Vintage MIJ (formerly J@pCr@p) Spotting

[Annoying Twit]

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought that 'at the same time' meant he was sending both to one of you , and the other one would pick up. (I guessed that you were in geographically close locations). Sorry.

[allighatt0r]

No problem, my fault for having slightly rubbish grammar.

[Bassassin]

Moving on, this really is something you don't see every day:

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121228649213"]Daion Power Mark X-B[/url]

These are the proverbial rocking horse poo and £300 is probably pretty reasonable. Made by Yamaki, have a close look at the hardware & build details and you can see why a lot of JapCrap anoraks believe the early MIJ Washburns (like that lovely Vulture) came from the same factory.

Slightly more modest but getting quite rare, a Vantage VS600 (I think), looks pretty tidy:

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141132131797"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141132131797[/url]

J.

[Annoying Twit]

You appear to be coming into your stride in terms of buying stuff :)I

If you search on "Old Bass Guitar" on ebay, and find the red (I think) one with that title, are you tempted?

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1386154875' post='2296391']
You appear to be coming into your stride in terms of buying stuff :)I

If you search on "Old Bass Guitar" on ebay, and find the red (I think) one with that title, are you tempted?
[/quote]

Fortunately having just changed energy supplier, I have a reasonable deal (for a month or two at least) and less of a need for firewood!

I normally only post stuff I don't intend buying - the Matsumoku J was a rare exception due to a moment of weakness. If that Daion had a J pup as well as the P, it wouldn't be on here!

J.

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1386158267' post='2296459']
I normally only post stuff I don't intend buying
[/quote]
I can assure you that you're not alone in this.

[chaypup]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1386158267' post='2296459']
Fortunately having just changed energy supplier, I have a reasonable deal (for a month or two at least) and less of a need for firewood!

I normally only post stuff I don't intend buying - the Matsumoku J was a rare exception due to a moment of weakness. [b]If that Daion had a J pup as well as the P, it wouldn't be on here![/b]

J.
[/quote]

Mine does (Although it's an after mod, done in 83, as is the active circuitry)

[Annoying Twit]

How nicely do the Westone Spectrums play?

E.g. one like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Spectrum-bass-/321263006381?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4accc472ad

Until yesterday I wasn't in the market for a four string fretted bass. However, having played some very nice basses yesterday, I'm thinking I still need to keep checking in case I find something irresistible. However, I'd need to travel some miles to try this out, which would also take up the seller's time. As this seller lists very many interesting basses, I would like to be in his good books.

[Bassassin]

If you're in the market for a Speccy, have you seen this one?

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222040-westone-spectrum-gt-bass-w-hardcase-l160-posted/

A fair bit higher up the food chain than the Ebay one.

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1386177239' post='2296797']
If you're in the market for a Speccy, have you seen this one?

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222040-westone-spectrum-gt-bass-w-hardcase-l160-posted/"]http://basschat.co.u...se-l160-posted/[/url]

A fair bit higher up the food chain than the Ebay one.
[/quote]

It's not so much that I want a speccy, but that I'm interested in trying more basses and perhaps coming across 'the one'. I tried too very well setup (warning: In my inexpert opinion alter) basses that played extremely well yesterday. Neither was very expensive. The seller of the bass in my post is near me, is someone who has all the appearances of knowing his bass onions, and I know from previous communications that if I'm seriously interested in something, that it would be OK for me to go over and try it. But I don't want to just go over and try just anything in case I waste his time, and perhaps he's less interested in letting me try things in the future when I am more serious. I've got a stored search on ebay just for his listings, and I'm thinking of the long term

The speccy above is probably nicer, but the Wirral is a bit far to go for me to try it. It's the concept of trying a bass and finding 'the one' that caused me to post here, not a particular desire for a speccy.

[allighatt0r]

The Hondo has arrived! It's overall quite nice, the hard case is a bit beat up but functional. Deperately needs a new set of strings and the bridge is bent out of shape.

There's a route out underneath the bridge so I'm not sure a Hipshot Supertone will do the job. I think I'll try to get a standard Gibbo Three Pointer.

Looking forward to plugging it in at home later.

[Annoying Twit]

Congratulations! Will we get to see it with pics and hear it with recordings?

[allighatt0r]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1386257127' post='2297814']
Congratulations! Will we get to see it with pics and hear it with recordings?
[/quote]

I can take lots of pics but haven't done recordings before! I will have to see what I can do.

[pete.young]

Wedgie anyone?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-WL-The-Wedge-Custom-Series-Bass-1985-Matsumoku-Made-in-Japan-SUPER-RARE-/221327011259?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item33881e2dbb

[allighatt0r]

A nice looking Hondo P, with our very own FlatEric referenced in the description. Although the picture is not actually the bass for sale....?!?!?

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hondo-Professional-Bass-Made-in-Japan-/121229837763"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hondo-Professional-Bass-Made-in-Japan-/121229837763[/url]

[FlatEric]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1386260255' post='2297883']
A nice looking Hondo P, with our very own FlatEric referenced in the description. Although the picture is not actually the bass for sale....?!?!?

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hondo-Professional-Bass-Made-in-Japan-/121229837763"]http://www.ebay.co.u...n-/121229837763[/url]
[/quote]

Ah, fame at last!!

Says he will put up his pics later.

Mine is really nice - The Professional [i]is [/i]different to the Std Hondo/Hondo II.

Details here.
[url="http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/hondo-professional.html"]http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/hondo-professional.html[/url]

Cheers.

[allighatt0r]

The Hondo I just picked up has the same style of logo as yours, I expect they must have been manufactured around the same sort of time.

What do you use to polish the frets on a maple board?

[Bassassin]

First NBD for me in a while - here's the Eros Jazz, fresh from the (copious) cardboard & bubblewrap:



Pleasantly surprised - under 40 years' grime, the neck's in very good condition, everything's original apart from the nut, no damage apart from the knocks & chips you'd expect. Cleaned up this will be a very nice example of a very early (black button tuners date it to around '71) Japanese Jazz copy.

I may give it its own thread.

J.

[Annoying Twit]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-11-Bass-Guitar-/221333156069?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item33887bf0e5

I'm trying to revise my SBs. Neck through, passive. SB700?

[Bloodaxe]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1386522477' post='2300999'] http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-11-Bass-Guitar-/221333156069?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item33887bf0e5 I'm trying to revise my SBs. Neck through, passive. SB700? [/quote]

Spot on. 1979 & still has its original knobs. Interesting to see how it fares.

[alyctes]

Hot pink Charvel 5-string
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jackson-Charvel-Electric-Bass-Guitar-/181274139818?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2a34c7dcaa

I may have seen the seller's name before?

[allighatt0r]

Sorry, been on a morris dancing weekend, so not had the chance to take pictures. Overall I'm pretty impressed, although the bridge is buggered (poorly made and bent upwards in the middle) so I have sourced a thunderbird three point bridge which I'm hoping will fit OK.

[karlfer]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1386341277' post='2299024']
First NBD for me in a while - here's the Eros Jazz, fresh from the (copious) cardboard & bubblewrap:



Pleasantly surprised - under 40 years' grime, the neck's in very good condition, everything's original apart from the nut, no damage apart from the knocks & chips you'd expect. Cleaned up this will be a very nice example of a very early (black button tuners date it to around '71) Japanese Jazz copy.

I may give it its own thread.

J.
[/quote]

Interesting pups Jon?

[Bassassin]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1387356536' post='2310938']
Interesting pups Jon?
[/quote]
They are - seen these before on early Matsumoku J copies, and I suppose reflect the fact they're supposed to be hidden away under ashtrays. Quite a few Japanese J copies had odd-looking pups for the same reason. Anyway these are just plain brown plastic bobbins with a taped-up coil - they do look a bit grim but I'm going to cut & drill a couple of bits of black scratchplate plastic to put on the tops. Should tidy up the looks and make a more useable thumb anchor point.

As yet no idea what they sound like as the bass is still in bits, but output is a healthy 7.6k for each. Hope they sound OK because I doubt there are many drop-in alternatives!

J.

[Annoying Twit]

Maya Fretless P. Said to be from the same factory as Ibanez/Tokai. I usually think of 'the Ibanez factor' being Fujigen, and of Tokai having its own factory. But it's been mentioned before that things are more complicated than that.

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAYA-FRETLESS-PRECISION-BASS-1970s-ROTOSOUND-FLATWOUND-STRINGS-IBANEZ-TOKAI-ERA-/261357642044?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cda21213c"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3cda21213c[/url]

Edited December 19, 2013 by Annoying Twit