Vintage MIJ (formerly J@pCr@p) Spotting

[Bassassin]

[quote name='noirpunk' post='236876' date='Jul 10 2008, 09:00 PM']Ibanez?
How many of those were badgeless then?
Out of interest how much is it worth?[/quote]
JapCrap in-joke, NP. Every Japanese bass or guitar ever to appear on Ebay, or anywhere else, is an Ibanez, made in the famous Ibanez factory.

Really, there's no such thing as a badgeless Ibanez - there can't be, because Ibanez [b]is[/b] only a badge. It's a brand name, owned by Hoshino Gakki, a trading company which contracts various factories to make Ibanez-branded instruments.

Anyroad up, that's a lovely-looking P, could be a Fujigen (Fujigen Gakki was the factory which made Ibanez in the 70s - amongst many other brands) but the odd skinny neckplate & that style of truss adjuster makes me think not...

I can't quite tell from the pic - but is the neck made from 3 pieces of maple? If so, that's a common construction technique on some better-quality JapCrap. From the pics, I wouldn't want to hazard a guess at a maker (they all look the same!) but there might be some clues on the hardware & electronics, if you took it to bits.

Mind me asking how much you paid for it?

J.

[noirpunk]

It is 3 piece maple, also the body is three piece.
I managed to get it from crack convertors for £60, I saw it, laughed and pulled out my debit card.
It was worth that on spec for sure. The old girl just needs a good setup

[tauzero]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='236952' date='Jul 10 2008, 10:53 PM']Anyroad up, that's a lovely-looking P, could be a Fujigen (Fujigen Gakki was the factory which made Ibanez in the 70s - amongst many other brands) but the odd skinny neckplate & that style of truss adjuster makes me think not...[/quote]
How common is that type of truss-rod adjuster? The only bass I recall seeing it on was my old Hayman 40/40, but it's not actually something you tend to notice on a bass in the normal way of things.

[Ou7shined]

It's very common on Music Man basses.

[Bassassin]

I've noticed it it on a few no-name 70s P copies, as well as some early pre copy-era JapCraps. It's on these old Arias:

[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/catalogs/75_aria/75_aria_catalog_pg1.jpg.html"]http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/catal...og_pg1.jpg.html[/url]

These pre-date Matsumoku's known involvement with the brand, so it's not clear who exactly made them! I'll do a bit of digging & see if I can find a P with this adjuster from a known brand/builder.

£60? Steal.

J.

[Happy Jack]

Now here's a challenge ... what on earth is this?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Old-1960s-1970s-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ230268217376QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230268217376&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Old-1960s-19...p3286.m14.l1318[/url]

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='238833' date='Jul 13 2008, 11:03 PM']Now here's a challenge ... what on earth is this?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Old-1960s-1970s-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ230268217376QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230268217376&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Old-1960s-19...p3286.m14.l1318[/url][/quote]
Don't know (as usual :blush:) but it looks like neck dive central.

[Bassassin]

Weird one, that. Hard to get a proper look, what with the B&Q Exterior Gloss slapped all over the body. Don't think it's Jap/Far East, perhaps another Russian/E.European freak, or maybe German. I'll have a look at Cheesyguitars.com when I get a minute...

J.

[orangepeelneil]

[size=3][font="Arial"]Hello Jon,

Sorry to hijack the JapCrap forum, but you seem the resident expert here.

I’m after a little far eastern information....

I bought this bass in the states a few years ago,from a used guitar shop in LA and brought It back home as i liked the way it looked, and played acoustically.


I always suspected it was a MIJ Hondo II as many appear on Ebay.com, but this I’ve never seen this model until today! And this has confirmed my suspicions….


[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Hondo-II-Bass-Guitar-NICE_W0QQitemZ250268864195QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Hondo-II-Bass-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]




It has no decal, so I added one I had lying around (tut!)a nd replaced the awful pups and had it set up.

The bass now plays really well, once it had been set up, the nut was stupidly high and set up was terrible.


My only criticism is the weight and the tuners, which tend to resonated sometimes(and could be upgraded.)

What else can you tell me about these basses as I may be tempted to sell it on as I’m not using it regularly and have a similar P-bass already.

Best Regards

orangepeelneil[/font][/size]

[Bassassin]

I like that. Very understated.

First of all, Hondos are [i]predominantly[/i] Korean - the brand emerged in the early 70s, coming out of the Samick factory. They upped their game quality-wise in the late 70s/early 80s, and some were made in Japan, Matsumoku was definitely used, and some allegedly came from Tokai.

It's worth bearing in mind that by this point, the Korean factories were pretty much on a par with the Japanese - so it's really hard to tell which Hondos were MIK & which were MIJ. Matsumoku ones have giveaways, like the MMK pickups, or even Mat neckplates.

I wouldn't like to guess about yours - at least you now know the model number (HD850) from the auction. The AB at the end refers to the colour, Antique Brown - yours is probably N - Natural.

Yours may never have been "a Hondo" - like most 70s brands, it was just that - the same bass would have been sold with different names, or like yours, unbranded.

Speaking of which - your Silver Series logo won't fool anyone! The Ibby logo looks wrong (crap scan/photo, perchance?) and Silver Series Ibanez were [i]very[/i] accurate 70s Fender copies.

If it was mine I think I would replace the tuners (Hondo hardware seems to be notoriously rubbish) and probably the bridge & nut, too - the string spacing looks way too cramped for the fretboard.

Still - very attractive & unusual bass!

J.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='239619' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:09 PM']If it was mine I think I would replace the ... bridge & nut, too - the string spacing looks way too cramped for the fretboard.[/quote]

Do you think that's the original bridge? It looks to me as if the 'A' and 'D' run between the pole pieces, but the 'E' and 'G' are several mm too central. I'm thinking maybe that's a brass after-market bridge retro-fitted by an earlier owner?

[Bassassin]

I think it's original - the auction pics aren't great, but the one on that bass looks the same - tight spacing, same screw arrangement as far as I can tell.

It's quite a strange bridge - a "normal" Fender type has top & bottom pairs of saddles, facing opposite directions, this one's all go the same way. Probably why it's so tight.

It's surprisingly common to find misaligned neck pockets/pup routs/bridges on old Oriental stuff - probably because a lot of it pre-dates the use of CNC routers. I've become quite adept at repositioning bridges!

J.

[Geddys nose]

Did anyone get the £95 BIN Aria SB1000? I was half tempted even without the actives installed.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Geddys nose' post='240469' date='Jul 15 2008, 11:17 PM']Did anyone get the £95 BIN Aria SB1000? I was half tempted even without the actives installed.[/quote]
Err... [i]what[/i] £95 SB1000??

J.

[Kev]

this one [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-SB1000-Bass-Guitar-approx-1980_W0QQitemZ230271878747QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230271878747&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-SB1000-Bass-Gui...p3286.m14.l1318[/url]

had a look myself, must have sold very soon afterwards

[Happy Jack]

I'm having a [i]Panama[/i] moment.

That's when you lean back in your chair and say, very loudly, "Far Canal!".

Someone got a bargain.

[Bassassin]

Ooh, I'd have been at that like a rat up a drainpipe...

J.

[Kev]

any more info on this:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300241574654#description"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...654#description[/url]

it looks nice, might have a punt

[Bassassin]

It looks OK - I really don't know anything about the brand, the [i]Guru's Guitar Guide[/i] (geek bible) just says good quality mid-80s Fender copies, so no idea who made them - or where, to be honest. Most Japanese factories weren't exporting copies in the mid 80s.

J.

[mathewsanchez]

I've been japcrap hunting for a couple of months now but i've only just found this thread. Here's a couple i've found:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320274405060"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320274405060[/url]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320274673542"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320274673542[/url]

[Kev]

man i woulda so had that second one!

[Bassassin]

Interesting, both of them.

The first one's a late 60s Teisco, these do come up occasionally, they were probably sold in the UK under the Woolies "Top 20" brand or somesuch. Anyhow, there's a pic & not much else on the Teisco site - bottom row, left:
[url="http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/bass.htm"]http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/bass.htm[/url]

The other one's very curious - it's got a Made In Korea sticker on it, but it's otherwise identical to this Japanese-made Aria A-100, from the early 70s:
[url="http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/bass/a-100_200.html"]http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/bass/a-100_200.html[/url]

Quite a lot of these turn up unbranded, it's always been assumed they had the same origin as the Aria - seems that's not necessarily the case.

J.

[spinynorman]

Don't know why I like the look of this ...

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Relic-Shortscale-Bass-Guitar-GodZilla-Pinup-Japan-old_W0QQitemZ320276757547QQihZ011QQcategoryZ159950QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]Shortscale Godzilla[/url]

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='spinynorman' post='250853' date='Jul 29 2008, 09:57 PM']Don't know why I like the look of this ...

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Relic-Shortscale-Bass-Guitar-GodZilla-Pinup-Japan-old_W0QQitemZ320276757547QQihZ011QQcategoryZ159950QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]Shortscale Godzilla[/url][/quote]

Now there's fascinating, look you.

In terms of general layout, switches, scale, string spacing, etc. and especially the pickups, that's really very similar to a mid-60's Hofner Artist (or Hofner 185, if you prefer). On the other hand, body shape and bridge are completely different.

If the vendor was in Europe I'd be guessing that it was an Eastern Bloc derivative of the Hofner.

[Ou7shined]

Some dude in the Q&A bit reckons it's a Harmony built in Chicago. (?)

Hope he was careful sticking it up against all that rusty agri machinery.
I'll tell you what though, it never got the lacquer worn away like that by being crap to play.