I am a little skeptical of a reverb listing where there is no background behind the bass - looks like there are some stock photos in there and not just pics of the instrument you would be buying. I bought mine from someone in ft knox Kentucky, there are always some popping up for sale in america and often near military bases (dont think it was sold here, probably folks buying them overseas when deployed)
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Best basses of 1983
- Thread starter BGroovy
- Start date
Definitely a good call out, and you're right, a lot of the guitar stores in Japan reuse a set of stock photos since they move many of the same models. Bass Japan Direct has a solid reputation and will provide photos of the actual guitar if asked.
I think I can get this for $600 shipped, super tempted…
Confirmed pictures on Reverb are the actual bass. Think I'm gonna snag it as my first '83. So many great basses referenced in this thread, I need to blow off some GAS.
I bought my first vintage Ibby from that guy. Arrived in perfect condition AND he put up a video on youtube where he explained the bass's controls and went through all the potential problems/imperfections. Easily one of the best buying experiences I've had.
Does it help that the dollar is back at an almost 5 year high against the yen? Great time to throw out offers to these Japanese sellers...
Snagged that one for $600 shipped ($200 under asking)
He's also a fantastic player so his shipment tests and bass videos on YouTube are good ways to check out rare models
It's true! He's phenomenal! And I didn't mention that I ALSO got mine for like...$150 or so less than asking. Very fair seller!
I fitted it with (then new-fangled) Rotosound Superwound strings. These had the exposed inner core. They came with a plastic, two-piece ball-end so that you could cut and lock your own length of string.
In keeping with the theme, I've owned several Elite and Elite IIs from '83 but here's apic of my recently sold standard Pbass.
My bad, I thought it was "best basses of '83", not "best basses that look like basses of '83, regardless of year"
I was born in '63 and started playing bass in '83.
This was my first instrument. A brand-new Vantage VA 900B, purchased September '83. It set me back $600 AUD (about $2400 today).
The thing I remember about it most was the horrendous neck dive. It was almost unplayable standing up. Think Alembic 'Stanley Clarke' Series 1 body with 34" scale neck, and nowhere near the tonal quality of the latter (the Vantage actually sounded 'dull').
Anyway, I traded it for an Ibanez Musician MC824 - a far superior bass in every aspect, especially in the ergonomics dept.
(The Ibanez was also far superior to the bass that replaced it - a 1978 Fender Jazz - but that's another story).
This was my first instrument. A brand-new Vantage VA 900B, purchased September '83. It set me back $600 AUD (about $2400 today).
The thing I remember about it most was the horrendous neck dive. It was almost unplayable standing up. Think Alembic 'Stanley Clarke' Series 1 body with 34" scale neck, and nowhere near the tonal quality of the latter (the Vantage actually sounded 'dull').
Anyway, I traded it for an Ibanez Musician MC824 - a far superior bass in every aspect, especially in the ergonomics dept.
(The Ibanez was also far superior to the bass that replaced it - a 1978 Fender Jazz - but that's another story).
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