Woss This?

[FirstBass]

Hi All.

 

Can anyone shed any light on this beast? 

 

I've had it in my loft for about 30 years.

 

Any sensible info appreciated! 😁

 

 

[Reggaebass]

Looks like a jedson telecaster style bass 🙂

[Reggaebass]

2 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Looks like a jedson telecaster style bass 🙂

I’ve shown it before but one of those was my first bass in around 1978, second hand for £30 😁

 

 

 

 

 

[BigRedX]

17 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I’ve shown it before but one of those was my first bass in around 1978, second hand for £30 😁

in which case you over-paid by about £25.00

[Reggaebass]

Just now, BigRedX said:

in which case you over-paid by about £25.00

I’d agree with that 

[three]

I loved these when I was about 15 and really wanted one. I managed to borrow a sunburst Jedson and learned on that ‘til I was very generously loaned a CAR Fender Mustang (late ‘60s with comp stripes I think). There’s still a cool quirkiness to these Jedsons Tele types and I’m still a fan of the colour. That I learned on a Jedson possibly explains a lot. 

[Boodang]

My Jedson Tele bass does look similar... apart from the emg mod!

Honestly can hardly be called a bass at a 24" scale. The cheapskates just put 4 strings on their guitar version and called it a bass guitar. With nylon strings and the emg it sounds quite big but plays like sh*t. Have to say tho, that as cr*p as it is, it makes you play differently with the consequence that I write a lot of interesting bass lines with it... I wouldn't part with mine!

[Len_derby]

Foulds Guitars, shop in Derby are selling a used version that looks almost identical to yours. They are asking for £400. It’s been in the shop a few weeks though! No takers, so far.

[FirstBass]

I just had a look at that - brilliant! Thank you

 

Its certainly not something i'd consider using, but I just can't get rid.... Pointless really, but i'm a bit like that 😁

 

Thank you everyone for your comments. At last I actually know what it is! 👍

[Reggaebass]

I’ve seen them sell for around the £100 mark which is a bit more realistic, probably bought by someone for nostalgic reasons 🙂

[uk_lefty]

A guitarist I played with a few years back uses a Jedson Tele through a really rubbish Digitech multi effects from the 90's. He sounds absolutely fantastic, even though he knows he's playing on ropey gear I think he'd just had that stuff so long he knew how to make it work for him. 

 

The bass looks like a different story though... Still, would look nice hanging on the wall.

[Rexel Matador]

I just this moment logged in to ask if anyone could identify this bass that my friend says he bought a while back for £10, and stumbled across this thread. Similar unbranded headstock, same unusual truss rod cover and two single coil configuration - what are the chances?

 

  

[Bassassin]

The Tele thing's not a Jedson, seeing as how it doesn't say Jedson on the end. It's the exact same thing though, sold unbranded as many old MIJ basses were.

 

Both it and the SG-ish thing (an almost-copy of Gibson's budget Kalamazoo KB-1) turn up in the wild badged as Sakai, which makes it highly likely they were made by Sakai Mokko, at some point in the early 70s.

[NikNik]

11 hours ago, Bassassin said:

The Tele thing's not a Jedson, seeing as how it doesn't say Jedson on the end. It's the exact same thing though, sold unbranded as many old MIJ basses were.

 

Both it and the SG-ish thing (an almost-copy of Gibson's budget Kalamazoo KB-1) turn up in the wild badged as Sakai, which makes it highly likely they were made by Sakai Mokko, at some point in the early 70s.

Your knowledge never ceases to amaze me, Jon.

[NikNik]

On 25/01/2022 at 19:50, GlamBass74 said:

Hi All.

 

Can anyone shed any light on this beast? 

 

I've had it in my loft for about 30 years.

 

Any sensible info appreciated! 😁

 

 

Six-bolt neck plate and truss rod wheel adjust waaay before Ernie Ball did it!😄

[Bassassin]

6 minutes ago, NikNik said:

Six-bolt neck plate and truss rod wheel adjust waaay before Ernie Ball did it!😄

 

Interesting what turns up on 50+ year old cheap guitars that get dissmissed as trash. Lots of them had strip ply necks, much less prone to warping than a single piece of unseasoned timber. You can find exactly the same thing on many £1000+ Martin acoustics.

 

Shame zero-frets haven't been rehabilitated the way other 'junk guitar' traits have!

[Reggaebass]

I know these are referred to as rubbish and they probably are compared to today’s standards, but my one was in the loft for about 25 years with no case and one day I got it down and plugged it in and it worked, the jack was a bit crackly but other than that it was fine, and the truss rod still works, they are quite fun to play 😁

[FirstBass]

I cleaned mine up last night and tried it - SUCCESS!

 

What a strange tone. Very "thunky" - really quite nice

 

A bit crackly, but nothing I cant fix

 

 

[JPJ]

My first bass was a Jedson tele in sunburst. Covered it with black sticky backed plastic from Woolworths and er shielded the scratch plate with tin foil for both aesthetic and electronic effect 😊 instant Phil Lynott with the emphasis on the “not” 😂

[Boodang]

3 hours ago, GlamBass74 said:

I cleaned mine up last night and tried it - SUCCESS!

 

What a strange tone. Very "thunky" - really quite nice

 

A bit crackly, but nothing I cant fix

 

 

I get a really deep tone from mine, which considering the scale length I wasn't expecting. Admittedly it has a MM EMG installed (I just had it lying around at the time so seemed like a good idea) but actually quite a usable tone. Despite its intonation issues I drag it out live for a few numbers just because it's so different!

[FirstBass]

I'd look ridiculous playing mine - i'm not a small chap (but then again, this is a man that rode a Honda 90 from Norwich to John O Groats and back so anything goes really)

 

I think it'll be a home playing only bass 😁

 

Might even lush it up with a new set of strings..... 'bout time

Edited January 28, 2022 by GlamBass74

[pete.young]

On 27/01/2022 at 13:08, Bassassin said:

 

 

 

Shame zero-frets haven't been rehabilitated the way other 'junk guitar' traits have!

 

Oi, do you mind? My Fylde acoustic has a zero fret.

[Boodang]

5 minutes ago, GlamBass74 said:

I'd look ridiculous playing mine - i'm not a small chap (but then again, this is a man that rode a Honda 90 from Norwich to John O Groats and back so anything goes really)

 

I think it'll be a home playing only bass 😁

 

Might even lush it up with a new set of strings..... 'bout 

Use it without warning at a gig! Hide it behind your amp in a bag, do a quick swap between numbers and see how off putting it is to the rest of the band. It'll keep them on their toes.

[fleabag]

On 25/01/2022 at 19:50, GlamBass74 said:

Any sensible info appreciated! 😁

 

 

Ha!

You've been here long enough to know 

 

[NancyJohnson]

On 26/01/2022 at 11:15, Rexel Matador said:

I just this moment logged in to ask if anyone could identify this bass that my friend says he bought a while back for £10, and stumbled across this thread. Similar unbranded headstock, same unusual truss rod cover and two single coil configuration - what are the chances?

 

  

 

There should be an Arbiter waterslide decal on that.  My first bass was an ivory coloured one of those.  £35.00.

 

I've put a link to one for sale on Reverb...always find it odd when sellers describe instruments like this as rare in an effort to up the ante (and the price).  They're rare for a reason; they didn't make or sell that many.  'Rare' isn't a qualifier for being any good. 

 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/387282-arbiter-sg-bass-sixties-red-black