Bassassin

Headstock's shaped like an Ibby Soundgear - the body has been reshaped seemingly by a blind 4-year old. Why do people let their children play with power tools? Jon.

[quote name='deaver' post='488200' date='May 14 2009, 07:29 PM']Thanks Jon. A couple of taster pics for you to mull on. I'll try and sort something better at the weekend. Remarkable piece of work this bass[/quote] Cheers for that, lovely bass, I really like that black body binding - is it on the fretboard too? Looking forward to seeing more pics. J.

[quote name='Hamster' post='485318' date='May 11 2009, 08:32 PM']It's just an [i]estimated [/i]price! Nice necks on those, knock a 0 off the estimate and you're about there.[/quote] Bit optimistic still - someone needs to send him a couple of reality check links: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-fretless-MAGNA-bass-4-string-black-Maple-board_W0QQitemZ320364710465"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-fretless-MAGNA-...emZ320364710465[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Bass-Guitar-Black-Aria-Pro-II-Magna-Series_W0QQitemZ130301473168"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Bass-Guitar...emZ130301473168[/url] Self delusion's a deeply tragic thing. I should know... J.

[quote name='deaver' post='484529' date='May 10 2009, 07:53 PM']Picked it up this afternoon. Pictures and whatever sort of report I can muster coming your way next weekend. Lovely shape to the front face of the body, thanks again for the tip-off.[/quote] Cool - looking forward to seeing some nice pics! Still can't find any specific info about the bass but here's another g*it*r - this one almost looks like the 6-string sibling of yours, with the German carve & black binding: [url="http://www.wietsesguitars.nl/pagina102.html"]http://www.wietsesguitars.nl/pagina102.html[/url] J.

[quote name='Empire Road' post='484674' date='May 10 2009, 10:16 PM']I'm not sure what you mean by the '2 neck position high gains'. I must admit the switching confuses me. Do you mean the large toggle switch or the tiny 3-way switch embedded in the finger rest? Left or right the tiny 3-way sounds the same, centre is off![/quote] By "Hi-Gains" I mean the two pickups in the neck position - this is what Rickenbacker calls this type of pickup. One of yours has been added as a modification; the one nearest the end of the neck is the original, and somebody has installed a second pickup right next to it. It sounds like the micro-switch controls these two pickups and is presently wired to select either one or the other, or neither! It would probably make more sense if the middle position had them both on, rather than both off, though. If you look very closely at the two pickups they're not identical, it's actually possible that the additional one (which looks fractionally larger to me) might even be a genuine Rickenbacker part, it's surprising how often real & copy components can get mixed up on these basses. As for your two strange holes in the body - I have no idea! Again, strange & inexplicable things seem to get done to instruments over the years - the bass I pictured earlier in the thread has two rivets embedded in it underneath the bridge! I have absolutely no idea what they could have been for, and I was unable to remove them so I had to grind them flat before I could screw a bridge onto the bass. Weird. J.

[quote name='Empire Road' post='484482' date='May 10 2009, 06:55 PM']The wires seemed to be attached to just a single strand of copper wire on the pick-up. Is this the case? Is there a special way I need to re-connect them? Any guidance with this would be valuable as I am cack-handed with tools to say the least.[/quote] Hi Alan - first of all, hi, very nice late-model Ibanez 2388B/DX you have there! Second, yes, the leads do connect to single strands on the pickup bobbin. To be honest a repair like this would, in my opinion, be best left to a professional - trying to solder such tiny connections runs a risk of frying the windings on the pickup. I've not personally needed any pickup repair work done, so I can't recommend anybody, so I'd say the best place to ask for advice might be the [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=12"]Repairs & Technical Issues[/url] board. Anyway, that's a very unusual modification your bass has, with the 2 neck-position hi-gains. It's a very tidy-looking mod, & I wonder if the body needed any extra routing to accept the extra pup. Was it like that when you got it? Jon.

Here's an interesting replacement Rick bridge for anyone not liking the idea of paying [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-4003-Bass-Tailpiece-Genuine-Ric-Part_W0QQitemZ260407844909QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item260407844909"]£105 for a piece of cheap crap that bends the moment you string it up[/url]: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200325029390"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=200325029390[/url] Still no individual string height adjustment, though. If it was available in black I'd have one for The Frankenbugger. J.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='483078' date='May 8 2009, 04:39 PM']This fine beast cost me the princely sum of £67[/quote] Bargain! You probably already know, but unlike most 70s copies this isn't JapCrap, it's Italian. Never seen a Melody with that logo before, or a maple/fretless like this. Very nice! If it's like the fretted JapCrap one I had, the pup will have screws to adjust height & angle on the sliding plate, and the plate itself just sits in a shallow body route under the scratchplate, held in position by friction. Should be easy to straighten it up. Jon.

Arne purchased my '83 Squier SQ Precision - making my first international bank transfer experience a straightforward & stress-free one! Very nice guy, easy to do business with, and knows a fine bass when he sees one! Jon.

My fellow Rickenfaker anorak Ian sold me a lovely fireglo body/through neck (now revived as The Frankenbugger) for a very fair price. Well packed & rapidly posted from a man with impeccable taste in vintage firewood! Jon.

Just had a nice old Peavey head from Dave - lovely fella to deal with, head came immaculately packed & next-day delivery. And the cheque hasn't even cleared yet!!! Jon.

Played it at rehearsal last night - it sounds evil! J.

Gorgeous old JapCrap Hippie Sandwich, you hardly ever see these - wonder how many of them ended up being fobbed off as genuine? Jon.

[quote name='deaver' post='482576' date='May 7 2009, 11:15 PM']Your wish is my command. I'll let you know how I get on with it. PS: If I don't like it - I have no qualms about posting it[/quote] Excellent - lots of hi-res pics in the Porn section please! And if it's not for you I'll happily take it off your hands. Unless it's got a neck like a corkscrew! :ph34r: J.

[quote name='hookys6stringbass' post='481169' date='May 6 2009, 04:55 PM']Here's a link to my Rickenfaker facebook page.... [url="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=78514186083&ref=mf"]http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.p...6083&ref=mf[/url] Wow Jon it's looking good! I've reasembled the Tokai with Ricky(like) bits and rewired it and it sounds bloody nice. Ive got to make a TRC and pick guard as the neck PUP is slightly out of line and sits alittle tooo low so I need to make the hole wider. Next I'm going to varnish the fretboard- Jon any tips, ie what type of varnish and can I applie it with out taking the frets out??? Bassassin Padawan.[/quote] Yes you can varnish over the frets - many lacquered boards are done once the frets are fitted, just lightly wire-wool the tops of the frets back to the metal once it's done & dried. Going on my own basses, it seems about half & half whether the board's been lacquered before or after fretting. As far as what to use - I wish I knew! I've re-touched a couple of boards that had flaky lacquer with cheapo Screwfix rattle-can stuff, but I don't know how hard-wearing that sort of thing would be as a finish for an unlacquered board. Logically the strings shouldn't be making much, if any contact with the board anyway, so it might be OK. I have a maple Jazz neck needing refinished and I might experiment with that. I have a minor alignment problem with the Frankenbugger - it predates CNC routing & it looks like the template they used was ever so slightly too far south. Also the bridge could do with being maybe 5mm further back to get the intonation spot-on, however I'm on the lookout for a cheap Hipshot which should fix that. J.

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='481626' date='May 7 2009, 09:04 AM']Cummon, give us a bit of history! I'm tempted.... Is it meant to be a bit of an alembic rip off?[/quote] Well, clearly there's a bit of an Alembic "influence"! This will be late 70s, built at Rokkomann's factory in Kobe (destroyed in the 90s Kobe earthquake) El Maya was Rokkomann's high-end brand, mostly original designs & some replica-level copies. These are staggeringly rare - I've never seen this particular design before as a bass - the g*it*r is called an EM-1000 and is a little bit more common: [url="http://www.guitar-museum.com/uploads/guitar/157/44544-1.jpg"]http://www.guitar-museum.com/uploads/guitar/157/44544-1.jpg[/url] I think it's fair to say if this had Ibanez or even Aria Pro written on it you'd be talking several times that price. Just bleedin' buy it, right? J.

Somebody down south [b]just buy this[/b], don't argue - it's buttons for something this unique & stunning: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=170329151446"]El Maya through-neck original - £175 BIN[/url] If he'd post it, I'd pull the trigger without a second thought. J.

Liking Carnarvon's Doom a lot - very Gates Of Babylon! Jon.

Cheers - some of those are stunning. J.

[quote name='OldGit' post='480462' date='May 5 2009, 10:33 PM']Any contenders in your weird and wonderful collections? [/quote] What's that? It's luvverly. Yammy SBV comes to mind for oddness + sympathetic scratchplate: I have a blue one & would love a pearl pink plate on it... :ph34r: Jon.

I recommend T-cut for glossing up those dullard satin finishes - although it might be an idea to whip off your scratchplate & "test on an inconspicuous area" to make sure it does what you want. If you do change the bridge, Schaller 3D ftw. Jon.

Must be the weather for them - there's this as well: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IBANEZ-TWIN-NECK-SG-BASS-SIX-STRING-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ280341495971"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IBANEZ-TWIN-NECK-SG-...emZ280341495971[/url] As for upsetting the band - our prog-head guitarist would like nothing more than for both of us to play twin-necks! Mine would have to be fretted/5-string fretless bass though, there might be some point then... J.

Three of a perfect pair? Three? Meet The Frankenbugger... Having harvested the organs from this basket-case: ...assuming I'd need them for my then-rotted Matsumoku wall-hanger, the Mat parts mostly turned out to be salvageable so I ended up with a mixed bag of innards. Fellow graverobber Hooky6stringbass had disinterred a slightly decomposed yet useable body/through neck which he was willing to part with, so perversions of science and nature took their course, and in the midst of a cataclysmic electrical storm, the Frankenbugger lurched, groaning off the slab: So - Frankenbugger has the wiring harness, a real Rick neck position Hi-Gain & a somewhat reconditioned tailpiece, all from the Matsumoku; the Basket Case donated scratchplate, bridge, string mute & parts of the tuners, the JapCrap chrome bridge pup & various sundries came out of the spares box - and in the spirit of 19th century medical experimentation, what I didn't have, I had to make... Interesting, this one, in that I don't have a clue what it is/was - Ian (Hooky6sb) thought it was a Shaftesbury but I'm not so sure - the unvarnished fretboard, real MOP inlays, the odd way the burst is sprayed, leaving it natural on some edges aren't things I've seen on a Shafty. This plays really nicely, could do with a little bit of fret dressing but is fine like it is, sounds great - more like a Rick than either of the others, thanks, surprisingly to the MIJ pup, a single-coil which sticks out 11k. It should get a gig on Saturday so we'll see how it plays sounds for real. Anyway, I can hear bellowing & the rattling of chains coming from the basement - I wonder what it eats? Jon.

[quote name='2x18' post='479690' date='May 5 2009, 09:26 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ290315053106QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item290315053106&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar_W0QQitem...%3A1%7C294%3A50[/url] Nice Ibby!!!![/quote] Very nice - this might get the collectors in a lather, if they ever see it; I've never seen that odd multi-dot fingerboard on an Ibanez before - in fact I've only ever seen it here: [url="http://psyco.jp/greco/c003_08.html"]http://psyco.jp/greco/c003_08.html[/url] Being a 1973 Japanese Greco catalogue. This seems to be the first catalogue the bass appears in, so this may be one of the earliest examples. J.

We have a pair of Skytronics 300w PA speakers in our praccy room - cost about £35 off Glumtree, if I remember. At that price, very cheap but still pretty nasty, about the best thing you could say about them is that sound comes out of 'em. And they're very, very light. Jon.