Bassassin

Just had a look at the GuitarGuitar listing - not surprised it sold, these are like rocking-horse poo & that's in excellent nick for a 1972-ish bass. Would've been tempted myself if I'd seen it, tbh, and I don't even have GAS for one! Checking out the old Ibanez catalogue images, yes, the CSL is the exact same bass as Ibanez: If you're wondering why the bass in the Ibby catalogue has no brand, it's because the images were Fujigen factory shots - if there was a CSL catalogue, it would've used the same pic, as would Antoria, who also sold these basses in the UK. They also used the same model numbers.

Cheers Mr 'Bag! Summerfields was UK importer for Ibanez during the notorious 70s copy era, and it seems as part of the deal they sourced their own CSL brand from Ibanez owner, Hoshino Gakki. Ibanez has only ever been a brand name, not a manufacturer, and I think the CSL Dan Armstrong copies very likely are the same instruments as Ibanez, and as Fleabag says, made by Fujigen. Later CSLs were rebrands of Hoshino's Cimar range & don't look like Fgn builds to me. Looks like most of the Japanese factories in the mid-70s had their own version of the acrylic Armstrong - there's a long & interesting (if you like that sort of thing) article about them on the Dan Armstrong info site: http://www.danarmstrong.org/copies.html Regarding acrylic basses in general, a few years back I lobbed this together - body came from a cheapo thing branded AXL and everything else from the parts box: Absolute back-breaker, and unfortunately the neck turned out to be like a bendy tree trunk. Would be the very definition of a wall-hanger, assuming I wanted huge lumps of plaster & brickwork ripped out of said wall.

Lacklustre? They were on the level of a school band's second rehearsal - sloppy, out-of-time and inept. This sort of stuff can be great when played well, but this lot were pretty much incompetent. What they're "doing right" is having marketing money behind them, which is likely to be a lot more to do with what the singer looks like than anything else.

This has been causing some consternation on the Ebay etc board! https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/364787-jacoland-barcelona-custom-built-guitar/

Looking at his other items, turns out this has been listed 5 times already. Now I'm genuinely wondering if it's actually a sophisiticated example of surrealist satire.

Certainly the MIJ Squiers. Understandable with the early 80s JVs & SQs, which are both rare & high-quality, but the 90s Silver Series has nothing over the MIK stuff that was around at the same time. Apart from that "Made In Japan" decal. Which, of course, gave rise to Fender doing a deal with Kanda Shokai (owner of the Greco brand) to set up Fender Japan, on condition they ceased production of Greco-branded Fender copies. Round & round it goes.

Would think you could import one from Japan for less than that. Like I expect the seller did...

Body could well be MIJ, don't think the neck is. Whip the neck off & see if there's a heel stamp, might be an Allprats or other licensed Fender type. I think the neck's probably been bought unbranded & the decal's an Ebay special - and, in an unusual moment of honesty, whoever applied it cut off the bit that said "Fender"! I quite like it, tbh, I do like a maple/dots neck on a J. If it was mine the black hardware would be straight back on Ebay and replaced with some nice chrome/nickel bits. And a proper string tree!

Sorry about the belated reply! Hand-cut fairly roughly with a junior hacksaw, shaped with various files followed by increasingly fine grades of sandpaper, final polish with good, old-fashioned T-Cut! They're fairly small pieces so hand-cutting's not much of a chore given how easy the material is to work with. I have a scroll saw but that does tend to melt the acrylic.

If someone offers you £140 for it, yes.

It's a bitsa, by the looks. Inclined to think the body isn't solid timber - the big black oversprays on the front & rear contours are the giveaway, they'll probably be concealing either ply laminates or (if you're lucky) the edges of veneered mahogany butcher-block. I get the feeling the body & neck are separated by a few years - the neck looks much newer. The body might be from a 70s/80s copy - all those holes above the scratchplate are weird, but the ones for ashtrays are likely original, and consistent with older copies. So, looks like someone's put together a bass with an old body & new neck & hardware - the neck looks decent - it's a single-piece without the separate glued-on fretboard often found on budget necks. Bridge & tuners look functional rather than exotic, unfortunately though you can't tell much about the pickups from the pics. Although I'd lean towards thinking they're newer than the body - I can't see any wear on the tops or corrosion/discolouration of the poles.

Seller appears to be an Italian music shop. Br*x*t surcharge?

Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dennis Dunaway & John Entwistle.

In a similar vein, Westbury Track 2? MIJ (Matsumoku) approx 1980, DiMarzio Model P, 34" scale. A bit knocked about, but in decent playing order. Not getting played basically because I never manage to coax a tone I like out of a single P!

Shame. That must've been a good-looking bass before some twonk repeatedly reversed a bus over it.

Indeed - and for a long time I'd remind myself that McCartney claimed he decided not to learn to read because he worried that it might affect the way he wrote. Which sounds like a good excuse about as much as it sounds like bollox!

I'd still be a bassist - it's the only instrument I'm good enough on to consider getting on a stage with. That said, I've always been predominantly a writer/composer. I play guitar well enough to write with & to record, given an indefinite number of takes. If I could change anything, I'd never have stopped playing keyboards (drifted away in the early 90s) or drums, which I dabbled with when I shared a house with someone who had a kit. I'd also focus on learning some actual theory - I'm painfully aware that everything I know I just sort of picked up along the way. Having those skills would add a lot to my writing & recording - I often feel musically stagnant and hampered by my limited vocabuary & ability, These days I lack both the motivation to resume playing other instruments, or the focus to study theory. That might change going forward but I doubt it.

Genuine question - what would you consider to be a good lyric?

Very nice work! I've done a couple of these, for basses where the pickup positioning didn't give me anywhere natural-feeling to prop my thumb. I love working with acrylic, very easy to cut & shape, and really satisfying to get a nice finish. Cort B2 Headless: Kawai Sleekline:

Thanks for that link, a good compendium of the Fender derived Cimars - oddly, apart from one. This should be of interest... The Cimar Stinger range was exactly the same as the short-lived Mk 1 Blazers, identical apart from the badge. These are Fujigen builds - can confirm this as I have a Mk1 Blazer, it has a Fgn serial and uses most of the same components as later Blazers and Roadsters. Why Hoshino sold these identical instruments simultaneously under both their premium and second-tier brands is anyone's guess. I'd speculate that the incorporation of Ibanez design features into the Cimar range was an attempt to associate the two, perhaps to boost the prestige (and therefore the sales) of the Cimar brand. Later Cimars (post MIJ production, I think) were marketed as "Cimar by Ibanez" but with the ones we're looking at, there's no associated branding on either the instruments or the marketing materials. Interesting that the page you linked to is German - seems Cimars were much more widely marketed in Germany than the UK, most of the Cimar catalogue scans come from Meinl.de, who distributed Cimar & Ibanez in Germany. A reason for this might be that Ibanez' UK distributor at the time, Charles Summerfield Ltd, actually sourced their own CSL range through Hoshino - and they were re-badged Cimars, right down to the Blazer/Stinger headstocks. As an owner/previous owner of two Cimars, one CSL and a Mk1 Blazer, I've always been curious about the Cimar brand. There are various 70s catalogues for the original copy-era Cimars, and they do depict a comprehensive range, from basic starter instruments to high-end replica level stuff. Looking at these I'm inclined to think that initially Cimar was entirely separate from Ibanez, and merely shared distribution through Hoshino. It's likely that subsequently Hoshino acquired the brand and developed it specifically as a budget Ibanez line. Would love to know which factories made them, but so far I've found little to go on.

Broadly, yes - some instruments sold as Teisco were also sold as Kay, the same as they were sold branded as Top Twenty, for example. Of course it doesn't follow that all Kay-branded guitars would also be available as Teisco, this sort-of-Rick copy in question being a good example. We do have to distinguish between manufacturer and brand though, at the time these were made, Teisco existed only as a brand, having been acquired by Kawai some years earlier, so from that perspective all post '67 Teiscos & Kays were rebranded Kawais, presumably including those produced in Taiwan.

Under them ashtrays will be a set of 8-pole Maxon single-coils, just like these: Many of these have date codes on the back but I'm guessing these won't - this Antoria's a very, very early example judging by the tuners - '71, maybe as early as 1970. I think the Maxon codes start from '72. Looking at this, it's in exceptional condition for its age. Hope it goes to someone who appreciates what it is. And no, the Cimar's definitely not Ibanez - like Cimar, Ibanez is a brand, not a manufacturer so it can't be. Both brands were owned by Hoshino Gakki Ten, but I don't think the Cimar was made by Fujigen, who made Ibanez at the time. I've had a few Cimars and there are significant differences & things you wouldn't see on a Fujigen. Age-wise it's from about 1980, and is likely a pretty decent bass.

Well, actually... What we know is that Teisco (or probably Kawai, who acquired Teisco in 1967) established a factory in Taiwan, which produced instruments under the Teisco brand. It is the same factory that made the Taiwanese Kays in the early 70s, so these instruments are closely related. You'll see the same ID stickers and similar model numbers to actual MIJ Teiscos too. Kay is an interesting brand subsequent to the demise of the original US-made instruments. It had international distribution (hence being common in the UK) and sourced instruments from numerous suppliers - so there are MIJ Kays (not too common) as well as Taiwanese. Production later went to Cort in Korea, resulting in a pretty broad range, including the nice quality through-neck originals that turned up in the early 80s. I've also seen East German-made Kay acoustics,which were probably made by Musima.

Might be the same guy who hocked his two Foderas there...

The VM basses are ridiculously good quality for the money. I'd suggest finding a well-stocked shop and taking your own bass along to do real A/B comparisons. Don't be surprised if you find yourself struggling to justify buying a replacement. I've posted this vid before but it does serve to demonstrate that unmodified Squier VMs are good enough for some pro players. He uses a couple of other basses for different songs - they're Squier VM Jazzes.