Richard Jinman

Yeah, why is it still here? Looks gorgeous ...

Yeah, but was hoping it was more interesting than that… perhaps not. Gorgeous looking bass in any case.

Is there a story behind the ‘P’ on the guard? Would love to hear it.

Thanks Gareth…. It’s a fire sale

If you don't like the relic look I can save you some time: stop reading now. This bitsa looks like it was run over by a truck at the same crossroads Robert Johnson did his deal with the devil. In a good way! Here are the really fantastic things about this bass. 1) The neck. The previous owner told me it was a MIJ jazz neck and while I have no way of confirming that it is a drop dead lovely neck. Super smooth on the back, your fingers just shift effortlessly into those hard to reach chord extensions. Frets are good and the tuners - no idea what they are, but I'm sure someone will tell me - work flawlessly. 2) The PUPs. After I bought the bass I decided to treat it to some new Fender Custom Shop '60s pups. 3) the electronics. I also bought a KiOgon stack knob set up from a fellow BC'er and got Tim Marten (he of the little room at the top of a flight of stairs on Tottenham Court Rd) to install them. Wow, you're thinking: this is an incredible bass. Well, not so fast. The body - previous owner didn't know its provenance - is seriously relic-ed. I asked previous owner (it was bought on BassChat btw) how it came to look like this and he told me it had belonged to a friend who had a fire at his home. The Cajun-style bass was given to said previous owner who cleaned it up resulting in the relic look. Tah-dah - the world's first roasted body! Now look, I'm not sure I completely believe this story and I'm sure there will be plenty of whispers of dissent from the BassChat back row. Some unkind souls may mention heat guns and the like. I choose to believe the Pheonix Theory (as I'm calling it) because, hey, why not? The thing is undeniably relic-ed and I like it. Not great thing No. 2. If you open it up you'll find some rather ham-fisted shielding work by yours truly. My father was an electronics engineer and it's safe to say I learned absolutely nothing from him. Point is my aesthetically-challenged shielding works because the bass is hum-free and sounds great. The CS PUPs give it a rather down and dirty jazz sound. It's fitted with Thomasik flats and feels lovely to play. Not so great thing No. 3. There's one screw missing from the scratchplate and the fit between the plate and stack knob plate isn't what you might call seamless. That's it for not so great stuff. I'm selling because I've finally got my hands on an AVRI jazz (also relic'ed, but not in a fire) and I'm not Guy Pratt so I only need one jazz (plus I've got my eye on a P). I think the price is reasonable because if you don't love it you could part it out. But if you do that you won't be able to say you've got a roasted jazz (TM) that was saved from the flames. I'm in Somerset mostly, but can meet up in central London (EC2). Postage at buyers cost would be available via the gig bag, bass box route. Any questions please ask. Oh, and it feels light for a jazz (I can weigh it on the bathroom scales if that's a deal breaker) which may be a result of some sort of molecular reaction to extreme heat. Or not.

Up for sale is my BB1100s in natural/blond. It's a Japanese made bass and the serial number is KZQ0084 (I'm 95 per cent that's right - it's hard to see the letters stamped into the back of the headstock). This bass needs little introduction. Sounds great passive, but has capable active circuitry when required. She's just come back from a set up, so the action/intonation is good to go (for my finger style at least). 9v battery is relatively new. The bass is wearing DR Sunbeams which sound fantastic on BB1100s. They're OK, but not new. Condition of the bass is really good for an 80s instrument. The most serious battle wound is on the top edge (as you're holiding it) where there are a couple of dings. Please see photo 7 to assess them. Because the bass is blond they're less discernable, but they're there. Tuners work well and frets are in good condition. I don't have the kind of scales that can provide an accurate weight, but I've owned a couple of these and they all seem to come in at about 3.9-something kg. So circa 4kg I guess. If someone would like a more forensic weight I'll try to rig something up. I bought this from a BC'er several years ago without a hard case, so delivery (at buyer's expense) would be via the gig bag/bass box route. Pick up from either South Somerset or central London would be welcome. Any questions please ask, thanks.

Bit of a bargain… have a blond one and love it.

It’s fairly heavy which I believe suggests it’s alder rather than basswood, but beyond that I’m not sure how you find out.

Hi, I’m afraid I don’t. Is there a way to tell?

I'm no expert, but the Aguilars are louder, cleaner and to my ears 'more expressive'. I guess it's something of a more modern tone compared to say Fender vintage pups..... personally, I think they're amazing as the HC design does exactly what it says on the tin. Nothing wrong with the J-45s of course, but I figured if I put premium pups on what is a very lovely bass, I'd have something quite special.

I don't understand 80 per cent of the above, but I'm sure others do

Here's the official explanation for the 9 poles. The J-45 is a coaxial coil design incorporating our air spaced micro-coil system, to reproduce a noise free and Traditional Jazz Bass Sound. Nine evenly spaced direct alnico 2 magnets provide a wide magnetic field to perform equally well on most 4 and 5 string basses. The J45 comes in a black cover with either flush pole pieces or a slight stagger that can accommodate most radii.

I’ll defer to the experts, but here they are in situ before the Aguilars replaced them. They sounded great but I’d always wanted to try the HCs.

Yeah, I think so. Especially when the white goes a bit creamy. 7 jazzes!