Bassassin

This is actually bugging me intensely - one of these (or at least, sounding like the description) appeared on Fleabay maybe about a month ago. I watched it until the price went over what I was prepared to pay & then I deleted it. The listing won't have expired yet, but I can't find it! The bass itself was neck through, symmetrical body, single pup, not a copy of anything, but quite Alembic-ish, like many MIJ basses from the era. It was Japanese - had a black /gold MIJ sticker on the back of the head, & "Lincoln" on the front. If I find the listing, I'll link it here. Jon.

[quote name='TheRev' post='10610' date='Jun 1 2007, 03:42 PM']Was the 4005 the semi acoustic one? I seem to remember Mani's splattered one had a slash shaped soundhole.[/quote] Yep - that'd be a 4005 - rare as rocking-horse poo, them. Going to contradict myself, too - that's a 3000 Mani's playing in the pic - medium scale version of the 3001. And I think that's what the Arctics geezer's playing, as well. J.

Go back with a camera! Jon.

[quote name='nick' post='11224' date='Jun 2 2007, 11:11 PM']Here we go, this is more like it. Was tempted to this one myself, but probably have enough for the moment. Interesting brand name. Maybe Bassassin could shed some light.. [url="http://cgi.ebay.fr/Basse-Stephenson-rare_W0QQitemZ160121889317QQihZ006QQcategoryZ92204QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.fr/Basse-Stephenson-rare_W...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] Can't really tell too much from the pics - looks like a generic neck-through (you can see the central stringer down the middle of the body) MIJ 4001 copy, probably the same as Shaftesbury Rickalikes. Not sure who built these, but they're similar to some Arias, so it might be Matsumoku, but they have hardware like some El Maya pics I've seen - so it could've been them. That's the problem with copies - all look alike... Stephenson will have been the importer's brand name, so no real clue there. It's currently at Eur241, or £163 - which is OK, but it still has 4 days left. J.

[quote name='nick' post='10815' date='Jun 1 2007, 10:16 PM']Horrid Hondo here if anyone's interested [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HONDO-LAWSUIT-RICKY-BASS_W0QQitemZ110133932684QQihZ001QQcategoryZ41439QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HONDO-LAWSUIT-RICKY-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] I'd give him the quid that's the current bid... J.

[quote name='Musky' post='10519' date='Jun 1 2007, 01:36 PM']It's a Ricky 3001 - only produced for 10 years or so as a budget model. I think Mani used a 4005.[/quote] It's a 3001: Also seen him with a 4001/4003 so he might play a 4005 too if he just happens to like Ricks. Jon.

[quote name='Tinman' post='10080' date='May 31 2007, 06:45 PM']Sh*t, who let her in?[/quote] J.

Really interesting question - "how good is good enough?", and it's always down to personal standards. For years I got complacent about my bass playing - I spent about 7 years not in a band, I didn't give up music, though, just concentrated on writing & recording - meaning I never really played bass simply for the joy of it during that time. Mainly playing guitar & keyboards, the bass came out when it was time to record a bass line. Getting back into gigging again brought me back into touch with why I was a musician in the first place - I fell in love with the bass all over again. I also realised how much I'd neglected my playing, both technique and development, and for me, there's no such thing as "good enough". That's purely on a personal level - if I could play like Wooten, I'd still be as self-critical as I am now. I read something a long time ago, I think the comment was about guitarists, but it applies equally well to us lot or any musician: Good players either have it in the hands, or in the head - great players have it in both. Personally, I'm pleased with my creative ability as a bassist (as a songwriter I'm less happy - but that's a very different challenge) and I feel my deficiency is mostly in my hands - but that can be worked on and improved. So gaining & honing technique should encourage me to create bass parts which are less limited by what I think I can get away with. As far as specific playing techniques are concerned, I tend to investigate the types of styles that my music [i]doesn't[/i] demand to a certain extent, just to get my head around them. I learned to slap Mark King style in the 80s, as did many players of that era - but it's yet to find a place in my music. I learned the basics of Wooten's double-thumb style, just to understand how it was done, but again, it would sound entirely out of place in the music I write, so it remains undeveloped. I'm presently dabbling with two-handed tapping - I can't see me using it in my music (I don't particularly [i]like[/i] it - that Youtube clip in the first post was technically interesting, but as a composition I found it twee and annoying) but I'm kind of driven to understand the technique, and master the basics of it. In a way for me, "good enough" might well be just to reach the point where I can perform consistently well, to a standard I'm happy with. I'd like to think it's achievable, but still a long way off for me. Jon.

Quite a lot of them pop up on the Bay - some are Japanese, but some, more interestingly, were made in Italy by Eko. There was a guy on BW who picked one up for a song - don't remember who he was, or if he's survived all the migrations, though. J.

Proper pink: That, with maple board & matching pink block inlays. Jon.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='8164' date='May 28 2007, 04:53 PM']I have no real use for a 6er (the low B on my 5 is a very long thumbrest ) but this is tempting even to me: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Thru-Neck-Active-6-String-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ270122685486QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Thru-Neck-Active-6-S...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Stripey! Runs out in an hour, though. Jon.[/quote] Relisted, only cheaper: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270124995992"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270124995992[/url] J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='8600' date='May 29 2007, 02:06 PM']Jon, Next time I sell a bass, would you mind endorsing it for me here on BassChat? Within a day of you pointing it out as a bit of a bargain, the price has already reached £785! Just another 5 days to go, then ...[/quote] No probs Jack. 25% standard rate commission OK with you? And - look what's back: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=015&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=250121336637&rd=1&rd=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1[/url] Doing the rounds of BW/BT/BCers, then. But now with a fake trc. Way to get the auction pulled, with any luck. J.

[quote name='Tinman' post='8511' date='May 29 2007, 10:46 AM']You're probably right but if that's the case then I would need advice on sorting out postage and stuff (I've never sold stuff online before, not even on e-bay)[/quote] Hi Pete, For posting a bass (assuming you're not selling it with a hard case) I use lots of bubble wrap (the sort with the big bubbles) and something rigid to reinforce the package, taped the length of the front & back of the wrapped bass - I've got a bunch of spare laminate flooring boards lying about that do the job. Stick the whole thing in a guitar box (your local guitar shop throws out dozens of them every week - they're only too happy to give 'em away, in my experience) & tape it up thoroughly. A few FRAGILE! stickers for good measure won't do any harm. I know lots of people have had problems with Royal Mail, but so far I've been OK - and having been at courier company depots a good few times (usually to collect things they pretended to try & deliver) the way they treat stuff didn't fill me with particular confidence at using that option. Royal Mail standard parcels rate for a bass - depending on weight, obviously - tends to be less than £10, including a degree of insurance cover. However you choose to send it, it's not as expensive as many Ebay sellers would have you assume. If I sell a bass/guitar on the Bay, I charge £15 P&P. Jon.

I have no real use for a 6er (the low B on my 5 is a very long thumbrest ) but this is tempting even to me: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Thru-Neck-Active-6-String-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ270122685486QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Thru-Neck-Active-6-S...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Stripey! Runs out in an hour, though. Jon.

I thought it was clearly the reflection of the case lid - and I don't know if a bit of paint off the bottom edge of the back merits a refin on a 27 year old bass. The point was that it's only £200 dearer than a tacky Oriental copy. J.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='7883' date='May 27 2007, 11:13 PM']... which just went for a slightly astonishing £300![/quote] Nowt so queer as folk... A different Shaftesbury - one of those little 360-style basses: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shaftesbury-Bass-Guitar-Rare_W0QQitemZ150126758526QQihZ005QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shaftesbury-Bass-Gui...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] That name has a strange attraction to those Ebayers of little understanding. And for just a little more dosh (comparitively) to a genuine Made In Taiwan "Rockinbetter", you can now have this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1980-Rickenbacker-4001-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ110132022852QQihZ001QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1980-Rickenbacker-40...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] A rather tidy 1980 Rickenbacker 4001, in AzureGlo. 795 BIN to you, sir or madam. Am I missing something? J.

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='7241' date='May 26 2007, 06:32 PM']I was forced to watch him exchange two weeks in a five star hotel in Cuba for the Tinnies for (quite bizarrely, I thought) several assorted remnants of wood, some pretty lights and a few metal bits with wires sticking out of them.[/quote] But Terri - it's going to have[i] LEDs on the fretboard[/i]. It's worth it, don't you [i]see[/i]? J.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='7066' date='May 26 2007, 11:46 AM']From a tax point of view, there is an offical definition of a 'vintage car' which I think is either 25 or 30 years old. And there's also a definition of a 'classic' car which is approx 20 years old I think, so maybe that gives us a guide for using with basses? When I imported a 25 year old Wal from the States in 2004, I convinced the VAT people that the bass was 'vintage' and they reduced the VAT I had to pay on it from 17.5% to 5%!! ^_^[/quote] Blair & co did away with the whole "vintage" road tax thing - Your vehicle now has to have been registered before (I think) 1975 to qualify as "historic" and get free tax. To car enthusiasts, "vintage" means before 1930 - which is a bit tricky to apply to many basses! Anyway, I think "classic" is a more apt desription of what we're trying to define here - ie iconic & representative of its era. None of which applies to any of my ratty old Japcrap! Anwyay - that point about customs is well worth knowing! Jon.

[quote name='simon73' post='6984' date='May 26 2007, 04:53 AM']Alice Cooper[/quote] Up to & including [i]Muscle Of Love[/i] (1974), AC was actually a band rather than a singer, and the bassist was Dennis Dunaway - massively original & imaginative for the era, very upfront, melodic sound, and very tight, fast & precise plectrum technique. Dunaway insisted that use of a pick rather than fingers were essential to his sound & style. Dunaway & drummer Neal Smith were a unique & pretty unorthodox rhythm section - well worth studying the way they played together. Jon.

I think "classic" is the term we're looking for rather than "vintage" - for example, look at the nostalgic appreciation on here for the old Westone basses - particularly the Thunder 1 model - a budget starter instrument at the time, but becoming more sought-after because it happened to be a damn good instrument. I think many of us would consider it a "classic" of its era, no matter how modest it might have been. It's probably reasonable to generalise & call anything pre-1980s "vintage", much as the term's used for anything pre 1930s by petrolheads. "Classic" doesn't have the same age connotation to me, and could be applied to any bass that's considered iconic, and representative of a particular era. Jon.

£250 and it'd be competitive. As it is, at that price you could have the pick of vintage Japcrap, or a real one if you drop lucky. At least it's a more realistic looking copy than the similarly priced Indie - which is a piece of junk, to boot. J.

One of these: [url="http://www.bachmusik.com/en/p100205/bach-rb-1r/"]http://www.bachmusik.com/en/p100205/bach-rb-1r/[/url] And for £145, I can think of no compelling reason not to... Just need to have an Ebay blitz of some of the dust-gathering trash I have hanging around first. The Eternal GAS List still includes: Early70s Rick 4001 (FireGlo or MapleGlo, full-width inlays, toaster, checkerboard) Gibson Victory 80s Status, don't care which model [quote name='paul, the' post='5645' date='May 24 2007, 12:17 PM']A '60s/'70s EB-3 copy (long scale, mahogany bodied, wood finish, I don't know if such a bass exists)[/quote] They definitely exist - most were medium-scale but there were full-scale copies too. Keep watching Ebay! [quote name='BlockInlayMan' post='5738' date='May 24 2007, 01:46 PM']I forgot to say a Washburn B20 [/quote] You mean one of these? I had one - wish I'd never sold it. Maybe I should add that - or a Washburn Force 8 - to my GAS list... Jon.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='5355' date='May 23 2007, 08:38 PM']I see the Bass Centre are selling Rick copies now. But at £599 i think i would rather get the real deal.[/quote] £599? For a copy? Joke. Real ones come up at £600ish if you watch Loot & Gumtree & the like. J.

No real difference, I'd say, and to echo what Acidbass said, it's great not to have your clothes & hair stinking of smoke afterwards. Bit of a culture shock when we play over the border - although not for much longer. I still broadly disgree in principle to this level of nanny-stateism, but on a purely selfish level, it's great. Jon.