No Name Basses

[machinehead]

Saw a P-bass tagged as "no name" in a guitar shop on Saturday. Looked OK and was cheap.
Anyone know who makes these?

I seem to remember someone saying they were made by Tokai but without a headstock badge, for some strange reason?

I've searched basschat and googled and found nothing.

Any help appreciated as I might buy this bass.

Frank

[SJA]

in Denmark street you often see new P and J copies, sometimes with the Rockers name on them, sometimes no name-
they look the same as the Bass centre's no-name basses, and they have Jim Deacon branded P and J copies that look the same.

they probably all come out of the same big factory in China, or Korea

doubt they'd be made by Tokai- they'd fetch more if they had the Tokai name on them.

[Bassassin]

They're not made by Tokai.

The key to understanding the whole brand name thing starts with understanding that the name on the pointy end of a guitar or bass is highly unlikely to have anything to do with the factory it came from, particulaly - indeed pretty much exclusively - in the case of low-budget instruments.

A budget P bass copy with no brand name will almost certainly be made in a factory that no-one's heard of, in China or Taiwan or Indonesia. The same kind of factory makes all those budget brands you can think of - Westfield, Vintage, Nevada, Axl & all the rest. And Squier, too.

To go back to Tokai, they have their own factory in Hamamatsu, Japan, which produces their high-end range, while their cheaper guitars are now sourced from Korea, possibly from Cort or Samick. Incidentally, Samick build the Epiphone brand & Cort make the vast majority of Ibanez instruments. There never has been an actual manufacturer called Ibanez.

And Fender themselves have never had a Japanese factory - MIJ Fenders have come from a variety of builders, initially Fujigen Gakki, & subsequently Dyna Gakki and Tokai Gakki, amongst others.

The basic fact is that anyone can approach a guitar factory & get their own brand name stuck on a range of instruments (this is what Rockers in Denmark St do) - and it was ever thus, from when the first cheap imported guitars started appearing in the 60s.

And there have always been a good few no-name instruments on the market - if you look at old Ibanez catalogues, they're often unbranded, because they were the factory's stock photos, and the same guitars (often with the same model numbers) would be sold by other importers, under different brands. So it's highly probable your no-name P copy will also be sold branded, but with something as generic as that (and they never seem to have identifying markings), it's anyone's guess where it originally came from.

Jon.

[El_JimBob]

AXL China have their own factory building AXL, Johnson and Squier, amongst others. Certainly not a factory no-ones heard of . Westfield and Vintage outsource as far as Vietnam now, i believe....
Regarding the nonames, i too had heard the Tokai rumour, but our supplier is bound by regulation and can't say where they come from. They're actually pretty good instruments for the money - a cut above your Chinese Squiers at least. Pop in a pickup upgrade and i reckon you'll have a good beater bass....

[bass_ferret]

Same reply as last time this got asked - CLint Eastwood - the man with no name.

[machinehead]

Thanks for the responses people - very informative.

I always live in hope of finding a gem at a bargain price. I guess a lot of us do.

I have a Tokai jazz and it's at least the equal of my USA jazz so I always keep an open mind with brand names.

I must say though, the fit and finish of the no name P bass looked fine to me. I know you have to lose something if the price is lower but conversely, you don't ALWAYS get more by paying more.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Frank