Soulfinger Posted May 11, 2008 Posted May 11, 2008 Hi! I thought I´d help out a guy over at the swiss bass forum (bassic.ch) - he bought a semi-hollow, short-scale Made in Japan bass on eBay and is now wondering what it is: [url="http://www.hermann-juppes.de/basssearch.htm"]http://www.hermann-juppes.de/basssearch.htm[/url] All input appreciated - thanks! Quote
Bassassin Posted May 11, 2008 Posted May 11, 2008 Unfortunately it's really hard to see much useful detail from the typically rubbish Ebay pics - when your friend gets the bass, try & get some clearer & more detailed photos. Headstocks, pickups, bridge, neckplates etc are useful clues for getting an idea about age & origin - and the pics here succeed in hiding most of these quite well! My first impression is mid-late 60s, possibly Aria-related (although it's not a 1220 - this had a 335-body shape & offset dot markers, afaik) - and I think, from what I can see from the photos - it's related to this: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18646"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18646[/url] Compare the neck/headstock particularly - if it turns out the semi has a zero-fret, squared fretboard corners & plastic laminate overlay on the head - that's a positive comparison. Still won't tell us what it actually is - but it's a good start as clues go. Jon. Quote
Soulfinger Posted May 11, 2008 Author Posted May 11, 2008 Cheers Jon, I hoped you´d chime in. I´ll send him a link to this thread and let you know when he comes up with better pics. Thanks! Quote
Jono Bolton Posted May 11, 2008 Posted May 11, 2008 [quote name='Bassassin' post='196492' date='May 11 2008, 01:01 PM']Unfortunately it's really hard to see much useful detail from the typically rubbish Ebay pics - when your friend gets the bass, try & get some clearer & more detailed photos. Headstocks, pickups, bridge, neckplates etc are useful clues for getting an idea about age & origin - and the pics here succeed in hiding most of these quite well! My first impression is mid-late 60s, possibly Aria-related (although it's not a 1220 - this had a 335-body shape & offset dot markers, afaik) - and I think, from what I can see from the photos - it's related to this: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18646"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18646[/url] Compare the neck/headstock particularly - if it turns out the semi has a zero-fret, squared fretboard corners & plastic laminate overlay on the head - that's a positive comparison. Still won't tell us what it actually is - but it's a good start as clues go. Jon.[/quote] There's definitely a zero-fret there. Quote
andy67 Posted May 11, 2008 Posted May 11, 2008 I'm certain I had the guitar version of that bass - the make was egbert! andy Quote
juppsaar Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Hi and thank you for the previous posts, I now signed for this forum myself and find it very interesting.... I got the bass back from the repair guy who fixed the non working toggle switch.... I have taken some more pictures and posted them under [url="http://www.hermann-juppes.de/basssearch.htm"]http://www.hermann-juppes.de/basssearch.htm[/url] Is it possible to see a little more there??? Still wondering where the bass was built and when..... Best regards Jupp Quote
Bassassin Posted August 8, 2008 Posted August 8, 2008 Sorry I missed your post about this - but better late than never... [quote]Compare the neck/headstock particularly - if it turns out the semi has a zero-fret, squared fretboard corners & plastic laminate overlay on the head - that's a positive comparison. Still won't tell us what it actually is - but it's a good start as clues go.[/quote] ...was what I said before, and apart from the fretboard ends, it checks out, and the clear lacquered neck shows another trait which goes with the aforementioned details -the neck is a strip ply laminate, sometimes called strip mahogany. So it is from the same origin as the other bass I linked - or at least the neck is. In the early days of the Japanese guitar industry, necks & bodies didn't always originate from the same factory - this is probably why, for example, we often see early Aria/Matsumoku and Fujigen Gakki guitars, both featuring identical 3-piece quarter sawn necks. Anyway, I digress. A lot of guitars & basses which have necks like this semi also have shield-shaped neckplates, which are associated with a Japanese brand called Zen-On. It's not clear if they built their own instruments. To confuse things, this bass has a plate I have never before seen used with this style neck - and these 6-bolt plates are [i]anecdotally[/i] connected to the Moridaira factory - they do appear on early examples of their own Morris brand, and are generally seen as reliable ID for rebranded Moridairas. So I'd speculate that this bass [i]might[/i] be from Moridaira, but using a neck from a different, as-yet unidentified manufacturer. J. Quote
doctor_of_the_bass Posted August 8, 2008 Posted August 8, 2008 Its a Fender Jazz! Oops! Sorry! Just realised its the bass in the middle of the first pic! A fellow player from round these parts had a similar bass (body-wise) made by Vox? Interesting! Quote
Bassassin Posted August 8, 2008 Posted August 8, 2008 [quote name='charic' post='258361' date='Aug 8 2008, 05:46 PM']You never cease to amaze me...[/quote] I amaze myself, too - but not in a good way. It's probably symptomatic of some sort of as-yet undefined personality disorder, and unless I'm sectioned & suitably medicated, some forthcoming but impossible-to-predict event will trigger a frenzied homicidal killing spree. Good to have something to look forward to, that's what I say. J. Quote
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