Bassassin

My motorbike is a spectacular colour called 'Nuclear Red' by Triumph. However I have seen this shade referred to as 'Dog C**k Pink' on Triumph owners' forums.

It's also wildly inaccurate. He's much darker.

We wouldn't be talking about it and fewer people would be aware of these basses. It's good marketing - I'd never seen it before & I think it looks great - if I was in the market I'd want to try one. Assuming that price is a typo and it's meant to be £365, that is. Excellent memory! Unfortunately it wasn't my bass, but it'd be a struggle to find a more appropriate name for that particular green/yellow burst! I think @prowla on here has got one, or did at one point.

Both Greco & Fernandes are long-established and well-respected Japanese brands with a reputation for high quality. You don't say where you're posting from but I'd guess it's not the UK - Greco and Fernandes are both brands mostly sold on the Japanese domestic market, particularly with 80s era instruments like the ones you're asking about, and that means it's quite unlikely BC members will have had any direct experience of the two basses you're looking at. Old Japanese basses are very much my 'thing' but sadly I don't know anything about the ones you're interested in. However if they're well-priced, in good condition and fit your needs, then given both brands' reputations, either one will likely be a good purchase. There's a very comprehensive Fernandes catalogue archive here, where you'll probably be able to find some info about the FRB, and a collection of Greco catalogues here, which cover the mid/late 80s period. The text will be in Japanese but electronics/hardware specs and dimensions should be clear if you can't read kanji.

Boring answer - technically yes, nothing on this bass contravenes Rickenbacker's trademarks. The bridge's a copy of a Hipshot & the scratchplate shape isn't trademarked. Everything else is just generic stuff sort of arranged in a Rick-ish fashion. Of course something like this shouldn't be sold anywhere. Just buried at midnight, under a full moon in unconsecrated ground.

This bass seems to exist to make it abundantly clear that the only thing remotely interesting/attractive about a Rickenbacker is the body/headstock shape. Everything else just looks like a pile of junk. And that bridge isn't even a real Hipshot.

Separated at birth?

The 924 is v & t (both pickups), 3-way selector. active on/off, then bass boost/cut & treble boost/cut. I prefer the passive tone but the inability to blend pickups makes it a bit inflexible. The 824's v/t, v/t & selector. Nice quality trcs can be had from https://reproguitarparts.com/ in the States. I had one for a Musician & you would need to examine it through a magnifying glass to know it wasn't genuine.

Cream DiMarzios, wire it passive & paint it black so it becomes an RS824, like the one played by Steve 'Arris in the Run To The Hills vid.

Interesting to see a Cimar, black finish & r/w board are unusual but otherwise the details are the same as the maple Avon I had years ago. Looks pretty beaten to hell & back tbh, and not sure what's going on with those gargantuan, idiotic knobs & saddles that appear to have been carved from bits of soap. Not sure I'd call £200 a bargain in that state!

John Wesley's not involved, unfortunately. He's been quite diplomatic but from what he's posted on FB it appears there might be some bad blood. Can't help wondering if it's the same with Colin Edwin. Porcupine Three, then.

I like the new song, definitely the best thing I've heard from Wilson since Hand Cannot Erase, and the prospect of a new album under the PT name is worth looking forward to as well. Not so bothered about the gigs, I've seen PT numerous times in theatre-sized venues, often half-empty at that, and the prospect of paying eye-watering money to be at the back of some cavernous enormodrome with the acoustics of a warehouse doesn't really appeal. Particularly as I'd have to trek to the other end of the country - or to another one altogether - in order to go. I think it's interesting to remember PT started out as a solo Wilson project & if you look at the credits of any of the albums, he's usually responsible for a lot more than just vocals, guitar & production (including most of the bass on Deadwing), plus he's the sole composer of pretty much everything. For that reason I've largely found it hard to draw much distinction between PT & his solo stuff, and a lot of the Raven & HCE material would have worked perfectly well with PT. As far as the absence of Colin Edwin (and the hugely talented John Wesley from the live band) is concerned, it seems Wilson is a rather James Brown-like bandleader in that there's one way to play his material, and that's his way. So I'd expect whoever's playing bass with PT will play Edwin's lines to the last detail.

That's genuinely incomprehensible.

Nexus Guitars by Jacek Kobylski. http://www.nexus-guitars.com/ Not really my kind of thing, but looks beautifully put together. Think the one you're looking at is a Duke. http://www.nexus-guitars.com/old/bmduke.html

The sum total of Jack Excrement, unfortunately. Although we can make a reasonable assumption it's a decent generic P clone, similar to those in a million other MIJ basses of the era and possibly made by Maxon. And if it turns out to be guff, a reasonably inexpensive, simple (and easily reversible when flog-it time comes) upgrade.

I sprayed & lacquered one on a Ricky copy. Turned out quite nice.

T-Cut & elbow grease. Works a treat on poly finishes too.

Looks like it's an AQB450, from this 1983 catalogue. Headstock is a bit different to the one @LukeFRC posted: Probaly not going to fetch quite as much as something similar like an Ibanez Blazer, although quality-wise it's on a par. Kawai is pretty obscure as a brand but that itself might make it collectable to the right punter. Looks like it could clean up to near new condition, think if I was selling it I'd put it up at £300 but be prepared to accept a fair bit less. But yeah, do that.

Good grief - absolutely butchered Polyfilla defret & he wants what for it? Same finish as mine - which is as near-mint as any I've seen, still has its original knobs and frets! Must be worth £2 grand, Shirley?

Just whipped out my Roadster and a couple of DiMarzio-equipped basses & can confirm dimensions are identical - the Roadster P units are maybe 0.5mm wider front-to-back, otherwise they are the same. Unless current Model P/Model J dimensions have changed from the 70s/80s originals, they should drop straight in. Only caveat is I didn't remove them so can't confirm the depths are identical, but considering the Ibby units are otherwise clones, it'd seem unlikely. In other news, completely forgot quite how pretty my RS924 is - must take some pics that do it justice!

£85? If that was five quid at a car boot, I'd think twice about offering three.

It's an RS924, all that's missing are pickups & electronics. Finish doesn't look awful to me, and it's an nearly 40-year old bass, so some scars are (almost) mandatory. All the irreplacable parts are there - the Hercules tuners & Accu-cast bridge are proper hen's teeth items. I would be inclined to stick a cream-cover DiMarzio DP126 set in it (original pickups were DiMarzio clones) and wire it passive v/v/t/t with selector. That way it magically becomes an RS824, the 924's passive sibling, and quite a lot like this one: https://reverb.com/uk/item/6200616-ibanez-rs824-roadster Stick a phase switch in the remaining hole in the body - that's where the active/passive switch was. Fwiw I have an RS924 and always use it in passive mode, I've even idly thought about removing the (very limited) active circuit & wiring it like an 824 so I can blend the pickups. The fact I can't is one of the reasons I don't play it as much as I should - it's otherwise an incredibly nice bass. The only other missing part appears to be the brass trc - you won't find an original so get one of these: https://reproguitarparts.com/#!/Ibanez-Roadster-Bass-Truss-Rod-Cover-Brass/p/5678959/category=1370956 These are great quality cold-cast resin/brass powder repros. I had one for a Musician resto & they're pretty much indistinguishable from the real thing. Broadly I'd say if it was mine, I'd do a sympathetic resto to RS824 spec, I wouldn't refin it, certainly not if I was considering I might sell it - these are pretty sought after & do command increasingly decent money, and removing the original finish will devalue it significantly.

I absolutely loved that classic Lemmy/Fast Eddie/Philthy line-up. Never quite the same after Eddie left.