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Bassassin

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Everything posted by Bassassin

  1. Bassassin
    Not a Fender, not vintage. Looks like a bitsa to me, no idea what's under the covers (could be a P/J with that big Jazz ashtray), depending what the parts are it might be a decent deal for £155, especially if you could haggle down a bit. On the other hand if it's built from cheap tat bits (which the tuners suggest it might be), you'd be better off with something like a Harley Benton for the same sort of money. Also: "I just started playing and I was given this" says the seller, snapping pics of the bass in his room containing rackmounted mixers, flightcases, a Peavey 4x10 cab and another bass... Hmm.
  2. Bassassin
    Already a member - like pretty much anywhere online with a vintage MIJ flavour...
  3. Bassassin
    Had that since new, got it in 1984. Still in decent nick despite being my main gigging bass for 20+ years - unfortunately the neck twisted really badly, to the point of near-unplayability. Currently has an RSB Straycat neck as a replacement - not exactly the same or a perfect fit , it's a later model, possibly from after production moved to Korea. Hope I can find a proper RSB Deluxe neck one day, but it probably won't have that lovely blue/black burst!
  4. Bassassin
    It is. I've got one, looks like this:
  5. Bassassin
    That's odd. I'm by no means an MIJ Tokai expert but have come across a few, and this has several details I've never seen on one before: embossed logo, engraved enclosed tuners, "JAPAN" stamped neckplate. Fakes exist (Google "Fakai") but I think this has way too much unique detail to be a knockoff. It may be that the "Morris" pickup logo's a clue - it's known that Tokai contracted out to other Japanese manufacturers in the early 70s because their own small Hamamatsu workshop couldn't keep pace with demand - some of the Love Rock LP replicas were made by Kasuga Gakki, for example. This bass isn't 70s era and is far from replica standard, but it might be that Moridaira, who own the Morris brand, was contracted to build for Tokai at some point. All conjecture, but like @Skybone says, post it on the Tokai forum, if anyone know anything, it'll be on there.
  6. Bassassin
    Doubt anyone's been fooled - who would seriously think they're getting a real Fodera for £600? They might well have paid 2x its actual value, though.
  7. Bassassin
    Total steal of a bargain there, but does make me wonder. In the window for £249 (which is probably not unrealistic for a rare & decent bass with a respected brand; then knocked down to £200; and then £100. And they let it out of the shop for £85. Makes me pretty confident that the poor sod who took it in walked out with a big fat £50 in his pocket. Good old Crack Converters.
  8. Bassassin
    It would be sacrelige to take them off this & stick them on a poxy Rickenbacker. I say that as a big fan of the early 70s Ricks that often had these.
  9. Bassassin
    If you're lucky you might find an Aria Pro SB-R80/SB Elite II/SB-ELT for £500. All essentially the same bass with very minor differences:
  10. Bassassin
    'Exterminator' seems less a name than a request.
  11. Bassassin
    Lovely bass - I have one of these with a black stain finish. I've done a bit of research about these & can hopefully clarify a little - it's an SB-ELT, from 1988-91 (ish), hard to be certain of the year because these are post-Matsumoku basses & don't have serial numbers. They differ slightly from the Matsumoku-made SB Elite II & SB-R II, the nut width is slightly slimmer (mine's 38mm, as opposed to my SB Elite's 40mm) and the body proportions very slightly different. The Matsumoku basses also have a recessed jack, stacked v & t and a rotary selector switch. Otherwise they're very, very similar, hardware & pickups appear to be identical. These are thought to have been made by Tokai Gakki, who apparently took over high-end Aria Pro production after Matsumoku closed in '88. Not confirmed yet, but wherever they were made the quality's exceptionally good - I'd say the inlays are tidier on my ELT than the ones on my Matsumoku SB-Elite B&G I. The RSZ designation is interesting, but might just be have been a Japanese market thing: It doesn't seem to appear as an RSZ in the US/EU literature, including the 1989 brochure featuring Mr Sarzo himself capering around on the front: Anyway, hope this has helped clarify what it is a little - and if I didn't already have one I'd be seriously interested. GLWTS!
  12. Bassassin
    Wondered at first if it was a later 2 pickup Roadstar II Standard, but that J unit's all over the place! Body' slightly different too. Quite likely the original finish (including logos) is still there under the Dulux non-drip. Would be a bonus if that was a set of DiMarzios dropped in too, Blazers didn't come with cream pickup covers, as far as I know. The old Tele's quite interesting too, it's early 70s MIJ. Would need to see the neckplate to tell if it was Matsumoku or Fujigen, but both of those factories did these with the same details & features this has.
  13. Bassassin
    About 10-15 years back I used to sell a lot on Ebay, would have 3 or 4 live listings a week, and pretty much made a living that way for a year or two. Every listing without exception was a 99p, no reserve start, and over hundreds of sales I lost money on two, and that was only a matter of a few quid. My experience indicates that the temptation of a silly bargain massively motivates buyers, and attracts watchers & bidders who wouldn't bother if there was a reserve or ballpark start price. Good, detailed pics, an accurate, informative description & a listing that covers as many relevant search terms as possible were what I feel was a recipe for success back then. I was mostly selling 70s/80s MIJ & MIK guitars (surprise!) and kind of got used to the idea of doubling or even tripling my outlay, including all fees. Ebay & the market for what I was selling's not the same now but I'd be surprised if bidder behaviour's particularly different.
  14. Bassassin
    Highly counterproductive IMO - I tend to automatically pass on anything with an undisclosed reserve, with a few exceptions when I've messaged the seller to ask how much it is. You'd think there'd be no problem with a potentially interested bidder knowing a seemingly pointless secret reserve. But apparently there is!
  15. Bassassin
    The whole thing "looks like" it's had a hard life!
  16. Bassassin
    Agreed. It's very obvious it's the Squier VM Tele posted upthread, compare visible details like screw & component positions & they're identical. And when did any vintage Fender come fitted with cheap Chinese pressed-tin tuners as standard?
  17. Bassassin
    Ordinary adhesive stickers are easy to remove, use a hairdryer to warm/soften the glue & they usually just peel off without leaving residue. Problem's going to be if the stuff on this (looks like cartoon images) has been stuck on with solvent-based adhesive. Acetone would probably do it (won't damage the poly underneath) but it's unpleasant stuff to work with & takes a lot of elbow-grease. Here's a sticker-covered guitar I did (several years) earlier, took about 15 minutes... ...and one that required gallons of 'orrible acetone, and took about a week:
  18. Bassassin
    What a mess. Considering unmolested Thunder 1s regularly go for £150 - £175, this shouldn't realistically sell for much more than the £79 it's currently at. This is a 1A that's been modded, preamp presumably ripped out (switches are missing) and a J pickup added, presumably wired to the selector that's where one of the pots used to be. Depending on what it's stuck on with, probably not a massive project to get that rubbish off it & tidy it up.
  19. Bassassin
    Some nice bodies here, including a couple of spalted-looking Korina Js. Tempting prices, too.
  20. Bassassin
    Can't help thinking the only reason the seller's left all that risible wannabe-goth tat nailed all over it, is that it looks worse with all the screwholes & finish dents they're covering. Nice neck.
  21. Bassassin
    Sorry - late night, half-asleep typo, RS940 was what I meant! You might be right but I'm still inclined to think/hope it's an uncommon standard model, would seem unlikely that a re-boarded bass would have the same offset dots as the maple board instrument & other factory fretless Ibanez.
  22. Bassassin
    I think one or two of us might be becoming a little confused! That's an ST924 Studio. Bolt-neck, but with a fancy laminated body & soapbars rather than P/Js. Err... that'll be because this is about the Musician range (MC900, MC924 etc) and yours is an RS series Roadster. The Roadsters & subsequent Roadstar II (which was genuinely a typo) basses were all bolt-on. Pretty confident yours is just a model variation on the RS920 fretless, which just doesn't happen to be in any of the catalogues that are currently available. Lots of Ibbys underwent changes & updates during the model's life but those aren't always reflected in literature. Also there's not a complete record of catalogues for the 70s & 80s yet, so it may just have been in one there's no copy of.
  23. Bassassin
    That's not the original trc, looks like it's from an Ibby SR.
  24. Bassassin
    Agreed. Not sure why you'd do that. Logo & serial number gone too. This sort of thing is unfortunately why there are so few left, and even fewer in good original condition. Shame.
  25. Bassassin
    RS940, but there's no rosewood/ebony board version in any of the catalogues, as far as I've seen. May be a formerly fretted/maple board version that's had the board replaced, or just an oddity. Quite a few models from this era don't seem to be in any of the available catalogues.
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