Soulfinger Posted May 11, 2008 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted May 11, 2008 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulfinger Posted May 11, 2008 Author Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Bolton Posted May 11, 2008 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy67 Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 I'm certain I had the guitar version of that bass - the make was egbert! andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juppsaar Posted July 19, 2008 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted August 8, 2008 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 You never cease to amaze me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_of_the_bass Posted August 8, 2008 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted August 8, 2008 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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