Bassassin

Will weigh mine when I get a minute.

Basslab L-Bow? Bleedin' German, innit? Forrin muck wiv a stupid name, bin stuck in Calais for a month stuffed in a container wiv a load of them French Muslamic immigrants an' some blue passports from Poland. Call that sovrinty??? That do?

Rare enough that I've never seen one outside a catalogue before. But oddly, not so rare that there's not another one on the same listing page! Fretless P/J natural finish Some interesting stuff turning up on Japanese Ebay lately!

Looks to me like the threaded inserts have been removed & filler or maybe bits of dowel put in the holes. You'd maybe have to remove the inserts to fit a BBOT bridge if they stood proud from the body. I think I'm right that a BBOT's more similar to an original Grabber bridge than a 3-point anyway. It's more the horrible refin that would've put me off this, rather than the bridge. And if it does have neck problems, it's not worth any £160.

Considering the condition, I'd say that's about right. If I'd been selling it in that state I'd think £150 would be a bit optimistic.

Would like to see some pics of that. As far as I'm aware the 80s Hohners had a fold-out leg rest & conventional strap buttons, and a standard jack & seperate XLR on the lower body edge. At least, my 1985 first run Hohner B2A does. Is yours definitely a Hohner? In fairness, the Interceptors are ever-so-slightly Marmite, and possibly not the most graceful 80s MIJ interpretation of the headless aesthetic! However they're incredibly rare, so I'd rather like to have one standing in the corner. Possibly behind a bookcase. In other news, I have a hint of a reason to think that on Tuesday - which is my birthday - I might find myself finally in possession of a slightly more symmetrical, some might say elegant, example of mid '80s Japanese headless luthiery. More news when it becomes available...

Somehow these have gone right under my radar. Always drooled a bit over the high-end PRS basses, so both of the SEs are right up my street. Obviously I have no need for one, but if a s/h Kingfisher came up at silly price...

I had no idea. Unsurprising in a way - BMWs (particularly their bikes) can be a bit Marmite. I liked the design a lot when they first appeared but find them a bit bland now. And once you see the bogseat, it's hard to see anything else. Only ever played two - one at the old MusicLive show & another in a shop - both were horribly badly set up & they just left a bad impression.

Whatever's comfortable for you & suits your playing style.

Nice that, will have to pick up one of these one day. Aesthetically this was a very common style in the late 80s/early 90s.Can't be sure but I think it was the Tune Bass Maniac range that kicked the trend off, the Nanyos & Ibby SRs coming shortly after, and most other manufacturers having a version. What's interesting (to the likes of me, anyway) is that the Ibanez evolved pretty directly from the Musician models - the SR body shape first appeared on the 1986 MC2924 - which apart from the headstock & chunky neck looks a lot like the high-end, through neck Soundgears. I'd quite like one of them. Or a neck-through SR.

These are more common branded Avon in the UK - in fact I don't think I've seen a Cimar before. A bit different, typically natural finish/maple fretboard. I had an Avon - it was very good & an accurate copy, as far as I could tell. This one's a bit bashed up, swapped bridge & missing an original tuner - but still has the original slidey pickup. My old one:

Always had a bit of GAS for one of those. Never had a P/P bass in fact, but always had a sneaking suspicion it might turn out to be the answer to a question I've never actually asked.

Pretty sure it's not. I think it's a US importer brand that has a bit of distribution. They do have a reputation for being excellent for the money - it's likely they come from the same manufacturers as other budget-but-good brands like Harley Benton and J&D.

About £300 over the odds - and that's not even factoring in probable contamination from filthy bedclothes & a manky foot. 🤢

I have one of these, lined maple fingerboard. It looks stunning and is lovely to play. Unfortunately mine is an absolute boat anchor, it weighs a ton and is sit-down only! May not be true for all of them but I think they have a reputation for being a bit beefy.

Opeth. If I remember, main man Mikael Akerfeldt joined as a bassist, before becoming guitarist/frontman/composer.

Sell about 10 basses I never play. Actually play my lovely Sire fretless, rather than just looking at it hanging on the wall. Too bad this doesn't look like it's going to be the year for resolutions

I'm sure £900 could buy you one that didn't have a p!ss poor Halfords rattlecan finish & hadn't been used for banging fence posts in.

Potential bargain project there. Although this (SB600 bolt neck, I think) will have the traditional Aria SB wide nut/narrow bridge, near-parallel neck, so won't play anything like the OP's Elite/SB-R.

Only just spotted this - don't think I've ever seen one come up for sale before! The Rick type bridge was standard on these. They turn up on a few MIJ original designs, including the first iteration of Ibanez Artist. As far as I know Squire modded his quite heavily - reshaped the body & obviously the white finish & tin metal plate weren't original. Electra was a US importer (St Louis Music) domestic brand so I don't think these were ever officially available anywhere else. Incredibly rare bass, if it wasn't for the new B**x*t import hell - and the fact I have absolutely no need or use for it - I might be slightly tempted...

Indeed - still got it. And it came from Denmark St, memory's a bit vague but I think it was Roka's. Casting's not perfect on mine but it was a bit of a bargain & sort of had to come home with me! There were some of the painted body ones there too, the blue was quite pretty. Nice bass but only ever gigged it once - the hollow metal body is very microphonic, and to get it to not squeal like a piggy meant I had to seriously cut the top/high mids & couldn't get a tone I was happy with. Nearly sold on here a few years back (unforseen cash emergency) but if I remember right I was talked out of it! However seeing the £1200 tag on this (whether or not it actually exists!) and the fact mine's basically unmarked does mean I could possibly be persuaded... Look. Look at the shiny...

No - please don't hack this up. From the satin/grain texture finish, I think it's an SB-R60 rather than an Elite I, there's an ever-dwindling number of these around, they've not been made since around 1984, A good proportion of them have already been butchered, by earlier owners who at least had the excuse of considering them cheap, throwaway Japanese rubbish, which is how these were seen for a lot of years - and the reason they're so scarce now. Swap the pickup, drop in a preamp - any mod that can be reversed isn't something you or any subsequent owner will come to regret. If you think two pickups will help give you the sound you're after why not look out for an SB-R80, SB-Elite II or SB-ELT?

I picked up a Faker someone had butchered into a lefty in a similar way a few years back - good quality thing that probably started life as a Shaftesbury. Might've kept it if it hadn't also had the frets crudely ripped out & neck binding stripped off. Stripped it for parts & flipped the neck/body for more than I paid. Wonder what happened to it?

Yes - in precisely the same way a '62 US Precision is still just a £120 Fender.