Bassassin

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='228530' date='Jun 28 2008, 12:45 PM']Captian Japcrap to the rescue again [/quote] Well - not quite! This is the closest thing I've found, not identical but there's a family resemblance: [url="http://www.cheesyguitars.com/musima_v2.html"]http://www.cheesyguitars.com/musima_v2.html[/url] Although the more I think about it, the more I think I've seen that snot-scratchplated horror before - probably in a nightmare... :ph34r: [u][b]Edit[/b][/u]: Oh, OK - close, then - it's a Russky, not East German: [url="http://www.cheesyguitars.com/bas_kavkaz.html"]Ordjonikidze Kavkaz Bas[/url] J.

Not a Teisco, in fact I don't think it's Oriental at all. 60s Eurotrash, in my opinion, possibly an Egmond or one of the more conservative Italian builders. I'll go & do a bit of diggin'. Jon.

Realistically, the covers are the first things to vanish on any Rick copy - or real one, for that matter! The basses themselves are so uncommon that I don't think it makes sense for that to be a genuine consideration when buying, tbh. There must be thousands of orphaned Rick & faker covers gathering dust in drawers & cupboards the world over... Anyway - it's a Faker - but not as we know it: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170233321428"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170233321428[/url] Definitely not one you see every day! J.

[quote name='dangerboy' post='228039' date='Jun 27 2008, 02:20 PM']Not for sale but... This is my fake no 1 (no 2 is having some work done before it can appear here). This bass was originally badged 'CMI', but the previous owner scratched the TRC clear. I got our lovely friend the italian faker to make me a new one. This is a thru-neck fake, and presumably suffered from the 'cat can climb under the action' problem, so at some point someone has routed a hole to get the bridge lower, and then had to cut into the rear pickup surround so the atrings can run true. Lovely action now. It also came with a set of 4-a-side vintage Schaller tuners on (two mounted backwards!) so I've replaced them with better-looking things. This colour gets many, many comments.[/quote] Now that's very, very interesting. My first thought is it's a refin, with quite likely a bunch of real Rick parts. Does it have single or dual truss rods? Anyway DB - if you fancy taking loads of detailed, close-up pics, I might be able to tell you what it is. I can already tell you it's not a Rickenbacker, though... J.

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='227198' date='Jun 26 2008, 11:18 AM']Just wondering, how do you go about making your acrylic TRCs?[/quote] Cut from 3 or 4mm perspex sheet, available for buttons on Fleabay. I've just got a scroll saw (£35 from Screwfix) which makes cutting them out quite easy, but previously I've used a jigsaw with a fine blade. The acrylic sheet is plastic covered on both sides, so you can trace a template onto it easily, & when it's cut, I file the edges smooth & down to the template, peel off the plastic and round off/polish the top edges. Acrylic's quite brittle, but the upside is this means it's very easy to cut, shape & polish. I use fine sandpaper to remove file/saw marks, and T-Cut to make it nice & shiny again! Screwholes were drilled using a Dremel-type tool & a 2mm bit. This is possibly the trickiest part - it's quite hard to mark the acrylic so the drill doesn't slip when starting - and this is the point where the plastic's most likely to crack. I'm happy to take orders if anyone's interested! J.

You've bought the bass - now buy the t-shirt! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-Guitar-T-shirt-Fender-Jazz-Precision-Rickenbacker_W0QQitemZ250263212225"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-Guitar-T-shirt-...emZ250263212225[/url] Jon.

No, but here's a Hondo! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hondo-Bass-Guitar-with-case-very-retro-very-cool_W0QQitemZ300236667129"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hondo-Bass-Guitar-wi...emZ300236667129[/url] J.

Speak of the devil - Vester-tastic! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ruby-red-bass-guitar-vester-stage-series-free-gift_W0QQitemZ280240052013"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ruby-red-bass-guitar...emZ280240052013[/url] And you get a free gift as well! Woo!! J.

Been on the back burner for a bit, while I try & clear the decks of Ebay-bound JapTat! I've now got a "proper" Rick copy bridge pup for it, and made it a nifty acrylic trc: [attachment=10043:trc_with_insert.jpg] Guess I should pull my finger out & put the bloody thing together! J.

Looks like transparent plastic to me. Heat it with a hairdryer - this will soften the adhesive & help it peel easier. Any residue will come off with a little white spirit - neither of these things should damage the finish. If it's been on for a while, you may find that the rest of the finish has darkened a bit around the sticker. Jon.

[quote name='SJA' post='226770' date='Jun 25 2008, 03:56 PM']the irony is that most of Vester's basses were rip-off's of Warwick, Ibanez and Tune- only a couple were Fender style. I've got an old Vester catalogue. I remember there was also a brand "Fenix" that made strat/tele/p-bass/j-bass copies. wonder how long that lasted?[/quote] Fenix was even more dodgy - it was a Korean manufacturer called Young Chang, who were actually contracted to Fender to make MIK Squiers in the mid 80s. Looks like they just changed the headstock shape & the logo (a bit) and sold their own "Fenders" until Leo's boys found out! Fenix are now pretty collectable - and good - so worth a look if you spot one. Interesting point about Vester - although Ibanez's SoundGears were a knockoff of Tune's Bass Maniac range in the first place. Old habits die hard, I guess! J.

[quote name='tauzero' post='226651' date='Jun 25 2008, 01:07 PM']Indeed, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vester_Guitars"]surely no big company would sue a small one on such a tenuous basis, would they?[/url][/quote] That's litigation, American-style, of course! Remember Status was originally Strata? Not for long, they weren't! J.

[url="http://www.drakemusicproject.org"]The Drake Music Project[/url] Jon.

Joey's Bassnotes is an excellent resource for checking the differences - but there are a few general rules you can apply to most copies. The orangey fretboard wood seen on Real ricks - I've never seen a copy with anything like this, usually it's conventional rosewood, which looks even darker than normal when lacquered. Copy inlays always look wrong - basically because they're cut from pearloid sheet, rather than being the poured liquid resin used on real ones. This means they look more shiny & pearly. Neck pickup positioning on copies is almost always the shorter 1/2 inch, because the copy designs date from the early 70s, when this was standard on Rickenbackers. Ricks started having the wider spacing from the mid 70s, so it's common on vintage Ricks. The exception for copies is the late 70s Fujigen Gakki basses - you'll see these branded as Ibanez & Greco - this model was redesigned to be more accurate in the mid 70s, so is closer to its contemporary Rick - it has the wider spacing, but still has numerous other tell-tale peculiarities that give it away. Unlike some of the Chinese knockoffs you get these days, none of the vintage Japanese copy-era basses & guitars were designed to be counterfeits - they were all sold with their makers/distributors' brands, and if you do enough research that you know what the "real things" are like, you can spot any copy a mile off. The grey areas occur when you get a copy instrument with genuine parts & vice-versa - and on 35+ year-old basses, this is unsurprisingly common. I'd recommend running anything you're not sure of past the BC Massive - someone will know - also, sign up to RickResource, they're a very friendly, helpful & informative bunch over there, and also - it's a damn good place to start looking for a good vintage Rick - they've got most of them! Jon.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='225734' date='Jun 24 2008, 11:00 AM']It's in the text of the description: [i]BLUE BOY RICKENBACKER 500/1 STEREO ELECTRIC BASS RICKOSOUND STEREO Sound of The Jam, Paul McCartney and the Beachboys. Outstanding Bass Comes with case Reluctant sale Any questions answered ASAP[/i][/quote] Thanks Jack, think I'm losing me mind... [quote]Where do I put the pics of my Fakers, then?[/quote] Right here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21783"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21783[/url] J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='225475' date='Jun 23 2008, 10:53 PM']Now here's a weird one ... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Blue-Boy-Rickenbacker-Electric-Bass_W0QQitemZ120276193699QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120276193699&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C65%3A10&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Blue-Boy-Rickenbacke...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url] This appears to be a genuine Ricky maskerading as a fake. Quite apart from the icky [i]Blue Boy[/i] description, apparently this is the Rickenbacker [b]500/1[/b]. [/quote] I think he's removed the "model number" - can't see it... It's maybe just prejudice against the not-very articulate - but I can't accept that anybody who'd buy - and then attempt to sell - an instrument like a Rick could possibly know so little about it. So my reaction to an ad like that is "thieving pikey". :ph34r: Should've gone to Crack Converters. Apropos of nothing, not that I'm a Rick expert, but isn't "Blue Boy" a sort of pale "baby blue" colour? J.

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='224780' date='Jun 23 2008, 10:11 AM']Ahh, mine was sold with a paper Rick trc logo mounted behind an appropriate shaped bit of clear plastic, so it could just be a look-alike! I'm trying to find someone to do me a faux Rackenbicker/Blackendecker/Replicabacker trc, I don't suppose anyone here's handy with graphic design software and plastic molding? [/quote] I can do the graphic design bit, but I'm a bit stumped with the injection-moulding hardware! I'm trying to do waterslide transfers applied to the backs of perspex trcs, to emulate the screened 60s & early 70s trcs, but not having any luck with the decal printing so far. This is my latest effort with a paper insert, for my Matsubugger restoration: [attachment=9940:trc_with_insert.jpg] The idea's to apply the image, reversed-out, to the back of the cover, & then spray white over the back to seal the transfer & give a white background. So far my crap laser printer just keeps melting the paper, regardless of settings. Bit of a pain at a quid a sheet. Theoretically I should be able to do any design in Rickenbacker stylee - apart from ones that say "Rickenbacker". I do have to point out that fake Rick trcs on copies is frowned upon & will result in immediate & permanent expulsion from the Guild Of Rickenbuggery. J.

Just go & book a gig - don't ask - or even tell - the rest of the band until the date's confirmed. Make it a month or so away, August would be fine if you did it now. The vacillating contingent of your band will have no choice but to rise to the occasion, you may possibly not be flavour of the month for a little while - but they'll get over it! Jon.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='224614' date='Jun 22 2008, 11:46 PM']I was really only wondering if the Yamaki/Yamaha story is just another lawsuit legend. Can't find any support for it, but it's difficult to check out as a lot of the sites are in Japanese. Does anyone know any more?[/quote] Utter fabricated Ebay bullsh!t, about as ludicrous as the price being asked for a good-but-nothing-special JapCrap P copy. What exactly would Yamaha sue over? The fact that the phonetic transcription of two Japanese names into Western characters happened to share a few letters? Yamaha themselves were punting as many copies as all the other MIJ manufacturers in the 70s - so it's hardly going to be designs! A couple of Daion Jazz copies have gone through in the last few weeks - the most recent today, sold for about £65. This is no reflection on the quality - Ebay prices seldom are, they're just not very well known. The Joodee brand ( I think there's a BC-er with Joodee P copy) is from the same stable as Yamaki & Daion too. I think all of these were made by Dyna Gakki - who are best-known for current CIJ Fenders. J.

[quote name='Geddys nose' post='223803' date='Jun 21 2008, 07:53 PM']Theres a Columbus Jazz here for £100- [url="http://www.musiccorner.co.uk/2nd-Hand-and-End-of-Line-Bargains/c5403/p111124/2nd-Hand-Columbus-Jazz-bass-from-the-70s-in-hard-case/product_info.html"]http://www.musiccorner.co.uk/2nd-Hand-and-...oduct_info.html[/url][/quote] That's not a bad price for that - they go for £150+ on the Bay. These are OK but not Ibanez/Antoria quality - you'll find a ply body under the burst & a neck that doesn't feel quite right for a Jazz. This one looks in pretty good original condition, if those are the original ashtrays & thumbrest, that's very unusual. I'm not sure about the Jazzes, but I do know some Columbus guitars were made by Rokkomann/Maya. J.

[quote name='Wooks' post='223980' date='Jun 22 2008, 09:39 AM']Good, bad or indifferent??[/quote] Probably OK, really, although on low-end stuff like this, quality control can be a bit variable - you might get a great one or you might get one with a neck like a banana & razorwire fret ends. Jon.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='223852' date='Jun 21 2008, 09:37 PM']Captain Jap Crap strikes again [/quote] Glad to be of service - Share And Enjoy! J.

Anything like this? Best pic I could find - it's from here: [url="http://www.sixties-ibanez.com/"]http://www.sixties-ibanez.com/[/url] You could try asking on the 60s board at [url="http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum"]http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum[/url] - quite likely someone will recognise it from your pic - it's pretty distinctive. Jon.

70s Ibanez were made by Fujigen Gakki - the factory later picked to build MIJ Fenders based on the quality of the copies. They are very good - but £350's far too expensive for that - particularly considering it's hardly original, and might not even be an Ibanez. Ibanez was only ever a brand name, so you will find the identical instruments with different names on the headstock, usually for quite a lot less. In the UK, Antoria is one to look out for, they were much more common than Ibanez, and there are quite a few Jazz copies around. Also worth keeping an eye out for CSL & Cimar, CSLs were from Fujigen, as were later Cimars, and while they're not identical to the Ibanez range, they're very, very good. I have a CSL Jazz copy: There are other brands, but there were a lot of good-quality MIJ copies from numerous factories & brands. If you're after one - don't limit yourself to one name! Jon.