Bassassin

I don't think Marlins were ever made in Japan - they were mid 80s, by which point cheap Japanese copies had long-since ceased to exist. It was a UK-based brand (Wales, I think) and they came from Korea, and, strangely enough, East Germany. I had one that was a typical plywood cheapo, I've heard it suggested that some were made of chipboard or MDF! I don't know how true that is but for that reason I'd say £30 is fair enough for this... J.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='318572' date='Oct 30 2008, 06:00 PM']So what's this? Apart from an EB3 copy - what's HB?[/quote] It's a generic Japanese EB3 copy from the mid 70s. Apart from pencils, HB is presumably the logo the importer (Italian presumably, from the auction location) asked the manufacturer to put on the headstock, or the initials of a previous owner. The headstock itself's quite interesting - it's very, very like 70s Epiphones, but its presence on a mid 70s JapCrap copy is strange. It might suggest the bass is "post lawsuit", ie 1976 or later. It's also a bit pricey, ain't it? J.

H&S is a European brand, there used to be German Ebay shops selling loads of these a year or so back, including some quite nice-looking Steinberger copies - there was a twin neck fretted/fretless which attracted a bit of attention around here. I've seen H&S basses & guitars in shops in Europe so I think it's an established enough brand, although I've never played one myself. I'd probably expect reasonable budget-level quality & construction, it'll probably be OK but might want a bit of tweaking & tidying to make it great. Jon.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='318089' date='Oct 30 2008, 12:23 AM']a local music shop is selling on commission a shaftsbury one for 550. A bit steep I think, you could get a second hand musicman for that or 4 warwicks these days[/quote] I keep meaning to go in & have a look at that - might be useful to get a good look at a Shafty. But with that price tag, there's no real hurry - that's just insane, if you dropped lucky you could get a real Rick for close to that. Darcy - yours is -or was - and Ibanez 2388b DX, these are broadly based on the pre 1973 4001, hence the checked binding & lovely full-width sparkly inlays. This would originally have had Gibson EB3-type mudbuckers, the 4000-style scratchplate will be covering a really big hole! Later Ibby copies had more accurate pickups but also the more conservative current style of inlays. What's action & playability like on yours? The only one of these I've seen/played really did suffer from a very high action, the only way to rectify it would have been to sink the bridge into the body or fit a lower-profile replacement. J.

[quote name='jango' post='317881' date='Oct 29 2008, 07:44 PM']Bassassin, is there any way (serial numbers etc) to tell if a bass is a Matsumoku?[/quote] Not really - Matsumoku didn't use proper serialisation before about 1975 - in fact I think neck-throughs before then wouldn't have had a number. After then, copies started to be phased out & they used several different methods of numbering. Really it's the construction & hardware - Mats have twin truss rods - the only Jap copy I've seen which did, and had some distinctive hardware, like the very nice "Wavy Grover" copy tuners, and the not-so-nice crappy little bridge pickup - very obviously designed to be hidden under a cover. I've had one as a forever delayed project for about the last 6 months, I finally have all the hardware - now all I need is the time, anyway the pics might give you a bit of insight: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19592"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19592[/url] J.

[quote name='jango' post='317071' date='Oct 28 2008, 08:50 PM']Can anybody tell me how much 70's Jap copies of Ricky 4001's are worth? I'm talking about the decent quality kit with neck through. And how close a copy can I expect certain models to be?[/quote] Like anything else secondhand, they're worth what somebody's willing to pay. Brands like Ibanez will command high prices on Ebay - in the unlikely event the auctions run to completion, although ironically most of the Ibanez-branded copies (there were a number of different versions) were wildly inaccurate. The most accurate copy I've seen is the through-neck Matsumoku version - these were sold as Aria, Aria Pro II, Univox, Greco, Electra as well as any number of importer names - factories like Matsumoku would use any brand a customer wanted. Anyway the Mat copy is very, very close to the real thing - and pretty rare, probably because so many have ended up wearing Rick nameplates and being sold as the genuine article. Shaftesbury-brand through-necks are quite common, never had one myself but they seem to be well-thought of. Also I wouldn't exclude bolt-necks if what you want is a playable instrument - it's not uncommon for neck-through Jap basses to have monumentally high - and unadjustable - actions. With a bolt neck you have the option of shimming to adjust the action if necessary. Most of the 70s JapCrap Rick copies look the part, certainly more so than much of what's around now. Jon.

Looks like a job for Captain JapCrap... Cimar. Depends on the bass - got any pics or anything? Cimar was associated with Ibanez in the late 70s & 80s, but the official line is that the "copy era" Cimars weren't connected to Hoshino (Ibanez's parent company) - and by the looks of them came from a different factory. I had a 70s Cimar J, it was OK but not great, plywood body, quite a nice neck, round-end pups, 2 saddle bridge. It couldn't compete with my CSL Jazz (more on that later) so it went - as it happens a long-ago Bassworld member who went by the name of Bonzo ended up with it, he's still using it as a test-bed for various projects & modifications so it must have something! Anyway, like most Jap brands from this era, they sold different spec versions of each instrument, so there will have been more "upmarket" variations available at the same time. The CSL Jazz I have is identical to later Cimar Jazzes from about 1980, built at Fujigen Gakki, after Hoshino/Ibanez started using the brand: [attachment=15345:cimarflyer.jpg] Notice the Ibanez Blazer-shaped headstocks. If the Cimar you're looking at is one of these - go for it. My CSL Jazz is, I think, the one bass I'd rescue from a burning house - and that's a [u]lot[/u] of other basses going up in smoke! Jon.

Thanks mate, looking forward to it. I'm a fairly rapid reader so shouldn't hang on to it for long! Jon.

[quote name='sgt-pluck' post='316970' date='Oct 28 2008, 06:41 PM']I'd spotted that one - thought I'd take a punt. Very little information about on Gherson. From what I can gather so far they are Italian/US/Japanese made, and were low/mid/high quality knock-offs of the usual suspects including Ric's plus some mental double-necked SG thing ( rather like [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GHERSON-TWIN-DOUBLE-NECK-SG-60S-VINTAGE-ITALIAN-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ220300056726QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220300056726&_trkparms=72%3A1301|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]this[/url] on 'ere on t'bay ). So not much to go on, but the [i]brand[/i] definately is ( or was ) Italian, and it looks quite nice in the rubbish eBay snaps One piece Alder....? Anyway if it turns out to be nice I'll post pics, otherwise I'll hide it away and pretend it never happened! Pluck[/quote] Gherson's definitely Italian, no US or Japanese connections: [url="http://www.fetishguitars.com/index/gherson.html"]http://www.fetishguitars.com/index/gherson.html[/url] I think the 70s Italian copies are quite intriguing - I think it's possible a good proportion of what's taken to be MIJ or MIK might well turn out to be Italian. J.

And tonight, ladies and gentlemen, £325 will buy you a black neckthrough example, unbranded, but looking to be from the same stable as them there Shaftesbuggers & Cimars: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=260306265955"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260306265955[/url] It's nice but a little bit steep, maybe. J.

Given that the diesel in the tank is worth about 10 times more than than the 1991 Puggy 405 Estate which surrounds it - the answer's an unqualified yes. Despite the fact that all of my basses are little more than curiously-shaped driftwood. Jon.

[quote name='kevbass' post='315098' date='Oct 26 2008, 03:02 PM']Quite possibly the nicest Maya bass ever made? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Maya-electric-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ320311848161QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320311848161&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Maya-electric-bass-g...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url][/quote] It is lovely - but you might well change your tune if you saw one of their through-neck Precision inspired designs. Stunners - to give you some idea, this is the g*it*r version: [url="http://fr.audiofanzine.com/img/produits/audiofanet/normal/8/4/84087.jpg"]http://fr.audiofanzine.com/img/produits/au...l/8/4/84087.jpg[/url] J.

You could knock out a mini-scratchplate to cover that rout in 20 minutes. Or maybe it's deliberately visible to make people think it's a US Fender... :ph34r: Jon.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='314842' date='Oct 26 2008, 01:08 AM']This looks a lot like the butchered 'Ibanez' that was local to me. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1970s-Vintage-Japanese-JAZZ-BASS-Aria-1540_W0QQitemZ160294596249QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160294596249&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A10|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1970s-Vintage-Japane...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url][/quote] Plywood Avon - you can even see where the badge was nailed to the headstock. Surprised he's trying to fob it off as an Aria when he could be saying it's an "Ibanez". J.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='314586' date='Oct 25 2008, 04:46 PM']He may be talking b%x, but that's quite a pretty bass, if you like sorta-Fenders.[/quote] It is - always thought that basic design would be a nice basis for a project. Interesting point - these (or at least the Stagg-badged version) were around for 2 or 3 years before the Fender Jaguar bass. And a quick Google turns up a natural/maple board version for £139: [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/stagg-bm-370-vintage-m-series/68744"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/stagg-...-m-series/68744[/url] [i]Much[/i] nicer. And 2 minutes with a bit of wet & dry and you've got a blank headstock. Jon.

Yes, you can change a listing any time, until it's been bid on. Anyway if he'd been local to me I'd have been gnawing on his [i]humerus[/i] as soon as I saw this. £150 is still a damn good price if it's in good order. J.

Err... £80 for an E series MIJ Squier? [i]Why[/i] is that still there? These are 1984 - 87, 3rd serial sequence after JV & SQ. Built by Fujigen Gakki to the same standard as JVs, SQs & MIJ Fenders. This, unless it's borked, looks like a ridiculous bargain, so... Jon.

£52? Excellent! Pics when you get it, right? J.

[quote name='Shaggy' post='313874' date='Oct 24 2008, 03:09 PM']On topic – like the custom Rick, prefer it to Lemmy’s or the mod looking red one that Paul Wellers bassist is using.[/quote] Lemmy's had a few - this one's really interesting: Tbh I have no idea if any part of that's ever been within 100 miles of a real Rickenbacker - but it's an incredible looking thing, whatever it is! J.

[quote name='KevB' post='313789' date='Oct 24 2008, 01:44 PM']I raised the subject of ric copies on the Dude Pit and got short shrift, hardly went back after that.[/quote] Same here, might even have been the same thread. Is the Pit still going? I never used it much but got sick of having to sign up to a new version every month because of its constant meltdowns & implosions. A lot of hostile rednecks on there anyway - must be all that testosterone. J.

[quote name='Clarky' post='313270' date='Oct 23 2008, 08:13 PM'] They will be passing the smelling salts and shouting "how very dare you" in a frenzy of righteous indignation PS, Bassassin, I'm surprised they haven't been after you with a poisoned umbrella tip*[/quote] They get a bad press! Seriously, they really are a knowledgeable, helpful & informative bunch and they appreciate the fact I have specialised knowledge which means I can spot a Faker at 1000 metres! There is actually quite a lot of genuine interest in the old Jap copies over there, a lot of the older guys started out on them (because they couldn't afford real ones) and still have a bit of a soft spot for them - as well as recognising that many of them were damn good basses. I think a lot of the OTT reactions are a result of it being essentially a brand-fan forum, rather than a dive where a bunch of bassists hang out. It's probably pretty much the same on any single-brand board. J.