Bassassin

Apropos of nothing - the all red Ricky was called the RedNeck. It would be nothing but vicious & baseless stereotyping of the worst possible kind to suggest it was named after the inhabitants of Rickenbacker's official forum. Jon.

I've got a few! About 10 years or so ago I had a real "thing" for Ibby Soundgears - I have 2 SR800s, fretted & fretless, and I loved the skinny necks, light weight, sound, look etc. More recently I got an EDA900, same neck profile but just weird (mostly in a good way) otherwise. I'm currently having a more "traditional" phase, and I have a 1982 Roadster 924 (as played by Steve bleedin' 'Arris) which has a much more substantial & Precision-like neck, is beautifully made and is quite lovely - except it weighs a ton! I've also got an Ibanez Precision copy, from about 1974, very, very rare so I'm a bit reticent about gigging it. More for the "collection" then, I guess. My main bass isn't an Ibanez, it's a 1980 CSL Jazz, but it was built in the same factory as all of the above - apart from the EDA, which was built in Korea, by Cort, like most middle & high-end Ibbys these days. Jon.

For general bits 'n bobs (ie not the important stuff) [url="http://www.axesrus.com"]http://www.axesrus.com[/url] are pretty good, free post as well. Although their website's a mess. Jon.

Update-me-do: An '81 Ibby Blazer, hideously overpriced, less desirable later version, terrible pics but I thought I'd post it anyway: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290173566279"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=290173566279[/url] Columbus Precision copy - quite pretty & fairly uncommon - you see lots of Jazzes but not too many P's. Undisclosed reserve & piss-ripping postage, though. And rust & fret buzz, apparently. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170163173144"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170163173144[/url] '83 Ibanez Roadstar II - bottom of the range P-clone version, pretty much identical to the Blazer apart from the 2-a-side headstock. Crazy postage, but fair enough start price if it doesn't get many bids. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320176177372"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320176177372[/url] Aria Pro Cardinal, 1981. Very pretty blue! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230181443141"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230181443141[/url] And that's it. J.

Looks like it's had a fight with a can of Nitromors. Jon.

[quote name='kevbass' post='80215' date='Oct 27 2007, 07:37 PM']I wouldnt touch the one with the bent neck and the duff pickup[/quote] Neither would I with bidding starting at £50. However I'd happily pay a project price for (ie less than £50!) for something that might simply need the truss rod adjusting and a couple of leads re-soldering. J.

[quote name='movwkd' post='80072' date='Oct 27 2007, 11:48 AM']Although i have a bad habit of upgrading every bass i buy i always keep the parts i remove to put back if i sell it. So sorry bassassin, i will be keeping the old pickups ...[/quote] Very wise with vintage stuff, actually - but thought I'd ask just in case... J.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='80049' date='Oct 27 2007, 10:30 AM']Scammers dont usually own the basses they are selling - thats why its a scam. They lift the photos from a genuine action and repeat it.[/quote] I don't think those pics are from the original listing, are they? Don't remember the original bass being unstrung & a bit played - looking. Doubt if anyone would bother scamming such a niche & unknown bass, anyway, there are far more lucrative targets out there! btw Movwkd - do you still have the original pups & if so, do you want 'em? J.

A thread to try & keep all those vintage Japanese & other Far Eastern copies, originals & oddities in the one place - post those Avons, Columbuses, Antorias, Satellites, Kays, Eroses & any other disreputable planks you may come across - and the good ones too - here. Just to get things started, a few Jazz copies- A Maya: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230185659529 Two Columbuses (Columbii?): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=190167175500 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=180172916580 And a couple of EB-0 alikes: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Columbus-SG-Bass-Gui...emZ300163665084 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AVON-ROSE-MORRIS-VIN...emZ280166034673 2 P's: Kay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150175378140 Avon: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AVON-Electric-4-Stri...emZ140171386040 Kawai Aquarius: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320173904915 A Mosrite-ish thing - a MosWrong, perhaps: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320172295256 And an Ibanez twin-neck (well, half of it's a bass ) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270178838061 And there's plenty more out there... Jon.

Odd, that - never seen an all-white Aquarius before, in 20-odd years of JapCrap spotting, then 2 turn up in the same month. J.

[quote name='Toasted' post='79796' date='Oct 26 2007, 02:35 PM']You dont see any listings with that info because it violates ebay's T&C.[/quote] These days parting your hair on the wrong side violates Ebay's T&Cs. How the fark am I supposed to flog a Les Paul copy to people who want to buy a Les Paul copy if I can't [i]say[/i] it's a Les Paul copy? Bunch of arses. J.

[quote name='nick' post='70698' date='Oct 7 2007, 05:26 PM']I like the look of those Shaftesbury '360'ish basses. They seem to crop up now & again. Has anybody had any experience of these, or played one? Was wondering what they're like. Cheers[/quote] Not played one myself - although i seem to remember someone on the old BW board picked one up for cheapness, don't remember who & no idea if he made it across, though. Anyway, they come along from time to time: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shaftesbury-Lawsuit-Bass-Guitar-1970s_W0QQitemZ280166604994"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shaftesbury-Lawsuit-...emZ280166604994[/url] And sometimes the auctions even run to completion! J.

It's a double-edged sword - it's all very well to add a couple of quid on postage to offset fees & to cover packing materials/time (and bubble wrap ain't cheap!) but when some gonk is charging £30 to post a bass that he's going to pay £8.94 to to send by RM Standard Parcels - then I'll automatically adjust my potential maximum bid down by £15. All my auctions are 99p start, no reserve & £15 postage, anyway. But I only sell junk. Jon.

Didn't realise it was yours! :ph34r: If I'd have known, I wouldn't have said owt... J.

Worth keeping an eye on this, if you're an early 80s Matsumoku fetishist: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150174701351"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150174701351[/url] Westy Thunder in a hard case, listed simply as "Electric Bass Guitar", pick up only from Barnet, £20 start. Fingers crossed, then. Jon.

[quote name='stewblack' post='79052' date='Oct 24 2007, 07:29 PM']I suppose you've all seen [url="http://i10.ebayimg.com/04/i/08/5b/99/d6_10.JPG"]this[/url] one before. Does it really count?[/quote] Fraid not - 'cos it's a copy of a: Which, in my probably controversial opinion, is the only remotely attractive bass Warwick have ever made! :ph34r: J.

Not a bad price - however the MRS-4's now discontinued, so any shops still with stock will likely be selling for not much more. The downside to Mrs 4 (I had one, sold it about a year ago) is that it uses SmartMedia cards - max size 128 mb, and neither as cheap or easily obtainable as SD cards - in fact I think they're discontinued now. That said, it's otherwise a compact, comprehensive (a few more effects wouldn't hurt, though) & easy-to-use little box, a bit limited for full demos but a useful little sketchpad. Jon.

I concur with the prevailing advice - play it. If you don't, it'll look to your "mate" like you've bottled it, you don't get to play the gig, you don't get paid. I do think a post-gig firm word in his ear (backed up by the offer of an anal probe performed with a Warwick - sideways) would be in order, though. Jon.

It's messy, yes (assuming you're talking about the neck/body bodge) but separation of the body wings at the neck is actually not uncommon on real vintage Ricks, and I'm guessing this is the same. It looks like someone's slapped a couple of fistfuls of plastic wood, or some similar oily filler into the cracks. You can see how the oil's soaked under the lacquer around the "repair". Apart from that, I'd be surprised if it didn't clean up acceptably. On reflection, I'm a little more concerned about the neck split - if it's a clean crack and the picture's showing the full extent of it, then glueing & clamping would sort it, however, if someone's already tried to fix it (the same have-a-go who stuck putty on the neck) then it might be a very different story. J.

Surprised you eagle-eyed bunch missed this one: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280161865126"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280161865126[/url] Nice & original-looking FujiGen 4001-alike, TRC missing so can't say what brand, but likely Ibanez, which would make it a 2388DX. No SN makes it '75 or earlier. A bit beat-up, but nothing a bit of glueing & clamping couldn't sort. Through neck, checked binding, full-width sparkly inlays, big Gibbo-type mudbuckers - plus a nice anonymous listing, meaning it hasn't gone too mental yet. Another "I would if I had the dosh" moment for me... J.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220161104279"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=220161104279[/url] 4 1/2 hours to go on a 70s Jazz copy, and (for some reason) a bunch of probably broken last-gen games consoles. Currently at a tenner. No use to me because it's pick-up only from down in that London. Can't see what the bass is, but it looks like an early 70s job with small chrome pups. I've seen these branded CMI, Eros MkII, Cimar etc. Seller is zero-feedback, but as it's pick-up only, less chance of a scam. Jon.

Black Eagle? Rare as the proverbial, particularly the Ibanez branded ones, as Antorias were more common over here. Still - £500 start, [i]and[/i] a reserve? Stupidly expensive, for what is basically a vulgar yee-haw Jazz copy. And that bit that's always broken off the headstocks of Black Eagles is broken off this one! Still watchin' though, to see what happens. Doubt anyone will bid. J.

I go every year, have done since the first one - it's become like a bloody ritual now! I always take a few quid, hoping for a mega bargain, & always come home with just a carrier bag (usually a big black Marshall one!) full of leaflets & freebie tat. Doubt this year will be any different - but I'll go anyway. Jon.

A tidy looking Satellite copy here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230178780393"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230178780393[/url] Those tuners'd have to go, mind. J.

Agree with OTPJ - & not only are brand names not necessarily best - there's a fair chance that they were made in the same factory as the cheapos. And it was ever thus - that rather lovely Ibanez 2369 B-WH in your sig pic was built at the same factory that a few years later was turning out MIJ Fenders & Squiers. The real problem with cheapos is quality control - if you're lucky, you'll get one with a lovely fret job, and built from well-seasoned quality timber, if you're not, it'll buzz all the way up a neck made from a bit of driftwood, that'll look like a banana this time next year! Jon.