casapete Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 Anyone know how much one of these is worth? It's a copy of Gibson's Melody Maker in 3 tone sunburst / 2 pickups, although with un-Gibson like bolt on neck. Think they were made in Japan in the late 70's. Can't find any pics I'm afraid at the moment. Any help appreciated, cheers.
Mr. Foxen Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 Would be a stick on ebay and hope two rabid collectors go after it.
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 CMI used to do a well thought of Les Paul -a- like. Better than a lot of the proper [email="cr@p"]cr@p[/email] of the day.
casapete Posted February 8, 2012 Author Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks for your comments...............
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 8, 2012 Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks for clearing that up Luke. [size=1]It's Moon[b]Bass[/b]Alpha btw[/size]
clarkpegasus4001 Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) CMI (Cleartone Musical instruments) were considered to be decent copies at the time (1970's), especially the set-neck guitars. The bolt-on one's were much less thought of though. I believe they were actually built by Ibanez but don't quote me on that. A bolt on Melody Maker I would guess would be around £50.00 / £60.00 on a good day, I wouldn't buy the bolt-on ones myself. Edited February 9, 2012 by clarkpegasus4001
Beer of the Bass Posted February 9, 2012 Posted February 9, 2012 If you're thinking of putting it up for sale on here, I'd be curious to see some good pictures.
geoffbyrne Posted November 30, 2013 Posted November 30, 2013 They were built on the same assembly line as models with Ibanez, Antoria etc on them - i.e. the same guitar differently labeled, I believe. Some of them were pretty decent. I had an Antoria Black Beauty with Super 77s and Tree of Life fretboard - it was lovely - the only guitar I wish I still had. G.
Bassassin Posted January 9, 2014 Posted January 9, 2014 Bit late to this thread but... Geoff, you're maybe thinking of CSL, some of their guitars & basses were from the same factory as Ibanez & Antoria, because CSL was house brand of Charles Summerfield Ltd, at the time UK importer for Ibanez. Those tree-of-life Fujigen LPs were gorgeous and are very collectable now, whatever brand's on them. CMIs were a bit of a mixed bag. Like a lot of UK brands they had a several different quality levels in their range and they sourced from several different factories, probably based on who was doing the best deal at the time. Most of what turns up tends to be the lower-end stuff (probably because they sold more of them) and while not awful, they're low-to-middling quality, similar, if not the same as Columbus or Avon. CMI didn't only come from Japan, either - I had a CMI-branded Ned Callan bass a few years ago, BCer Razze06 has it now. Jon.
geoffbyrne Posted January 11, 2014 Posted January 11, 2014 Once again I sit corrected and am corrected by The Bassassin!!! <<Hangs head in shame and hides behind sofa which, being against a wall, is a bit of a tight fit.....>> G.
Big_Stu Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1389288722' post='2332451']CMIs were a bit of a mixed bag. Like a lot of UK brands they had a several different quality levels in their range and they sourced from several different factories, probably based on who was doing the best deal at the time. Most of what turns up tends to be the lower-end stuff (probably because they sold more of them) and while not awful, they're low-to-middling quality, similar, if not the same as Columbus or Avon. CMI didn't only come from Japan, either - I had a CMI-branded Ned Callan bass a few years ago, BCer Razze06 has it now. Jon. [/quote] isn't there a Marshall link there somewhere? In a similar vein to the Park brand to get around a poor distribution deal Marshall were in at the time.
Bassassin Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 That's right - Jim Marshall set up a distribution deal with Rose-Morris in the 60s & this turned out to be very restrictive, so the CMI & Park brands were set up to get around this. J.
LukeFRC Posted February 17, 2014 Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1328742789' post='1532160'] Thanks for clearing that up Luke. [size=1]It's Moon[b]Bass[/b]Alpha btw[/size] [/quote] typical me -get yer name wrong. You know I come back to this thread a week or so later and can't for the life of me think why i thought it funny to correct your cr@p to crap. it's not really - I wonder what I was thinking. Edited February 17, 2014 by LukeFRC
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