KAREL Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 This guitar is for sale, passed as a Fender Bass. It is rather lowly priced, so I am somewhat suspicious about the authenticity of this instrument. The tuners look different from any other type I have found online (especially the back). The scratchplate has some unused holes in it and the logo looks a bit fishy. However, I am no Fender expert (not in the least) so this could also just be an older model. Could someone shed some light on this please? Karel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickster Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Fake. Wrong tuners, crappy transfer logo, pick guard wrong shape & too many screws, trussed hole wrong shape, no truss rod plug in headstock, body shape looks wrong (tho hard to tell from these crappy photos - could be lens distortion). And thats just for starters. Best avoid 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Generally if you have to ask... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Im no expert but even I can spot thats a fake 10 miles away, the tuners for starters are super wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 (edited) There's nothing about the headstock that looks right. Fender put the string tree closer to the A string machine head, shouldn't there be a serial number on the back of the headstock? Fender have never just put "Fender" on the headstock, there's always something else "Made in USA" , "Precision Bass" etc The spindle size on the machine heads is too small, I've seen those on some Chinese made Squiers. Edited March 21, 2018 by Dom in Somerset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilco Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 That's worth £25 of anyone's money...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbass6 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Fake. It looks like one of those old Kay basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAREL Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 Hi guys! Thanks for scrutinising this instrument. You saved me from buyer's remorse. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 The closed back tuners are similar to an old Columbus Jazz I had back in the eighties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Fake, but depending on price doesn't mean it's not worth the money as a cheap bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 there's something weird going on with that nut as well, looking closely at the headstock photo you can actually see where the old logo was scratched away, does it say "Encore"? - or Columbus ? early jap copy is my guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I know almost nothing about Fenders, but even I can say with 100% certainty that that is not a Fender bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 It's a 70s copy-era bass, probably MIJ. The tuners are Gotohs and incredibly common on basses from that period. Looks to be one of the better quality basses, it appears to have a solid timber body, rather than ply or butcher block - there are no big black oversprays concealing laminations on the contours. A lot of these basses originally had Gibson-type nuts & looking closely I think this did too - there's a rough-looking bit of timber poked in behind the nut on this. Looks a bit bodged. I don't think the scratchplate's original - most maple board/burst MIJ copies had tort plates. Not enough detail or pics to speculate on a manufacturer but clearly nothing to do with Fender. Depends how cheap it is - some of the old MIJ stuff was excellent & if this was sub £100 it might be worth a look anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 70s mij stuff seems to be selling for relatively big bucks these days. I've always hated that style of tuner, it surprises me they went to the trouble to copy the rest of the bass and then just gave up on the tuners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 5 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said: 70s mij stuff seems to be selling for relatively big bucks these days. I've always hated that style of tuner, it surprises me they went to the trouble to copy the rest of the bass and then just gave up on the tuners. Much better to have exposed tuner gears so they get all gummed up with crud, than have them neatly enclosed! Funny how form takes precedence over function? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Don't get me wrong, I like enclosed tuners, mine are Sperzel, but open gear ones just don't get gummed up with anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblueplanet Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 The decal is clearly stuck on and not under the lacquer. Im a lefty and have owned three MIJ jazz basses and these only say Fender on headstock but pretty sure all right-hand models always include the model name too. Tuners are completely wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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