Bassassin

That's interesting & pretty cool - not the same bass as the OP's. Never seen an Eros P like this before.

Can't remember what the OP's bass looked like. Why not post a pic of yours?

The thing is, the two Japanese partner companies that constituted Fender Japan, Kanda & Yamano, are highly unlikely to have any awareness of, never mind interest in the vagaries of the semantics of potential interpretation of English language phrases. Most Fender Japan products were for the Japanese home market. It really does just refer to which factories made them.

So it is - I should've looked closer! Definitely worth more than £30, then - those are excellent bidges and not exactly cheap. @Hellzero No, mate it's not. The serial number dates it to November 1983 which was around two years after the Blazer disappeared from the Ibanez range - Blazers & Roadsters were both superceded by the Roadstar II line, of which this is an example Specifically an it's RB630, which I might have mentioned. The body shape is very slightly different to the Roadster and it originally would've had a BBOT bridge, which is doubtless why someone stuck a Schaller on it. I have been wrong about many, if not most things in my life but not about this.

And of course, that's why they started making them in Japan in the first place.

Like @BigRedX says, it's a reissue from 10 or so years back. Probably not too many around in the UK and it looks like the £400 bottom bid (if he'd sell for that) would likely be a bargain. Assuming you like this sort of thing.

It's the different factories that made them. MIJ Fenders & Squiers were originally made by Fujigen Gakki, who, as I understand it, have exclusive use of "Made In Japan" on their Fender products. CIJs were sourced from at least two other factories, Dyna Gakki and Tokai Gakki. I think MIJs largely stopped in the late 90s, so most recent Japanese Fenders will have been CIJ, with as far as I know, an occasional MIJ/Fujigen batch from time to time. There's not any quality differentiation between the factories. This was the case while Fender Japan was operated by Kanda Shokai/Yamano Gakki, I know that relationship came to an end a few years ago, but I don't know who's responsible for current Japanese Fenders.

Just about now, some insufferable know-all is going to steam in and say it was made by Fujigen Gakki, not Terada and will someone please correct the pernicious rubbish spread by the bloody Guitar Dater Project before it gets fire-bombed by militant vintage MIJ guitar fans. But not me, guv. I will say a couple of things though - it's not a Blazer, I think it's a Roadstar II RB630. The horns are a slightly different shape and it doesn't have the chunky brass bridge you'd find on a Blazer. It's a bit messed around but is worth a little more than £30 - Pity someone's butchered the headstock, but it looks otherwise intact, & with a clean and new strings/a decent setup it'd probably fetch £150 or so. I think if it was mine I'd reshape the headstock to look more like the original 1980 Blazer style. Just to confuse people like me.

Here's one for current-gen prog fans - Mariusz Duda from Riverside: Have done the lead vox/bass thing myself in a couple of bands, always satisfying to nail both parts without compromising either. Unfortunately no video evidence exists (at least not in a digital format) to back up these claims. Plus I have a rubbish voice.

Yes, just trying to clarify. That's why I think it's probably '09.

Cort manufacture in Indonesia, which I think is what the IC prefix implies. Not sure they have their original Cor-Tek Korean facitlity any more following the massive controversy about working conditions there. 80s/90s Korean Corts have a C-prefix.

First concert - Rock Against Racism, Victoria Park, 1978 - Tom Robinson Band, The Clash, X-Ray Spex, Steel Pulse Last concert - The Aristocrats, Edinburgh, Jan 2020 Best concert - Tool, London Astoria 1997, only UK date of the Aenima tour. First time seeing them and my tiny mind was beyond blown. Worst concert - Lamb Of God - seen them twice supporting bands they're not fit to wash the pants of. Utterly dire. Loudest concert - Motorhead, Hammy Odeon, Bomber tour 1980. So loud the songs were indistiguishable from one another. Seen the most - Rush - 14 times between 1981 & 2013. Most surprising - Marillion, Hammy Odeon, '84. Really wasn't a fan, got dragged along by someone who was. Became a massive, drooling fanboy. Next concert - Fish, Edinburgh, March. Wish I would have seen - Skids with Stuart Adamson, original 70s Alice Cooper band, Rush pre-synths & haircuts...

That would be Cort in Korea in the 80s/90s. This is Indonesian, (hence the IC prefix, I presume) and I'm wondering if the prefix is 09 - looks like there's a bit of damage to the bottom of the second digit.

@phil.c60 I'd say join the FB Rickenfakers group, Fakers are bought & sold regularly there, prices are often less eye-watering than elsewhere & Mr Hall has so far left the group to its own devices. Lefties are really rare, but do turn up - that's where the Kasuga pics came from. Different matter for the modern Chinese copies, which are far more available in l/h but they're not accurate at all, and really only have a cosmetic resemblance to actual Ricks.

That Fifth Order Of Angels show is a bootleg of a radio broadcast that's been doing the rounds for a long time, I think it's broadly seen as the best quality early Rush recording. Not heard it for years but I do remember being amazed to hear bits of what became By-Tor & The Snow Dog in the middle of Working Man! Particularly considering Peart had only been in the band for a couple of weeks. Will have a listen to the '76 recording, don't think I've heard that one.

@Frank Blank Regarding a book, I don't think - at this stage, at least - it would be possible to write anything definitive, because what's known about vintage MIJ stuff has huge gaps filled in with largely speculative info. Because of the nature of the industry, unfortunately a lot of it will probably stay that way. Also - I have to say, trying to find consensus among the various people studying & discussing this stuff online would probably be harder, more problematic and more divisive than Br*x*t! @phil.c60 You wanna see some Brazilian porn, do you? Oh I bet you do... Meet the Giannini AE10B: But compare these two catalogue shots: I've actually dug out a lot of pics of these old Brazilian beauties - they're understandably pretty common south of the Panama Canal - and they all feature very dark, typically unvarnished fretboards with shiny shell inlays, and tend to have a fairly big gap between bridge & pickup. And the manufacturer's at pains to point something out on the trc: I'm inclined to think they used a sneaky pic of an MIJ (Chushin) Faker for the first catalogue pic - after all, they all look the same don't they? And who's going to notice? Apart from some sad sod with way too much space in his head and time on his hands, in 40-odd years' time. Anyway, that's enough Braziliana - although it doesn't actually end there - Giannini weren't alone, so if you ask nicely, I might show you a Finch one day. When I think you're ready. Back in the day, there wasn't any litigation against Rick copies - in fact despite the "lawsuit" guff that gets bandied about, there wasn't any litigation against anyone, just a mistimed threat that never came to anything. Which leads quite neatly to your second point - they sort of did. There weren't many well-known brands making copies in the 70s who didn't also have their own original ranges, and some, like Ibanez and Aria Pro II made the transition to high-end, pro-level original instruments incredibly successfully. Most people probably won't know that Ibanez' prestigious Artist range first appeared in 1973: Interesting choice of bridge on the bass...

Actually, I've always wanted to write a book. I have tried to get something started a few times, but so far I'm struggling to find a cohesive narrative combining Japanese basses & guitars of the 70s and 80s (with a focus on the Rickenbacker bass copy) with graphic sex, violence, and Lovecraft-esque eldritch horror. Art can be such a struggle... It appears that Chushin was one of Japan's biggest guitar manufacturers of the 70s era, and their instruments were sold worldwide with a plethora of different brands - in the UK, common names like Columbus, Avon, Grant, CMI, Saxon, Sumbro, Grantson etc were all predominantly Chushin builds. With most brands being importer names, the best way to pinpoint who made what is to tie a manufacturer to a single brand (eg it's known that all 70s MIJ Ibanez was made by Fujigen Gakki) so when the identical instrument turns up with a different name, you know who made it. With Chushin, the exclusive brands were Maya and El Maya, which were owned by a Japanese trading co/exporter called Rokkomann. This pic is the nearest thing to proof that basses like yours were Chushin: The biggest problem with positive ID is the number of different factories making instruments during the 70s copy era. Most people with a bit of an interest will have heard of Matsumoku & Fujigen but there were literally dozens - possibly into the hundreds - of manufacturers, from big mass-producers to little backstreet woodshops, all making good copies of Fenders, Gibsons, Rickenbackers etc. Many of these will have been short-lived & disappeared without a trace. Very few records were kept, either by manufactures or importers, so what we know comes mostly from surviving catalogues and examples, plus a bit of testimony from people who worked in the industry at the time. With Rick copies it's sometimes easier to know who didn't make a bass, rather than who did. Instruments made by Fujigen, Matsumoku, Kasuga and Yamaki all have particular build traits and combinations of details & hardware that make them easy to ID but there are a lot of Fakers where it's educated guesswork, and a few where it's anyone's guess! Even with the Chushin/Shaftesbury type there are a couple of quirks & variations which make it a bit less certain - fretboards & inlays vary, some are unvarnished and have real MOP inlays, some have translucent plastic scratchplates while others are solid white. This may not indicate different manufacturers, as details sometimes change over the years. And some might be made in Brazil - but that's a completely different can of worms...

As far as we know, no Korean manufacturer built a through-neck Faker in the 70s. However there's a theory amongst some vintage MIJ enthusiasts that some Japanese manufacturers had instruments shipped to Korea for assembly, as some sort of export duty loophole. Apparently Chushin (who I believe made this bass) had a Korean operation.

Me neither. I find the thread Mr Raymondo's referencing both baffling and terrifying in equal measure...

Odd s/n. Be inclined to think it's 1984 though. @Bass Fumbler - similarities to Ibanez are purely intentional - Cimar was owned by Hoshino Gakki, which was the parent company of Ibanez. From around 1980 there were attempts to bring the ranges closer together resulting in later Cimars being badges as "Cimar By Ibanez". The very first Ibanez Blazer (which had a different headstock & pickup to the common P-type blazers) was the same bass as the Cimar Stinger. Anyway - here's an interesting German page about Cimar basses, which, for everyone's convenience, and assuming their German is as bad as mine, I've linked through Google Translate Cimar Basses Looks like the bass is a model 2210.

No reason not to post it here @MB1. He's not trying to sell it. Hi @RichardD22 - that's a common, very good quality mid-70s Japanese-made 4001 copy. These were sold under various brands, and badged as Shaftesbury are the most common through-neck Rick copy in the UK. They also appear here badged as CMI, Cimar and JHS. It's not 100% clear who made them but generally it's thought to be Chushin Gakki, one of the biggest Japanese manufacturers of the 70s & 80s. Shame about the mods, but it would be pretty straightforward to return it to standard with replacement scratchplate & pickups. Recommend you join the Rickenfakers FB group for info, unbiased chat & contacts. Interesting that it looks like the original bridge pickup's been moved to the neck position - there might be a code stamped underneath which can tell you its date of manufacture, and therefore an accurate age for the bass. Apropos of nothing - the replacement bridge pickup looks like an early 70s Maxon bass humbucker. Cool old unit probably taken from an MIJ EB-0 or EB-3 copy.

Awful news. Big MV fan and have seen him play a few times and been suitably impressed. Hoping he can make a full recovery.

Want.

How does this sort of thing happen? Do these people get a bit of wood & blindfold themselves before they start sawing and hacking or what?