Bassassin

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^^^ What he said! 👍

I've got one. It's compact but not really tiny - maybe he's a big lad in the pic! Replaced the (very) bendy original bridge on mine with a less bendy 80s MIJ 3-point, but otherwise it's stock. That's a DiMarzio Model P on mine - but some (probably later ones) had generic MIJ pickups. Gotoh tuners (doubt any had Schallers from new) & weighs 8.8lbs/4kg, but maybe slightly less without all the dust. Would definitely trade up to a Track IV - always fancied a 2xP but (somehow) never had one. Yet!

Arctangent takes its name from the fourth album by 90s/00s UK alt-metal band earthtone9. They've recently got back together & released a devastatingly good new album, and are playing on the Saturday. If you're going, do take the time to go & see them. There'd be no Arctangent without them.

Hohner Professionals were made in Korea by Cort, mid 80s onward. This based on a Jackson Randy Rhoads knockoff & that's firmly 80s hair metal-era, so it's probably from approx. '84-'90. Cort uses dateable serial numbers so it may be possible to get a year of manufacture from that, if there is one. A brief dig around turned up a French auction site listing for the guitar version of the same thing. https://www.debaecque.fr/lot/102960/11502433-guitare-hohner-hgv-2-micros-no? And that's yer lot!

There were a few others. Matsumoku did an accurate-looking set-neck 4001S type, I've also seen a Fresher set-neck with binding & big inlays, probably made by Chushin. I've also got a pic of a set-neck with triangle inlays & checked binding, no name or identifying details, so I have no idea who made that! When you've seen a hundred different 70s MIJ Fakers in almost as many different variations, you're just left with the distinct impression they were making it up as they went along!

I'm wondering if the idiot AI description's becoming so ubiquitous (even for fairly uncommon/sought-after instruments like this) so no-one can accuse the seller of being wilfully misleading in their ad. Nah.They're just lazy b@st@rds.

Heerby was a Japan-market sub-brand of Kasuga, this is a refinished RB600: Does look like it's got the all-too-common banana-neck syndrome.

MIJ would normally be on the headstock face, it's possible that for some reason it's had a face refin & the original decal's been replaced with a generic one. The s/n & heel do suggest it's an MIJ bass (although E serialisation also appears on late 80s/90s Korean Squiers from Young-Chang) - wondering if it could've been an MIJ Squier originally?

It'd take 30 seconds in Photoshop (or your image editing app of choice, obvs) to remove the rogue tuner & errant string over the scratchplate, then NO-ONE WOULD EVER KNOW!!!

Standard 34". Which is a pity, as I'd be more motivated to do something with it if it wasn't - despite having about a million basses, none of them are short or medium scale!

Thought I'd test the theory using Bing's AI bollocks image generator. The prompt I used was the ad title, plus 'fretless' as that seemed important, even though the seller didn't appear to think so. So - Warmoth Short Scale Fretless Bass Neck with a Blue Headstock. This was the closest to the prompt - and honestly, the more you look at it, the better it gets.

It is. A lot of people seem to want their sales description to look as lazy, stupid & generic as possible these days. Not sold anything on Ebay for a long time, I assume this is a built-in feature now, as it's so common. Strongly suggests that no-one bothers reading descriptions!

Mostly this for just grabbing & plonking away unplugged: And mostly this for recording: Or for making a racket, this:

IMO the best-looking MIJ P-derived design, had a bit of GAS for one of these for a long time. That's the best finish too. Shame it's overpriced by about £300!

Cheers for the catalogue pic. The tuners are what makes me think MIJ - they look a pretty close match for mid/late 60s units used by Teisco, amongst others.

That's hard to argue with.

There were Italian & Japanese versions of these - I think this one's MIJ (from the pickups/tuners) but can't really be sure without pics of the back - Italian ones were made by Eko. Never owned or seen one in the flesh, so unfortunately can't help beyond that. @prowla - D'you know anything about these, Paul?

Second bump for this self-indulgent topic - because look what happened! And it's a big one. Perhaps THE big one (until we work out the all kinks & put together that 50+ minute single-piece-of-music concept piece*) - 11:29 of epic massiveness, melody, magnificence, multiple vocal/guitar tracks, and many other superlatives beginning with 'm' that momentarily escape me. We're incredibly pleased with & proud of this. For me, having been composing & recording music for pretty much all of my adult life, it's near-impossible to point at one particular song & go - that's the one - but I can listen back to this without wishing I'd done anything differently or better, without thinking there's a single part or a transition that doesn't quite work. It's been probably the most challenging composition (for various reasons) I've been involved in, and mixing it sufficiently daunting that I consistently put it off for around 18 months - but finally I somehow managed to make sense of the 52 tracks we recorded, and I think it sounds pretty great. So if I can have a minute of your time - well, eleven minutes - please stick this on a big screen & big speakers/headphones, and indulge me. We love this, & hope you will too. And you know how it goes - if you do, tell your friends, if you don't, tell your enemies. *Not a joke. It's called LastDay, and is as terrifying a prospect as it is inspiring. Might be finished in 10 years, if I last that long!

Really interesting article, thanks @Hellzero for posting that. I bloody love Strats, me. If I could only have one guitar & one bass (perish the thought!), it'd be a Strat & a Jazz. Arguably an HSH Strat with coil splits on the 'buckers is a do-everything guitar.

Dug mine out - forgot I'd already tidied it up & nailed it back together. Neck doesn't look as bad as I remember, but no strings, so how/if it plays is anyone's guess!

Pah. If they'd done their homework they could've said it was £500.

I've got one of these, in bits. Mine's identical apart from the tuners (which I think have been swapped on this) and colour of the pickup bobbins. Didn't pay much for mine which is just as well, as it turned out to have a warped neck, so it got sidelined among Things I Can't Be Arsed Dealing With, where it's remained for a number of years. The body's solid mahogany, but a few mm thinner than a proper J, so it's fairly light. Pickups designed to be hidden under ashtrays, like a lot of early J copies, and would be hard to replace without routing. No s/n on mine but I think these are probably '72/3 or so. The seller's assuming '76 from the number on his, but Mats serials from this era are random & can't be used to date them. If it plays well & the electronics work, £120 for the FB one's probably an OK deal for an old Mats Jazz. Needs knobs & a pot but that's not a deal breaker on something like this. And if anyone wants to make an offer for my pile of bits - I am but a PM away...

If it's like my Cheapo SuperStrat, that G4M logo's just printed over the finish and should come off with some T-Cut & a bit of persistence. If you're bothered by such things.

Not vintage, or Japanese. Or headless, for that matter. Looks like a modern Chinese cheapo, a bit grubby. In more ways than one.