Bassassin

The seller has chosen not to respond to my message telling [i]them[/i] it's a Hondo & nothing to do with Vox - and that it's Korean, not MIJ. Hope no-one buys it at that price - that's [b]real[/b] expensive plywood. :ph34r: J.

Massive fan - loved his sound, style & whole textural approach. He lives up here in Edinburgh these days - and seeing this thread has just reminded me that he's doing a one-off gig at the Voodoo Rooms on May 3rd! Jon.

[quote name='jono b' post='179060' date='Apr 17 2008, 05:26 PM']Man, if I had £400... I'd probably have to spend it on rent and bills.[/quote] 400 sovs is just a bit pricey for that, I think. These do come up occasionally & usually go for less than half that - in fact I've seen a project one (one pickup & other bits missing) go for well under a ton, nearly went for it myself. The Epi ET series were Matsumoku built - there were Aria versions of some which were identical apart from the headstock shape. Jon.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='178390' date='Apr 16 2008, 10:44 PM']Can this REALLY be worth £499? And does it REALLY say "Vox" on the headstock? The word there seems to be a bit longer ...[/quote] Maybe it says "Hoooonnnndddooooo". Five hundred quid? Five hundred quid? Five hundred quid? Five hundred quid? *dies* J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='178394' date='Apr 16 2008, 10:47 PM']If [i]the scale length is 30"[/i] then he didn't do an awfully good job of tracing the body. Either that, or he's fitted the neck from a short-scale bass ...[/quote] We do all realise this is a Kay KB-20, out of your Mum's Marshall-Ward catalogue, circa 1975, don't we? The seller only thinks it's hand-made because it beggars belief that a factory could manufacture something so utterly sh!t. J.

[quote name='tauzero' post='177979' date='Apr 16 2008, 03:57 PM']An interesting piece - looks as if it could be made something of.[/quote] Perhaps. Not a bass, though. Back to a semblance of reality - be quick & have a look at Matey-boy's Matsumoku copy, I found this in 2 seperate posts on RickResource - so it's probably being nuked from orbit as I type: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110243946968"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=110243946968[/url] Funny - before a couple of weeks back, I'd never seen a checker-bound Mat copy. Wish mine was... :ph34r: J.

Outrageous. Everyone, but everyone, who has ever wielded a bass in the name of Rock owes the most massive debt to this man. And we are all in his shadow, no exceptions. Jon.

Just keepin' the dream alive: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-guitar-project-spares-repair_W0QQitemZ110243100083"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bass-guitar-project-...emZ110243100083[/url] J.

[quote name='paul, the' post='175445' date='Apr 12 2008, 09:50 PM']How was the one you had? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120219987488"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120219987488[/url][/quote] Really nice & playable bass - bit sad to have sold it, on reflection, but it didn't feel or sound right for the band - and they all have to justify their existence by being something I'd gig with. Mine was a Grabber (single sliding pup, bolt-on neck) rather than a Ripper, which has a set neck & twin pups. I'd probably buy another if I got the chance! :ph34r: J.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='175294' date='Apr 12 2008, 05:15 PM']Someone's having a clearout... [url="http://musical-instruments.search.ebay.co.uk/_Guitars_W0QQcatrefZC12QQsacatZ3858QQsassZanonyQ5f500"]http://musical-instruments.search.ebay.co....assZanonyQ5f500[/url][/quote] ...Or a dealer who's been car bootin' & picking stuff up off Gumtree . He's got some not bad stuff, some definitely worth a watch, IMO. Too bad about his £10 markup on the postage though. J.

You'll find a good S/H one for loads less, if you don't mind (possibly) a bump or two & having to clean someone else's sweat off the fretboard! Jon.

It'll be back, with a vengeance... Enjoy the respite - while you can! Jon.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='175060' date='Apr 12 2008, 10:48 AM']Hmmm so the action can't be sorted out by traditional set-up methods so you grind down the offending frets... not a great confidence boost for the playability and adjustability of the bass [/quote] Well, there's not a lot of scope for fine-tuning & tweaking with that bridge, let's face it! Although if the action was the problem, why not just shim the neck pocket? Antorias were made by Fujigen (same factory as Ibanez) and on the whole were the better end of 70s JapCrap - I've honestly never seen one with a poor fret job. Chances are this has been mucked about with by somebody who was ignorant of the black arts of truss rod adjustment & neck shimming. I'd be worried about what else it might have suffered, tbh. J.

Balcony Bar, Dundee, last night - on a bill with 3 full-on extreme metal bands. Been a while since we played with that sort of band - [i]really[/i] makes you work hard! Jon.

It wouldn't have been made like that - it looks to me like the frets have been filed very low. They're not ground flush with the board - if they were, just the tang would be visible rather than the full fret width. Jon.

Didn't you see this one, Paul? Post no. 241. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220214885649"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=220214885649[/url] Same (Matsumoku) bass with a Shaftesbury badge - went for a song, the guy who bought it's a dealer who''ll probably just re-list at twice what he paid. It's been a bit quiet on the JapCrap front lately. Maybe I've bought them all.... J.

Here's an "Ibanez": [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120245297006"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120245297006[/url] Or not. J.

[quote name='thedarxide' post='173681' date='Apr 10 2008, 09:29 AM']The best bit is where he says it's based on the Ibanez destroyer.....[/quote] Yep - that "icon of 80s guitar design". Jon.

What - nowt yet by Rush? Just for starters: [i]YYZ Xanadu Cygnus X-1 Free Will Digital Man Vital Signs Distant Early Warning [/i] Jon.

Always. I really don't think I could play many of my lines without it, tbh. Jon.

Hi - there's not much out there about Riverhead/Headway - although what you've found out is right, their best-known bass was the early 80s Unicorn series headless, with a body shape that was a knockoff of the old Burns Flyte. I've never seen their MM copy before (in fact, I've never seen [i]any[/i] vintage MIJ MM copy before!) but there's no reason to believe it's not what it claims to be - many Japanese copies & interesting oddities were never exported, and this could be one such. Value is really difficult - the Ebay hordes will pay good coin for old Japanese stuff with the right name on the pointy end & be a bit distant about stuff they're not too familiar with, regardless of quality. I'd probably be inclined to hedge my bets & say £200 - £300 might be the ballpark - but with something as obscure as this it's pure guesswork anyway. Although I may be well off the mark - just did a little searching & found this: [url="http://www.musicsolutionsstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=870&products_id=3805&sid=11409f4c75ed4dad40afe158753a65f4"]http://www.musicsolutionsstore.com/product...0afe158753a65f4[/url] Obviously it's not the same bass, but it's clearly a close relative - yours might not be an 80s instrument. I wonder if trawling Japanese dealers might be of more use to find an approximate value & ID. Jon.

If you can ask that, you don't have it. You lucky, lucky swine. Jon.

The Maya Wreckenbacker's "no longer for sale". Someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse, then. J.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='170380' date='Apr 5 2008, 06:50 PM']Chuckle. Surely you mean Brit School [/quote] I was speaking in general & non-specific terms, but yes, that's precisely what I mean. J.