Robin_P Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 Hi all, For Christmas this year I was bought my first bass. As I had never touched a bass before (although I do have a few years of guitar experience) Santa chose a second hand bass on eBay. I will attach a picture below. I’m hoping someone can provide me with some information about the Futurama brand and let me know what particular model of bass it is? From what little I can find online, the futurama brand was around in the 60’s and mine is probably a replica. Regardless, it would be nice to know who made it and what model it is. Cheers Quote
Silvia Bluejay Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 This topic has now been moved to Bass Guitars. Quote
karlfer Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 The original Futuramas were made for Hagstrom of Sweden, mainly Jazz copies. You can see them occasionally up for sale on Feebay, anything up to £700. My 1st bass was one of those, purchased for £10 in December 1973. I WAS ROBBED, they are an atrocious piece of junk. I put it in a skip 20 years ago. As far as I know, the recently re-released Futurama brand are generic Chinese (probably name just bought) & frankly probably a damn sight better than the originals. Enjoy 1 Quote
Happy Jack Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 Steady on, old chap, not all of them were crap - far from it. Futurama was not so much a brand as a description. There were a bunch of standard designs around in the late 60s and early 70s which were built in various countries, most notably Sweden (usually badged as Hagstrom) and Czechoslovakia where there was a very healthy instrument manufacturing industry. In those days IIRC the majority of their basses were shortscales intended to compete with Hofner and Framus. There were plenty of good ones - I've had some of them! The name never really went away and has been used over and over since then. Yours looks like a fairly modern copy of a Jazz bass design. If it doesn't play well, don't chuck it away in disgust. Have someone give it a good set-up first. There are really few genuinely bad instruments about these days, but there are plenty in need of setting up properly. 1 Quote
Bassassin Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 Original Futuramas are a bit off my radar, but these recent Futurama-brand J copies popped up on Ebay 5 or 6 years ago, with sellers claiming association with the "original" brand and asking somewhat inflated prices on the basis of that. Doubtless a perfectly competent Chinese Jazz clone - maybe a bit of curiosity value for the name, but that's all. Quote
karlfer Posted December 30, 2017 Posted December 30, 2017 On 12/27/2017 at 14:24, Happy Jack said: Steady on, old chap, not all of them were crap - far from it. Futurama was not so much a brand as a description. There were a bunch of standard designs around in the late 60s and early 70s which were built in various countries, most notably Sweden (usually badged as Hagstrom) and Czechoslovakia where there was a very healthy instrument manufacturing industry. In those days IIRC the majority of their basses were shortscales intended to compete with Hofner and Framus. There were plenty of good ones - I've had some of them! The name never really went away and has been used over and over since then. Yours looks like a fairly modern copy of a Jazz bass design. If it doesn't play well, don't chuck it away in disgust. Have someone give it a good set-up first. There are really few genuinely bad instruments about these days, but there are plenty in need of setting up properly. Jack, mine was exactly the same as the following (currently on Feebay at a lunatic £685). Believe me, mine was cheap, horrible rubbish, bendy neck, no intonation, awful electrics and action you could drive a bus under. YET I STILL scraped the logo off & replaced it with Fender, from one of those Dymo Tape things Quote
Harryburke14 Posted December 30, 2017 Posted December 30, 2017 It certainly looks nice anyway Robin, and I'm sure it can be made to play good too (if it doesn't already) Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and welcome to Basschat!!! Quote
Shea Stadium Posted July 6, 2023 Posted July 6, 2023 On 16/02/2023 at 20:27, Shea Stadium said: Re. Tokai TB 48 bass guitar. I bought one in early 2019.I still have it as well as a Fender Precision bass. I got it second hand but it looks new. The Tokai Thunderbird has a great sound. It has two humbucker pickups which are just out of this world. Really good. It only had one issue and all Thunderbirds have it and that is, it's headstocks heavy and tendency to neck dive. I just held bass differently and it was sorted. The sound is excellent, top notch. On 30/12/2017 at 20:53, karlfer said: Jack, mine was exactly the same as the following (currently on Feebay at a lunatic £685). Believe me, mine was cheap, horrible rubbish, bendy neck, no intonation, awful electrics and action you could drive a bus under. YET I STILL scraped the logo off & replaced it with Fender, from one of those Dymo Tape things Hello hello, that's called theft and robbery. You, ll make a good business man but a lousy musician and human being. Even Tokai put their real name on the headstock. Take a Leaf... You should do the same. 4 Quote
Silvia Bluejay Posted July 6, 2023 Posted July 6, 2023 4 minutes ago, Shea Stadium said: Hello hello, that's called theft and robbery. You, ll make a good business man but a lousy musician and human being. Even Tokai put their real name on the headstock. Take a Leaf... You should do the same. Um, where did he say he sold it as a real Fender? Quote
karlfer Posted July 6, 2023 Posted July 6, 2023 18 minutes ago, Shea Stadium said: Hello hello, that's called theft and robbery. You, ll make a good business man but a lousy musician and human being. Even Tokai put their real name on the headstock. Take a Leaf... You should do the same. Perhaps you might like to clarify facts before you accuse. I put my Futurama in a skip a couple of decades ago. Quote
Bassassin Posted July 6, 2023 Posted July 6, 2023 5 hours ago, Shea Stadium said: Hello hello, that's called theft and robbery. You, ll make a good business man but a lousy musician and human being. Even Tokai put their real name on the headstock. Take a Leaf... You should do the same. Actually it's no such thing. It's potentially an infringement of copyright/trademark, however I doubt that in 1973 Fender would have felt too threatened by a kid putting a sticky label on his bass. They had bigger problems to deal with back then - such as every Japanese factory turning out Fender clones that were infinitely superior to their own lazy CBS-era crap. 3 Quote
Baloney Balderdash Posted July 7, 2023 Posted July 7, 2023 (edited) 18 hours ago, Shea Stadium said: Hello hello, that's called theft and robbery. You, ll make a good business man but a lousy musician and human being. Even Tokai put their real name on the headstock. Take a Leaf... You should do the same. And you my friend is guilty of defamation! And that's an actual fact, unlike your accusations. Where on Earth did you come to such a conclusion from what he wrote? Just, wouh! Also why should he put his real name on the headstock? Edited July 7, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash 1 1 Quote
neepheid Posted July 8, 2023 Posted July 8, 2023 (edited) On 06/07/2023 at 15:51, Shea Stadium said: Hello hello, that's called theft and robbery. You, ll make a good business man but a lousy musician and human being. Even Tokai put their real name on the headstock. Take a Leaf... You should do the same. You have absolutely no idea what a "Dymo" is, do you? Edited July 8, 2023 by neepheid 3 Quote
Baloney Balderdash Posted July 8, 2023 Posted July 8, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, neepheid said: You have absolutely no idea what a "Dymo" is, do you? Yeah, I very much doubt anyone would be fooled to thinking it was an original Fender by someone putting a dymo label on the headstock saying so. Edited July 8, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash 1 Quote
ezbass Posted July 8, 2023 Posted July 8, 2023 For those who don’t remember the original Dymo labels that were referred to… No one would mistake these as manufacturer’s logos, it was done for a laugh. 5 Quote
neepheid Posted July 8, 2023 Posted July 8, 2023 (edited) Back then that would have likely been old school impact Dymo too. Mmm, tactile... Edit: just beaten to it! Edited July 8, 2023 by neepheid 3 Quote
PaulThePlug Posted July 8, 2023 Posted July 8, 2023 STOP... all this Dymo talk... Mrs has a Brother Label Maker... Brother the brand, not a brother that makes labels... Nothing in the house can move without its own sticky label, boxes with lids, upon a cupboard, edge of shelves... labels! 2 Quote
neepheid Posted July 8, 2023 Posted July 8, 2023 I had this exact model of Dymo when I was a kid... 4 Quote
neepheid Posted July 12, 2023 Posted July 12, 2023 (edited) On 08/07/2023 at 12:48, PaulThePlug said: STOP... all this Dymo talk... Mrs has a Brother Label Maker... Brother the brand, not a brother that makes labels... Nothing in the house can move without its own sticky label, boxes with lids, upon a cupboard, edge of shelves... labels! I hear you, brother I have this bad boy in my office at work... Right, I'm off to make some Fender logos for the old passing off - no-one will suspect a thing, muhahahaha! Edited July 12, 2023 by neepheid Quote
neepheid Posted July 12, 2023 Posted July 12, 2023 Nailed it - utterly indistinguishable from the original... 1 1 Quote
Steve Browning Posted July 12, 2023 Posted July 12, 2023 4 minutes ago, neepheid said: Nailed it - utterly indistinguishable from the original... You'll never fool an expert. The F is the wrong way round. 🙂 1 1 Quote
ezbass Posted July 12, 2023 Posted July 12, 2023 1 hour ago, neepheid said: Nailed it - utterly indistinguishable from the original... 1 hour ago, neepheid said: Curses, foiled! 🤣 Quote
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