Bassassin

I sort of do - but really don't like the fake- fiddle cutouts. Do away with those & make the waist a bit slimmer and it would be a real looker. And give it a headstock that didn't look like the dog had been chewing it.

Looks like a nice example, and good (as well as unusual) to get what I assume is the original case too. Don't know as much about these as I'd like to, having owned 2 MIJ Washburns from the same era - but these were made by Yamaki Gakki, and later by Chushin. I don't think the Wing series basses - the Scavengers & Vultures - were around for very long so they're almost certainly Yamaki. This is a 1980 catalogue: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/1980_fullline/80_wash_cat_pg7.jpg.html Serial should be dateable, the first 2 digits should be the year. If you do FB there are a couple of relevant groups: Washburn Guitars - The Golden Era Daions Online Daions were made by Yamaki - in fact the two companies were owned by the same family - and Yamaki's head designer Hirotsugu Teradaira designed the MIJ Washburns made there, so there is a lot of shared DNA.

I'm sure this one's a joy to play. As long as you don't look down.

You might find if the fence paint's just been slapped on over the original finish, it will probably come off with a bit of solvent & elbow grease. I've had a few badly refinished basses & guitars where the original poly lacquer & finish was intact under the paint.

Nah. If you took a rasp & filed down those two stupid little bumps, that would actually be a quite graceful & pleasing take on a singlecut. It's got none of the Marleaux's queasy, malformed freakiness & sheer wrongness.

It's beyond foul. It combines what to me are the two biggest insults to the eyes in bass design - that massive, bulbous single-cut hump and the twee fake fiddle aesthetic, complete with "traditional" f-hole. Surprised the headstock ended up being so restrained, although it realistically wouldn't look out of place on a £160 bass, never mind a £6750 (HOW MUCH???) one. Quite surprised at the sheer horridness of this - would agree Marleaux' styling's probably all a bit marmite when we're conditioned into thinking Leo nailed it in 1951 (and that weird thing he made in 1960 was a bit too damn risky) - but I've always found most Marleaux designs striking in a good way. This - the more I look at it, the more it makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

Seen the guitar in this style, but never a bass: https://reverb.com/item/18479542-morris-hs-anderson-vroland-ii-red-natural-1982 Works better as a bass, but not sure about the fiddle-style cutouts, And the headstock (common to quite a few Moridaira originals) is just horrid! Some somewhat optimistic pricing going on there too, I can't help thinking.

Oh dear god that's ugly.

Oh, that's pretty. Wouldn't know whether to play it or lick it...

Having predominantly played original music over 39 years of gigging, playing for free (or more likely, covering your own travel expenses/accomodation to do the gig) has always been Situation Normal. Have always avoided/boycotted pay-to-play gigs, and my best situation was the original band I had in the 90s - me & the guitarist also had a covers duo on the side, & over a weekend would play 2 paid covers gigs & an unpaid full band gig. That was a good situation, would do that again.

There was a "Squizz" on Ebay a few years ago. In fairness, the logo looks more like "Squizz" than "Squire".

Those gap-tooth tailpieces are solid lumps though, not like the hollow, bendy thing that succeeded them! Doubt if they ever lift.

That or a Sunn Mustang (same bass with a different sticker) - at least that has Fender heritage! Got to be a record for both worst fake/most optimistically priced £60 bass ever!

Never noticed that on yours! I'm 99.9999% sure that's a mod - it's not on Bathiki's or my (slightly later fretted) bass. I assume if it "Does F*** All" it's not wired in, I'd guess it was a phase switch for the P pickup.

Blimey - didn't realise it was the exact same bass as @Beedster's. Clearly these are like buses, you don't see one for 35 years then two come along at once... So yes, everything I said about the other one applies to yours - made by Yamaki Gakki, looks like '81 from the serial. Original components on yours, shame about the broken tuner but the modern equivalent Gotoh would be a drop-in replacement. Is the damage at the back of the neck just cosmetic? Apart from that it does look to be in pretty decent original condition, from what I can see.

Well, yes - off the top of my head, Fender Japan was a collaboration batween Kanda Shokai (who own the Greco brand, & whose Japan-market Fender copies were the main motivation for US Fender to take the MIJ route) and Yamano Gakki, a retail chain which handled the marketing & distribution. At the time, Kanda exclusively used Fujigen for their own-brand instruments so it was logical for them to build Japanese Fenders. It's rumoured the initial JV serial Fenders & Squiers actually started their production runs intended to be badged Greco, but I'd imagine that's unconfirmable. Modern Fgn Jazzes are gorgeous but a bit out of my justifiable price range!

Early '90s isn't particularly early for MIJ Squiers, but they're excellent basses built to a very high standard, like the '80s JVs, SQs, E & A serials. There's no "Fender Japan" factory as such - "Made In Japan" denotes this one's made made by Fujigen Gakki. Later CIJs came from Tokai & Dyna Gakki.

Cool - any chance of some pics? Can probably tell you a bit about it, if you're interested. Value-wise, these are high-end instruments which are now vintage, pretty rare & starting to become collectable - there's a market for them. Not worth thousands but £400 upwards is reasonable if it's in good, orginal condition. If you want to go full geek with it, I recommend the following FB groups: Washburn Guitars - The Golden Era Daions Online The Daion group is relevant because MIJ Washburns were originally made by Yamaki Gakki, which was Daion's factory of origin & owned by the same family. Yamaki's chief designer Hirotsugu Teradaira designed the MIJ Washburn range and occasionally contributes to the group.

Stretching the memory muscles a bit, but I think he wrote the lyrics for Graham Bonnet-era Rainbow, when he was in the line-up.

Post a clear pic of the control cavity showing the pot & disconnected wires, someone will be able to tell you what goes where. Not familiar with the B500, having Googled it, it looks like a P/J bass styled similarly to Ibanez SoundGear, SGC Nanyo Bass Collection etc. These are active basses with a battery powered preamp. Is your B500 active or passive?

You'd get disturbingly factual answers to that if you posted in the cycling thread. FWIW the dimensions of my posterior ischial tuberosities mean I require a 145mm saddle, as I have a massive ar$e. Matron.

1 hour 45 to go, and at £215 this is still very, very cheap for what it is. If I was within 50 miles of Salisbury, I'd be watching closely & hoping it's slipped under the radar.

When I lived dahn sarf I was always around the Charing Cross Rd shops, & in and out of Macari's all the time. Bought my first decent bass (a Washburn B20 Stage) there in mid '81 - can't remember if the salesperson was a short blond guy who did incomprehensibly fast machine-gun stunt bass with his thumb, but I wouldn't rule it out. I also - for reasons I'm unclear of - bought a Colorsound Wah/Swell pedal there a year or two earlier. I think I wanted a pedal (didn't care what) and it was the only thing anywhere that was less than a tenner. It was barely-functional cheap junk and went in the bin pretty quickly. Probably be worth a grand now.