stewblack Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 (edited) Unwrapped a suspicious parcel only to find lurking inside, surprise surprise, another bass guitar 🤦🏼♂️ Seriously, somebody stop me. Every time I scrape together a few quid I tell myself to save it for a rainy day. Then find myself in a dark alley trembling and twitching as I hand it all over for just one more score. This week I have become the proud owner of a Washburn Scavenger. I have a few weak areas in my feeble defences, of which, early 80s MIJ basses is one. This is a doozy. Really lovely finish, great shape (I think so anyway) and it sounds wonderful. No neck dive at all. There can't be any really. Not unless the neck was another three feet longer and constructed from cast iron. This is a heavy piece of wood. No problem on a comfort strap, I played it all evening and even my dodgy shoulder is fine. It's also string through, which I've not had before. Tell me, does this mean flats are a no no? I know @Bassassin knows a fair bit about these. Any info gratefully received. Edited July 30, 2020 by stewblack 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Looks like a nice example, and good (as well as unusual) to get what I assume is the original case too. Don't know as much about these as I'd like to, having owned 2 MIJ Washburns from the same era - but these were made by Yamaki Gakki, and later by Chushin. I don't think the Wing series basses - the Scavengers & Vultures - were around for very long so they're almost certainly Yamaki. This is a 1980 catalogue: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/catalogs/1980_fullline/80_wash_cat_pg7.jpg.html Serial should be dateable, the first 2 digits should be the year. If you do FB there are a couple of relevant groups: Washburn Guitars - The Golden Era Daions Online Daions were made by Yamaki - in fact the two companies were owned by the same family - and Yamaki's head designer Hirotsugu Teradaira designed the MIJ Washburns made there, so there is a lot of shared DNA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I like the simplicity of the bass. Looks in great condition too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Had a scroll through the FB groups. Got an uneasy feeling that I may have started a whole new love affair here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyellowcar Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Looks an awful lot like the first bass I ever got my hands on - a “Hondo II” which was black with a maple board and lumbered with a Gibson style bridge. No doubt a copy of a bass like this! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Having seen the weight of these, if you get fed up with it you can always use it as a mallet to put in fence posts or erect circus marquees 🤣🤪😂 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I should thing flats would be ok, but might be worth trying it with a cheap ish set first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 13 minutes ago, Bassfinger said: I should thing flats would be ok, but might be worth trying it with a cheap ish set first. I can't recall where I read that you shouldn't use flats on a through body string set up...maybe I dreamt it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 How heavy is heavy in this instance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naxos10 Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 I would think that the construction of flats, wider wrap, would possibly prevent the use of flats for through body stringing (have a look at the photo's in the 'flat wound string close ups' thread in 'General Discussion' and imagine how the string would look when bent at 90 deg).😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 The original Fender Precision had through-body stringing, and that was over a decade before they got around to inventing roundwounds. I think there has been at least one through-body Fender in the catalogue for the last 25 years, and there are still plenty of us who prefer the sound (and feel) of flats. It seems unlikely that flats are as fragile as some are suggesting. IMHO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted August 1, 2020 Author Share Posted August 1, 2020 11 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said: How heavy is heavy in this instance? I put it on a 'speak your weight' machine and it said 'one at a time please' I don't know is the honest answer. Bathroom scales I have are horribly inaccurate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted August 1, 2020 Author Share Posted August 1, 2020 I remembered! It was on Bass Direct. Maybe only Labella say this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 That would make sense ... they offer a flatwound string designed specifically for through-body stringing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 (edited) The JMJ mustang is string-thru and comes with Fender Flats, and as Fender don't do short scale flats, a fair amount of the wound part of the E & A strings end up going around the tuner capstan, so that's two no-nos that have been proven wrong (at least anecdotally). Edited August 1, 2020 by Jean-Luc Pickguard 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 (edited) 18 hours ago, stewblack said: I can't recall where I read that you shouldn't use flats on a through body string set up...maybe I dreamt it! I dont think theres any inherent law of man or physics stopping you. It can be done, seen them first hand, although may be the case that some types don't survive the bend where they turn 90 degrees at the bridge. The power of Google shows many folk successfully doing so and listing the strings they are using. Edited August 1, 2020 by Bassfinger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 (edited) 22 hours ago, theyellowcar said: Looks an awful lot like the first bass I ever got my hands on - a “Hondo II” which was black with a maple board and lumbered with a Gibson style bridge. No doubt a copy of a bass like this! Definite similarities. There was a pretty standard format for a lot of MIJ original design basses, which was basically a symmetrical doublecut body, bolt neck, 2-a-side headstock & a single P type pickup. Washburn, Westbury, Vantage, Kasuga, Aria, Hondo, Morris and various others all had basses like this. Not sure if they were an attempt to "originalise" something like a Gibson EB type, or just have consistency with their guitar designs. Or maybe just an odd affection for neck dive... Edited August 1, 2020 by Bassassin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 nice... simple and elegant... White pickup covers need to go... they scream! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted August 2, 2020 Author Share Posted August 2, 2020 13 hours ago, PaulThePlug said: nice... simple and elegant... White pickup covers need to go... they scream! Ah, but are they original? If so they must stay! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 Nice score! I’ve had flats (Chromes) on a Mustang and they were fine, no sign of possible breaks where they came through the body. Make sure there is enough length before the taper to accommodate the extra couple of cm required to pass through the body. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moos3h Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 My dad had one of these, it was last seen nailed to the ceiling of the White Hart Tap in St Alban's (wonder if it's still there!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, stewblack said: Ah, but are they original? If so they must stay! They certainly are - cream covered DiMarzios (or copies made by Maxon or Goto, which Yamaki/Washburn used) were absolutely de rigueur on early 80s basses! Swapping the covers would be sacrelige! Edited August 2, 2020 by Bassassin Absolution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted August 2, 2020 Author Share Posted August 2, 2020 He has spoken 👆 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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