Vintage MIJ (formerly J@pCr@p) Spotting

[Bassassin]

Those were - that's a Ned Callan Cody, or "Nobbly Ned" - built by luthier Peter Cook, these were sold variously as Ned Callan, Shaftesbury, CMI & Simms-Watt. And possibly some other names too.

J.

[Ou7shined]

Crazy, I was speaking to an old boy today who turned out to be a bass player too. He gigs regularly and his bass is a Shaftesbury (I pretended I'd heard of them :blush:). It's the only bass he's ever had and he's had it from new. He kept on hinting that compared to me he was a dusty old dinosaur and how he'd been playing for the last 30 years. He presumed form my looks and my 3 year old daughter hanging onto my hand that I was a young whippersnapper. I didn't have the heart to tell him I've been playing for the last 25.

[Mr. Foxen]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Very-cool-RARE-vintage-IBANEZ-JAZZ-BASS-c-1960s-1970s_W0QQitemZ220353161988QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item220353161988&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]'Nother Ibanez, seen these before, so not that rare.[/url]

[Mr. Foxen]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hondo-Delux-880-Explorer-Bass_W0QQitemZ200304275235QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item200304275235&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]Pink and pointy[/url]

[deaver]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='395113' date='Jan 30 2009, 01:40 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hondo-Delux-880-Explorer-Bass_W0QQitemZ200304275235QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item200304275235&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]Pink and pointy[/url][/quote]

With nobs on

[Dubs]

A bit OT, but what's the USA equivelent of "Jap Crap"? - "Yank Cack"?

[Musky]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='396538' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:45 PM']A bit OT, but what's the USA equivelent of "Jap Crap"? - "Yank Cack"? [/quote]
That'd be 'Yank w***".

Edit: The swear filter put paid to that one, but I'm sure you can guess the missing letters.

Edited January 31, 2009 by Musky

[Ou7shined]

Mia Diarrhea?

[Dubs]

[quote name='Musky' post='396541' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:49 PM']That'd be 'Yank w***".

Edit: The swear filter put paid to that one, but I'm sure you can guess the missing letters.[/quote]
[quote name='Ou7shined' post='396542' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:49 PM']Mia Diarrhea?[/quote]

[Musky]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='396542' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:49 PM']Mia Diarrhea?[/quote]
I think Jon posted a few pages back in this very thread Korea Diarrhea and Brit Sh*t are the preferred terms for the appropriate countries.

Now where does that leave Warwick and Vigier?

[Dubs]

[quote name='Musky' post='396549' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:55 PM']I think Jon posted a few pages back in this very thread Korea Diarrhea and Brit Sh*t are the preferred terms for the appropriate countries.

Now where does that leave [b]Warwick [/b]and Vigier? [/quote]

German Vermin? ...says the guy with 3 Warwick's in his avatar

[Musky]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='396553' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:59 PM']German Vermin? ...says the guy with 3 Warwick's in his avatar [/quote]

I like that. Just in the cause of even-handedness you understand.

[Mr. Foxen]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Guitar-SG-Copy_W0QQitemZ140298990304QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL?hash=item140298990304&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]Not sure its jap[/url], but the blatantness of the ripping off makes me smile. Probably going to be told its a real Gibson or something now.

[Ou7shined]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Matsumoku-MIJ-Through-Neck-TSB-660-Bass1981-Japan_W0QQitemZ160313417138QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item160313417138&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1700%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]She's[/url] gorgeous but I'm guessing the price is a tad optimistic.

[sgt-pluck]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='401026' date='Feb 5 2009, 01:54 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Matsumoku-MIJ-Through-Neck-TSB-660-Bass1981-Japan_W0QQitemZ160313417138QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item160313417138&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1700%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]She's[/url] gorgeous but I'm guessing the price is a tad optimistic.[/quote]

I love those with the 4 in-a-row headstock rather than 2 + 2. Such a shame they ain't 34" scale...

Pluck

[spinynorman]

Any ideas on this Les Paul Triumph copy? Bolt on neck with 6 screw fixing, nothing on neck plate, open book headstock with plain diamond inlay. I found a picture of an almost identical guitar badged Franpton, but a scan of their catalogue shows the guitar, but no bass version. Franpton had something to do with Pearl I think.

Edited February 5, 2009 by spinynorman

[Bassassin]

There's only the one pic on the listing & none of the info you mention - has the seller sent you additional pics? If he has, could you stick 'em on here?

The only thing that's a possible clue here is the 6-bolt neckplate which sometimes appears on early Moridaira copies. However that's not conclusive, it also appears on Taiwanese Kays, some pre-copy era Arias - & Stingrays!

Apart from a handful of "big" names, brands on JapCrap seldom mean anything at all, least of all the manufacturer, and if it's never had a brand name, as many of them didn't, then it really ain't an "anything". Franpton is one of those obscure Japlish home-market brands, like Heerby, Goban, Gibbon, Westminster etc, and the only possible connection would be the factory of origin. That said, there were several different Triumph bass copies from a few different factories, which all tend to look pretty similar - for obvious reasons!

I have been watching this but doubt I'll bid - the combination of zero-feedback, one rubbish picture & arserape postage ain't doing it for me.

J.

[spinynorman]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='401692' date='Feb 6 2009, 01:01 AM']There's only the one pic on the listing & none of the info you mention - has the seller sent you additional pics? If he has, could you stick 'em on here?

<snip>

I have been watching this but doubt I'll bid - the combination of zero-feedback, one rubbish picture & arserape postage ain't doing it for me.

J.[/quote]

I asked the same question on the Outpost ([url="http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=1870.0"]http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=1870.0[/url]) with some additional pics, + the reply is interesting, from someone who has one like it. I remember when he first got it he seemed quite pleased with it, but from his second reply to me it doesn't sound so good.

Also, as you say, just because this one looks the same, doesn't mean it is. I can't see any sign of a Y on the heel for a start.

The seller seems ok, more than willing to send pictures. Postage is steep indeed, but then it might not go for much.

Edited February 6, 2009 by spinynorman

[Bassassin]

Good to see some additional pics, the seller would have been as well to put those on his listing.

The other guy on the forum's info about the bass is incorrect - it's not a Fujigen, since it would be identical to the equivalent Ibanez model, and it's not from the "Hoshino factory" - since it doesn't exist. Hoshino Gakki is the trading company which owns the Ibanez brand - if they were ever involved in actual manufacture (this is pure speculation - there seems to be no historical record or other evidence) it would have been long before basses like this were being made.

Lecture over, then - very interesting to get a look at the neck & headstock, and I can confirm it's a Mystery Bass! These no-brand necks, with the big split diamond inlay & zero-fret crop up all the time, both on basses and g*it*rs, and the maker's yet to be verified. They do crop up with brand names too, but nothing that's yet been pinned down to a particular factory. The "Y" symbol the guy mentions looks like this:

[attachment=19871:lp_recor...y_symbol.jpg]

You'd obviously have to whip the neck out of this bass to see if it has the same stamp; I'd expect it probably does.

The one in the pic is from a g*it*r version of the bass we're discussing - while we're here, look at the construction of this neck - dozens of thin ply strips - this is sometimes called "strip mahogany" and was pretty common on early JapCrap, I would fully expect this bass to have the same neck construction.

Usually these necks tend to be attached with 4-bolt shield-shaped plates, stamped MIJ. There's a lot of speculation that particularly in the earlier days, Japanese factories would seldom build entire instruments; bodies, necks & hardware being made in separate factories. This would account for some of the shared construction features different manufacturers' products often have.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the other guy's issues with his - it's very unlikely that this one would have the same problem. Still not going to go for it myself despite liking what I see in the pics - if I give it long enough one will turn up at my local car boot for £20. They always do, eventually.

J.

[spinynorman]

Forget the bass, I'm a sucker for blue hair and white boots.

[Happy Jack]

In the name of God, where did you find THAT?

[Happy Jack]

Here's one that shrank in the wash.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-SHAFTESBURY-PRECISION-BASS-1951-TELECASTER-RARE_W0QQitemZ320338809622QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item320338809622&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-SHAFTESBURY-...A1%7C240%3A1318[/url]

At least the colours didn't run.

[spinynorman]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='402471' date='Feb 6 2009, 10:42 PM']Here's one that shrank in the wash.


At least the colours didn't run.[/quote]

It's rare, though, you'll never find that in a car boot sale for 20 quid.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='spinynorman' post='402522' date='Feb 6 2009, 11:55 PM']It's rare, though, you'll never find that in a car boot sale for 20 quid. [/quote]

Wanna bet?

J.

[Mr. Foxen]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Japanese-Columbus-EB3-type-bass_W0QQitemZ260359007286QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item260359007286&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]EB3 by columbus[/url]