So i bought a bass on Shopgoodwill.com, any ideas

Tmccoy89 · #1 03-03-2013, 08:25 PM

If you havent been there, its basically where goodwill auctions off the good stuff. I keep my eye on their music section, cool stuff comes up every once in a while and usually sells for to much. But you never know.

Today i think i found something special and wanted to see if you guys can help me decipher what i bought. That being said i just bought it today and its on the way so i dont have the best photos, but take a look.

My Precision is a maple fingerboard and i just love it, im hoping this one plays as nice.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/cnXm6Nf.jpg[img]

I thought the chrome bridge cover and chrome single coil pickup where unique to cheap knock offs, that started me on the hunch i had something unique in front of me.

but i have no idea if that assumption was correct lol. Going with the gut feeling.

Look at the wear on that neck. I mean if the bass was a player why would it have that much wear? again idk if thats a good assumption, i guess it might just be cheap and the finish wore off quick or something, but i think it looks cool. Also the listing said that on the neck plate it says "made in japan" on writing on the whole bass.

Theres a closeup of the no decal headstock with those goofy looking tuning knobs. Doesn't look junky to me. Looks like a close if not right on fender headstock. Not sure if it was someones garage build with spare parts or had a neck replacement, who knows?

Looks to have about the same amount of rust as my 78 pbass does on the screws, which further shows its age a little bit.

I paid about 130 for it shipped, i figure if the neck is in good shape i can use it for a custom build i want to do, in which case 130 isnt such a bad deal. But is it possible i stumbled on a lawsuit era p bass? Or am i crazy to think that?

I dont know, maybe someone on TB does.

gjbassist · #2 03-03-2013, 08:29 PM

You're photos aren't showing up!

Tmccoy89 · #3 03-03-2013, 08:33 PM

fixed, my bad, upon closer look, i think the wear ontheneck might simply be the flash from the camera lol, it is kind of unusual wear pattern lol.

gjbassist · #4 03-03-2013, 08:35 PM

That's a nice looking bass whatever brand it is! I have never seen a P with a chrome covered single pickup like that. It looks to be in nice shape.

FourBanger · #5 03-03-2013, 08:43 PM

The tuning pegs look to be the smaller variety which leads me to suspect something inexpensive.

coyote1 · #6 03-03-2013, 08:45 PM

They have an FCB1010 for thirty bucks.

gr8bassplayer · #7 03-03-2013, 08:46 PM

It looks like a squier P with the logo sanded off...

Tmccoy89 · #8 03-03-2013, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gr8bassplayer

It looks like a squier P with the logo sanded off...

maybe but ive never seen a squier with tuning pegs like that, and ill also say that although the small single coil pup isnt unusual for squier, ive never seen a chrome one before, unless its not stock i guess.

wobble man · #9 03-03-2013, 08:51 PM

Always check out Shopgoodwill, its a much smaller market than Ebay and many people don't know **** about instruments. I'm an assistant manager at a Goodwill in Ohio, and we are told to put ALL of our donated instruments on the site unless its kiddy First Act stuff. I saw a pristine Martin acoustic sell for half of what it should have because the company doesn't post on Ebay with its massively larger market just because they don't want to pay fees. I could make a few extra bucks just buying off of Shopgoodwill and reposting on Ebay...

birdman14 · #10 03-03-2013, 08:52 PM

It's an old Electra P-bass copy made in japan during the early 70s. Member rfslick has one, here it is Show me your vintage Japanese Bass!

Tmccoy89 · #11 03-03-2013, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by birdman14

It's an old Electra P-bass copy made in japan during the early 70s. Member rfslick has one, here it is Show me your vintage Japanese Bass!

you rock!
I guess my instincts were in the right place. cant wait for it to show up.

1bassleft · #12 03-03-2013, 09:09 PM

Or it could be a Maya, or a Yamato, or a CMI. I have the "Yamato" version. IIRC, that link posted above is a good thread. Briefly, the body is an odd wood - someone suggested nato, rather than ply and that seems plausible to me. The body is thinner than modern FMIC and the neck is thinner (just over 61mm at the heel rather than 63-64mm).

Expect a 2-saddle bridge under the cover, but with different screwholes. The hardware (knobs, tuners) is unbelieveably nasty but not a difficult replace, although the holes are for Gotoh or Schaller minikeys, not the bigger clovers. The missing pup is a chrome-covered, 6-pole Tele guitar type but the routing on mine has plenty of space for a '51 single coil type, should you wish.

The best thing is the neck, which (on mine) is a lovely, glossy old-style P-type neck. I'm building a bass around it, rather than working with what's there. Oh - mine adjusts at the heel but most I've seen have that cover on the headstock. Should have "made in Japan" stamped into the neckplate.

1bassleft · #13 03-03-2013, 09:13 PM

Sorry, I scrolled through so fast that I repeated what's already been said (and thought the pup was missing

)

Tmccoy89 · #14 03-03-2013, 09:36 PM

any idea where i can get more info?

and thanks for the info you have supplied!

Chico16 · #15 03-03-2013, 10:31 PM

I don't see anything wrong with it unless you have an issue with the blank headstock and the small tuning pegs. Other than that it looks like you're getting a sweet deal and it looks great!

1bassleft · #16 03-04-2013, 02:21 PM

That thread above, referring to the Electra, wasn't the one I was thinking of. The thread that mentions nato as a possible body wood is here:

Identification of a Bass Guitar

Unfortunately, the pics starting the thread (essentially the same as yours and mine) aren't viewable to me now.

I'm a moderator on Guitarsite and I started a now very long thread on CMI (Marshall) guitars built in Japan:

http://www.guitarsite.com/hotlicks/v...780b29a45eabaf

a lot of the old pics are now dead links but there is a 'Jazz' that is undeniably related on the opening page. If you have the patience and a quick scrolling finger, you'll find some good research suggesting these early, not very close, copies were made by Moridaira.

Buskman · #17 03-04-2013, 03:12 PM

Not a bass, but I'm curious to see what this one ends up going for:

http://www.shopgoodwill.org/auctions...-12585763.html

Either way, someone'll be getting a GREAT deal!

lowphatbass · #18 03-04-2013, 09:49 PM

I've got one pretty similar.

It weighs about 7 1/2 lbs and plays pretty well. Mine had the exact same tuners on it when I got it.

The headstock on mine is a bit smaller than a typical Fender. It's really obvious when it's sitting next to the real thing.

Maxdusty · #19 03-04-2013, 10:15 PM

I had one similar to lowphatbass' bass. It was converted to a fretless, same pickup, same pickguard, same natural wood finish and also no logo. I have since traded it.
No logo because i believe these basses had brand stickers on them that tended to peel off easily after a few years so most players would just yank them off (not a conspiracy to hide the brand name, they just peeled off). It's a Cortez bass from the 70's. The bass I remember sounded pretty good and played well.

Tmccoy89 · #20 03-12-2013, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowphatbass

I've got one pretty similar.

It weighs about 7 1/2 lbs and plays pretty well. Mine had the exact same tuners on it when I got it.

The headstock on mine is a bit smaller than a typical Fender. It's really obvious when it's sitting next to the real thing.

Looks just like mine! except the color of course. any idea what wood yours is made of? i know it could be veneered but that id definitely not nato. Ive read about some people having cortezs made out of swap ash/alder. But those were made in the 80s.

Ive been thinking about putting a seymour duncan hot rails guitar pickup in the thing, ive read that to be a recommended mod for the musicmaster bass but i cant find anyone who has done it and spoke about how it sounds.