Tubster Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Friend here in Spain showed me her “Kingfisher” branded p bass. It is probably 70s and made in Japan. It’s in nice condition save for the neck which is a banana with more than an inch between strings and fretboard. Trussrod is modern MM style but is maxed out. So a few questions.... 1. Anyone have any info on this brand? 2. What would be a value in its current condition? 3. How could neck be sorted, if at all? 4. Is it worth spending time on? Thanks for taking time to comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I’d hazard a guess that the body is in ply going by the overspray on the contours. If it were me, I’d take a portion of the money you would need to spent on this and instead buy a Harley Benton P- bass. Sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Yeah. I'd move on too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 It certainly looks to me like one of the 70s Japanese copies. Some were quite good (I had a great 1971 Jazz) but the neck sounds like it has had it. I'd either pass or if you are super keen, get a cheap neck for it. Certainly no real value in that condition. Even the decent ones are worth significantly less than you'd think. It always used to be the budget way to own a vintage bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) It's slightly more interesting than the MIJ copies in that it's actually an East German-made Musima - easy to ID from the external heel-end truss adjustment and the curious use of rather high-quality Gotoh Resolite tuners. Here's a somewhat more broken one in Estonia: https://www.osta.ee/en/retro-elektrikitarr-musima-action-bass-35-95632552.html And here's one on UK Ebay, unconvincingly pretending to be a 70s Jazz! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/used-70s-original-electric-bass-guitar-fender-jazz-neck/312771076085 Kingfisher will have been a local importer rebrand - in fact most of these Musimas (Musimae?) turn up unbranded. There were also matching Strat versions too, seen several at my local car boot over the years. As far as the neck's concerned - it might be sortable, with a bit of brute force and a few washers. Get the neck off, manually bend it (brace the head on the floor, bend it back against your knee) and then see if the adjuster will tighten. If not, you should be able to get the adjuster nut off & bung a washer or two under it to give the nut a few more turns. This is an old P copy I had, being (successfully) persuaded to abandon its tendency to forward-bow. Strings are slacked off and it's clamped at the body end, bent back over the neck rest, and out of shot, the head's clamped to the bench to tension the whole thing. Left it like that for 3 days then cranked the truss rod to hold it straight. Sorted! Don't be afraid to flex a neck - it'll bend way further than you expect without breaking. Probably... Edited September 18, 2019 by Bassassin Unintended obesity reference. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubster Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 Well, as my granny used to say - "Ill go to the foot of our stairs!" Thanks all for your comments and sleuthing. Seems like Bassassin has cracked the code. The tuners are nice quality which gave me pause for thought. Anyway, a bid over 100 euros looks like being generous. Once again, many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 On 18/09/2019 at 19:11, Bassassin said: It's slightly more interesting than the MIJ copies in that it's actually an East German-made Musima - easy to ID from the external heel-end truss adjustment and the curious use of rather high-quality Gotoh Resolite tuners. Here's a somewhat more broken one in Estonia: https://www.osta.ee/en/retro-elektrikitarr-musima-action-bass-35-95632552.html And here's one on UK Ebay, unconvincingly pretending to be a 70s Jazz! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/used-70s-original-electric-bass-guitar-fender-jazz-neck/312771076085 Kingfisher will have been a local importer rebrand - in fact most of these Musimas (Musimae?) turn up unbranded. There were also matching Strat versions too, seen several at my local car boot over the years. As far as the neck's concerned - it might be sortable, with a bit of brute force and a few washers. Get the neck off, manually bend it (brace the head on the floor, bend it back against your knee) and then see if the adjuster will tighten. If not, you should be able to get the adjuster nut off & bung a washer or two under it to give the nut a few more turns. This is an old P copy I had, being (successfully) persuaded to abandon its tendency to forward-bow. Strings are slacked off and it's clamped at the body end, bent back over the neck rest, and out of shot, the head's clamped to the bench to tension the whole thing. Left it like that for 3 days then cranked the truss rod to hold it straight. Sorted! Don't be afraid to flex a neck - it'll bend way further than you expect without breaking. Probably... I did that with a Greco Rickenfaker that arrived from Russia with a severely up-bowed neck. Left it clamped for about 4 days and never had a problem with it sonce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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