New Jack Bass City (well, Village). Oh, and an Aria too

[Old Horse Murphy]

So after my recent acquisition of a 1988 active Hohner Jack (in black as yer 'at) I am completely

smitten, partly I'm sure due to rose-tinted glasses remembering my youth, but partly because they're bloody good basses. I intermittently check EBay and Facebook Marketplace to see if anything of interest comes up. 
 

On Saturday, I found a 1987 Jack Bass (this time a passive one in the dark natural finish) not too far from me that had been advertised as a "Johnson Horner bass from the late 70's/early 80's" whatever that might be. The photos told a different story though and after I contacted the seller, she told me she'd advertised it on behalf of her Dad who wasn't on Facebook. After a short call with him (lovely guy) I headed down to take a look. 
 

It's a bit scruffy but nothing too major and it had quite a high action due to the really thick double ball strings on it. It also has a bit of a temperamental Jack socket that I'm hoping just needs a good clean and maybe the contacts bending in a bit more. It sounds immense though and after a bit of fettling has a lovely action and plays really well. I didn't realise they released a passive version but I really like it. 
 

I also recently bought a rather lovely Aria RSB Deluxe dating back to 1984. It's in really good overall nick  and the electrics sound amazing considering it's passive. I've always loved Arias and this one plays beautifully too and weighs in at just over 8lbs.  

They'll both be gigged this weekend and I must say it's rather nice to have something other than Fenders/Stingrays to play for a change. They always certainly attract a bit more of appreciative attention from people in the know,

although that may be because of my winning smile and come-to-bed eyes...

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Old Horse Murphy

[AndyTravis]

Love that blue aria - Had one of those pickups when I couldn’t find an SB replacement in budget for my SB1000 - was great.

 

miss my old arias ☹️

[Bassassin]

That Aria's the spit of mine, which I had new in 1984! Apart from mine, I don't think I've seen another blue/black burst outside of a catalogue, very uncommon finish.

 

 

This was my main gigging bass up to the late 90s, by which point it had developed a severe & irreparable neck twist. It's currently wearing an RSB Straycat neck which is not a perfect fit or of the same proportions, so it's nothing like as nice a player as it was originally. Still the second most versatile passive bass (after a Peavey T40) I've ever played, thanks to the plethora of switching options.

 

I live in hope of a good replacement RSB Deluxe neck turning up!

[Old Horse Murphy]

On 12/04/2022 at 12:07, Bassassin said:

That Aria's the spit of mine, which I had new in 1984! Apart from mine, I don't think I've seen another blue/black burst outside of a catalogue, very uncommon finish.

 

 

This was my main gigging bass up to the late 90s, by which point it had developed a severe & irreparable neck twist. It's currently wearing an RSB Straycat neck which is not a perfect fit or of the same proportions, so it's nothing like as nice a player as it was originally. Still the second most versatile passive bass (after a Peavey T40) I've ever played, thanks to the plethora of switching options.

 

I live in hope of a good replacement RSB Deluxe neck turning up!

Wow. That's lovely. These were a bit too early for me first time around and I have no recollection of them at all. I became a huge fan of Arias in the late-80's/early 90's though. They seemed so different from everything else available. 

[Old Horse Murphy]

Both Jacks are now fitted with the string adaptors (allowing non-double ball end strings) and restrung with my favourite nickel Roundwounds. Those adaptors are a bloomin' marvel and completely transform the basses for me and make them eminently more playable.