Charing Cross Rd, drooling over the unattainable! Jon.

Very tidy-looking Shafty, £375 BIN: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150330555882"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150330555882[/url] Almost seems reasonable compared to what some have gone for recently. And Glen's wrong. J.

Always loved Copeland's playing, he's been in my top 5 tub-thumpers for decades. Sting however just seemed to play the bare minimum required for the song, which is fair enough, but feels like a wasted opportunity with such an inventive & dextrous drummer to work with. Still a big Police fan though, so yes. Jon.

[quote name='sixshooter' post='423637' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:41 PM']Here is the Guitar version [attachment=21342:Yasuki.jpg] [attachment=21343:Headstock_1.jpg] This one is branded Yasuki![/quote] Cheers for that, although this is arguably even more of a mystery! Yasuki's a new one on me, it smacks of an importer's idea of a "Japanese-y" sounding name, like Kimbara & Sakai were. However this is clearly from the same source as the Asama bass & LP. A full autopsy might reveal some clues as to a manufacturer, but there are a lot of instruments out there that are destined to go unidentified, it seems. We can assume that many less recognisable guitars came from the Matsumoto Musical Instrument Manufacturers Association, a collective of smaller builders & suppliers in the region, which excluded the bigger & better known factories like Matsumoku & Fujigen. J.

Vaguely interested if they're reasonably priced, but I'm not holding my breath. Slightly put off by the recent quality of RS66 sets, which I used for years but gave up on after a succession of dead A strings & arbitrarily snapping Gs. They'll have to be a lot cheaper than Elixirs, as well as blacker. Jon.

I'm only using a pick about 1/3 of the time these days - but Dunlop nylons have a textured gripping area, been using them for years & never dropped one yet. It helps to hang on like grim death, too. Jon.

Possibly - I'm just assuming it's a de-fret because of the lines, never seen a lined fretless Matsumoku as far as I can remember. J.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='422057' date='Feb 28 2009, 10:54 PM']I've got filler so filling won't be a problem, I have to postpone though I have to go to work tomorrow now [/quote] Don't use filler - a bunch of cocktail sticks & some epoxy, tap them in & trim them flush with a Stanley knife blade once the epoxy's set. This is a good way of making a rock-solid plug for any size hole, & can be re-drilled if necessary - also ideal if the bridge needs to be moved for intonation or alignment. Jon.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='421802' date='Feb 28 2009, 05:15 PM']Cash Converters sell them for £4.[/quote] Didn't know that - I'll try a set. Cheers! Jon.

[quote name='pete.young' post='421681' date='Feb 28 2009, 01:51 PM']Aria Pro II RSB special fretless [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Pro-II-Fretless-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ140304022437QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Pro-II-Fretless...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] I used to have one just like this in black, and sold it to Silverfoxnik after I got my Bass Collection.[/quote] Nice, that. Shame it's had the frets ripped out. J.

[quote name='AREA' post='421625' date='Feb 28 2009, 12:31 PM']Yes, this is exactly my Bass, because on "Guitarmaniacs" I´m registered as "Rumms".[/quote] That's what I get for not paying attention! Makes more sense knowing you're in Germany, the Asama brand seems more common on the Continent. Anyway, while "Asama" may translate as "Big Bottom", it's actually more likely the name comes from Mt. Asama in Nagano prefecture - which is traditionally home to much of Japan's guitar making industry. I am talking about mountains (a common theme in JapCrap brand names - Fujigen, Rokkomann, Maya...) because there's not much info out there about Asama. Anyway, it appears to be a brand rather than a factory & there was a range of Asama FX guitars of which this bass is but one - here's an LP with the same module: [url="http://www.geocities.com/stompbox2001/asama.htm"]http://www.geocities.com/stompbox2001/asama.htm[/url] I'm sure there used to be a [i]Vintage Guitar[/i] mag article about these knocking around on the web - maybe I'm thinking of Fresher, who also had a range of FX guitars. All the [i]Guru's Guitar Guide[/i] book has to say about Asama is this: [quote]Instruments previously built in Japan during the early 1980s. Guitars with this trademark are generally medium to good quality copies of American design as well as some original designs[/quote] And the only other Asama bass I've seen is this one: [url="http://www.guitardir.com/specs.php?NodeId=11812&Context=3"]http://www.guitardir.com/specs.php?NodeId=...2&Context=3[/url] Owned by a Dutch gentleman called Kees, whose knowledge of JapCrap makes me feel positively intellectually stunted - and he doesn't have a clue who made them. These appear under numerous brands - the best known being Fernandes. Which doesn't help since Fernandes is only a brand name & has been made in various different factories. Anyway to get back to the point - while I can't find much concrete info, I have seen a bass like AREA's before, and needless to say it was on Ebay & somewhere in Europe. I can't swear it was branded Asama, but it had the same FX and black blocks. I have absolutely no recollection of how much it sold for - but obviously more than my £50 Ebay Pikey ceiling! Jon.

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='421595' date='Feb 28 2009, 11:43 AM']What's the story Mr 'Japcrap Wiki' Bassassin?[/quote] Asama is Japanese for "Big Bottom". Area - if you consider selling, let me know. BTW I take it the pics aren't actually your bass, since they're from the www.guitarmaniacs.de site? I'll go & do a bit of digging, see what I can find out... Jon.

[quote name='Telebass' post='418858' date='Feb 24 2009, 10:46 PM']As they probably built my 51RI Precision, how can I say nay?[/quote] [b][pedant][/b] They didn't. They couldn't have, it's only ever been a brand name. [b][/pedant][/b] However if your P's an MIJ it will be from Fujigen Gakki - the same factory that built 70s and a lot of 80s Ibbys. These days Ibbys come from all over the place - but the quality control's generally excellent regardless of factory & price range. The only downside in my experience is that the "out of the box" setup is often rotten. Jon.

[quote name='zbigniew' post='419209' date='Feb 25 2009, 01:04 PM']Oops! It was my first time for puttin in a link so my fault for not trying it after posting here's take II: [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Early-70s-Greco-Bass-guitar-Made-in-Japan_W0QQitemZ250378684564QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Early-70s-Grec...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Z[/quote] Cheers for that. Very interesting - but I'm 99% sure this isn't a 70s "lawsuit" era bass - the serial suffix appears to be A83 - which, if it is a Greco, would mean January 1983. This is perfectly probable because Greco is a domestic Japanese brand, and copies like this were made & sold in Japan long after they stopped being exported in the mid/late 70s. The same type of serial number appears on other brands too. The details aren't consistent with any of the manufacturers I mentioned, but with dozens of factories making copies for the Japanese home market, it could be anything. Looks nice though, just a shame the pics are so small. J.

[quote name='zbigniew' post='419075' date='Feb 25 2009, 10:19 AM']I like the looks of that one, JetGlo with checkered binding - it's in Japan though. What do you think of it? [post="0"]Greco??[/post] Z[/quote] Linky not working! Checker binding will probably be an early Fujigen or a Kasuga. I've seen one Matsumoku-built Electra Corsair with checks but that's unlikely. Early Grecos were both Matsumoku & Fujigen, so we'll see... J.

[quote name='tauzero' post='418954' date='Feb 25 2009, 01:40 AM']Don't like the apparent separation between fretboard and neck...[/quote] Might glue & clamp up OK, I wouldn't pay more than a ton for it with a problem like that, though. There's this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150328451747"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150328451747[/url] Seems to be genuinely being sold by someone with no idea, I think it's probably a Hondo. And look - this is familiar, isn't it? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270345551704"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270345551704[/url] Specifically: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=40419"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=40419[/url] Glad to see it's got its proper TRC back but still - Jon.

Oakland seems to be a non-defined (ie we don't know anything about them!) JapCrap/KoreaDiarrhoea brand from the early 80s. Yours is the first neck-through I've noticed, but I've seen a few basses & g*it*rs go through Ebay which were very closely based on Ibanez Blazers. One of the Blazer-esque basses was indeed glittery metallic pink - and I was gutted when I was outbid! Anyway there's a bit of info - although this thread on ICW doesn't help much: [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/vintage-and-custom-electrics-and401970s-onlyand41/oakland-ibanez/"]http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/vint...oakland-ibanez/[/url] But I think we can reasonably assume they "borrowed" some Ibanez-esque designs rather than actually being connected in any way. This thread on the Mat board seems to be fairy certain they're Japanese, and possibly Matsumoku: [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/ggboard/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1408"]http://www.matsumoku.org/ggboard/viewtopic...f=19&t=1408[/url] The thread's about 4 years old & there's been a [i]lot[/i] of research in the JapCrap field since then - we know a lot more about Japanese & Korean manufacturing & quality standards now - and the way both designs & building techniques were "borrowed" so liberally - and likely wouldn't jump to the same conclusions so quickly. The more you know the less you understand. Anyway - it's a very nice bass, I would definitely leave it fretless, both from the perspective of learning the technique, and leaving a very unusual vintage bass in original condition. Jon. Jon.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='417527' date='Feb 23 2009, 03:31 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hawkwind-custom-Westone-Paduak-Thunder-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ160317714743QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item160317714743&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]Most expensive Westone ever[/url][/quote] Oh dear. This is more like it, though, a Thunder 1A with very reasonable BIN: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230327289621"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230327289621[/url] Unfortunately collection only though. J.

Story of my wasted, underachieving life.... Wanna buy my band's new album? Want a free copy? Anyone? Please? (Well, sort of...) Jon.

Right on cue - here's another one: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NECKTHROUGH-V-BURST-ACTIVE-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ140303387967"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NECKTHROUGH-V-BURST-...emZ140303387967[/url] 24-hour listing. J.