GrassRoots Bass-IV

[JIO]

Hunted down a pesky grounding issue and now it's silent operation, or as silent as single-coils can be. Now that I can play it w/o electronic interference, it has a nice variety of tonal options. And the simplicity of the off/on switches makes changing tone instantaneous! The treble boost switch is a nice option also - sounds good for a bit more bite. Polished the aluminum bridge-plate base and it looks good - may look into having it pro-buffed to a mirror finish, but it looks ok as is for now - much better than the mirror plastic. I still may need to fabricate a 4 (pu) switch plate so I'd do both at the same time if I do.

 

[JIO]

Here's a question to anyone who has bought something from Japan; when I saw the listing for this bass, the bass I now have - I searched to see if there were any others like it for sale on eBay. There were a few others, all from Japan including one for a higher asking price with the exact same pictures (of the one I bought) from a different eBay biz in Japan. I just checked and it's gone now, but it was still up for days after I bought mine. (?!) While looking for it just now, I found another that has two listings from two different biz's with different prices showing the same pictures of the same bass! Does anyone know what is going on here? Before I bought mine I asked the seller from Japan if I would be receiving the exact bass pictured and they replied - "yes, the exact bass pictured". (which it was) ... but, what would happen if someone bought the more expensive Bass IV showing the same pics of the one I bought after I bought mine? (while it was still posted?) Is this some sort of brokerage thing where multiple Japanese eBay biz's are listing the same 'product' hoping someone will buy it for more w/o researching it? And then what? Buying it from the seller who actually owns it for (minimal) profit? Baffling...

 

[hypercarrots]

Here's a question to anyone who has bought something from Japan; when I saw the listing for this bass, the bass I now have - I searched to see if there were any others like it for sale on eBay. There were a few others, all from Japan including one for a higher asking price with the exact same pictures (of the one I bought) from a different eBay biz in Japan. I just checked and it's gone now, but it was still up for days after I bought mine. (?!) While looking for it just now, I found another that has two listings from two different biz's with different prices showing the same pictures of the same bass! Does anyone know what is going on here? Before I bought mine I asked the seller from Japan if I would be receiving the exact bass pictured and they replied - "yes, the exact bass pictured". (which it was) ... but, what would happen if someone bought the more expensive Bass IV showing the same pics of the one I bought after I bought mine? (while it was still posted?) Is this some sort of brokerage thing where multiple Japanese eBay biz's are listing the same 'product' hoping someone will buy it for more w/o researching it? And then what? Buying it from the seller who actually owns it for (minimal) profit? Baffling...

yes exactly that. They’re not really businesses though. I think it’s just a guy that reposts something a store lists online and when the listing sells, they scurry over to the shop to try and get it before it sells. The higher price covers their jr railpass and bubble wrap expenses.
If i see something i want listed like that, i use digimart to track down the shop, usually ishibashi, ikebe, tc, miki etc and then contact them directly. They will always be the cheapest option unless some middleman knows how to ship cheaper than ishibashi and doesn’t mind a smaller profit.

Quoting myself below from when i answered same topic previously.

middlemen trying to make a profit by buying a bass from a local shop and exporting it. it’s a common sight on ebay, reverb, digimart, etc.

 

[hypercarrots]

Here's a question to anyone who has bought something from Japan; when I saw the listing for this bass, the bass I now have - I searched to see if there were any others like it for sale on eBay. There were a few others, all from Japan including one for a higher asking price with the exact same pictures (of the one I bought) from a different eBay biz in Japan. I just checked and it's gone now, but it was still up for days after I bought mine. (?!) While looking for it just now, I found another that has two listings from two different biz's with different prices showing the same pictures of the same bass! Does anyone know what is going on here? Before I bought mine I asked the seller from Japan if I would be receiving the exact bass pictured and they replied - "yes, the exact bass pictured". (which it was) ... but, what would happen if someone bought the more expensive Bass IV showing the same pics of the one I bought after I bought mine? (while it was still posted?) Is this some sort of brokerage thing where multiple Japanese eBay biz's are listing the same 'product' hoping someone will buy it for more w/o researching it? And then what? Buying it from the seller who actually owns it for (minimal) profit? Baffling...

A lot of those middlemen have bad feedback because they have to cancel sales due to the instrument already being sold. They even state it in their listings. Guitar is for sale in shop and may not be available etc.

I just bought a somewhat rare bass from a Japanese seller on eBay. Shipping took a few weeks and a day after I received it here in the US, a different Japanese seller listed it with the same pics and the serial number even thoug that was not on the listing that I won. I wanted to buy it to see if somehow I could magically end up with two! Messaged the seller and it was down a couple days later.

 

[JIO]

yes exactly that. They’re not really businesses though. I think it’s just a guy that reposts something a store lists online and when the listing sells, they scurry over to the shop to try and get it before it sells. The higher price covers their jr railpass and bubble wrap expenses.
If i see something i want listed like that, i use digimart to track down the shop, usually ishibashi, ikebe, tc, miki etc and then contact them directly. They will always be the cheapest option unless some middleman knows how to ship cheaper than ishibashi and doesn’t mind a smaller profit.

Quoting myself below from when i answered same topic previously.

Ok - thanks a lot hyper c... I knew someone here on tb knew what this was about and I appreciate your educating me on the details. I sell on eBay and Reverb and have encountered such myself but wasn't savvy to what was going on. Crazy. I feel lucky that I wasn't scammed (how else would one perceive it) purchasing my bass. Fair price, fair shipping - no extranious export fees - I feel lucky.

 

[hypercarrots]

Ok - thanks a lot hyper c... I knew someone here on tb knew what this was about and I appreciate your educating me on the details. I sell on eBay and Reverb and have encountered such myself but wasn't savvy to what was going on. Crazy. I feel lucky that I wasn't scammed (how else would one perceive it) purchasing my bass. Fair price, fair shipping - no extranious export fees - I feel lucky.

Yes all ended well. I don’t think most of them are scammers. If the bass isn’t available, they cancel the order and you get your money back. Usually that’s the worst that happens.
They are just trying to make some money by providing a broker and shipping service because some of those shops are not multilingual and do not want to ship international and do not have websites set up for that purpose.
I have bought from ishibashi and mikigakki and they do speak fluent english and i was able to get a good price and fast shipping. 2 or 3 basses i bought from japan came in 2-3 days.

 

[JIO]

Yes all ended well. I don’t think most of them are scammers. If the bass isn’t available, they cancel the order and you get your money back. Usually that’s the worst that happens.
They are just trying to make some money by providing a broker and shipping service because some of those shops are not multilingual and do not want to ship international and do not have websites set up for that purpose.
I have bought from ishibashi and mikigakki and they do speak fluent english and i was able to get a good price and fast shipping. 2 or 3 basses i bought from japan came in 2-3 days.

Wow! And here I thought 9 days from Japan was impressive! Thanks again for your insights!

 

[ModuMan]

I bought all but one of my ESP basses from Ishibashi. They are awesome. Their grading scale is VERY strict. It took me about 20 minutes to find the one very tiny ding in a used bass that would otherwise have passed for new.

And yep, very fast shipping! EMS isn't cheap but it's reliable.

Also, phone calls to Japan aren't cheap either so save it for something you really need an answer to. They have always had good email response.

 

[JIO]

 

[spiritbass]

That's the coolest Fender inspired bass I've seen for a while. I dig the tones!

 

[JIO]

That's the coolest Fender inspired bass I've seen for a while. I dig the tones!

I agree - leave it to the Japanese to out-do Fender! I mean, Fender did the 3 pu Rascal, which was cool ... but a distant second to this bass. The Fender Jaguar bass is cool too, but the ESP Bass IV was intro'd 8 years earlier!

 

[JIO]

Major brands use their lower priced MIK/MIC guitars/basses for stretching out conceptually. "Retro" is a favorite 'stretch' because eight decades of electric guitar/bass design offers a rich history of configuring/referencing the way an electric guitar/bass could look today.

Here's an example of a 'retro-styled' guitar by Schecter priced about the same as the ESP Bass IV. So if you love the retro look, these lower priced instruments are worth upgrading where needed to have a very playable, good sounding instrument that looks cool!

Schecter Ultra-III w/ Bigsby Tremolo Vintage Blue | Woody's 's Gear Outlet | Reverb

 

[hypercarrots]

Major brands use their lower priced MIK/MIC guitars/basses for stretching out conceptually. "Retro" is a favorite 'stretch' because eight decades of electric guitar/bass design offers a rich history of configuring/referencing the way an electric guitar/bass could look today.

Here's an example of a 'retro-styled' guitar by Schecter priced about the same as the ESP Bass IV. So if you love the retro look, these lower priced instruments are worth upgrading where needed to have a very playable, good sounding instrument that looks cool!

Schecter Ultra-III w/ Bigsby Tremolo Vintage Blue | Woody's 's Gear Outlet | Reverb

Here's a schecter ultra bass vi. It looks really cool. At one time, i was thinking of getting one.

 

[JIO]

Was as careful as possible but ended up burning through the finish. Oh well, my contingency plan was to strip the hs face if this happen. I like a matching hs as much as the next guy, but the decal swap was my goal.

I flat-bladed the finish off ... laborious but I didn't want to use paint-stripper. Also, doing to that way it left the clear base/wash-coat so I could apply the decal w/o re-coating.

Ruined 2 decals before I got this one applied as the waterslide is super thin.(which is good) I shot a couple of light coats of lacquer on top before applying which is recommended as the printing is very delicate.

Will shoot satin lacquer on the hs face tomorrow - the decal needs to cure for 10-12hrs.

 

[ModuMan]

Love it!

I'm starting to scope Ishibashi again... dangerous!

 

[JIO]

Love it!

I'm starting to scope Ishibashi again... dangerous!

Until I shielded and star-grounded it, it was very noisy. (treble settings electronic buzz) and can't imagine they would sell it like that. I wonder if for whatever reason it was just mine, or are they all like that?

Oh, and the Mustang plate/harness arrived today and it's too small. I should have studied the pic more closely. It appears that a left-handed Fender Jaguar bass plate is what I want. It looks pretty much the same.

we'll see...

 

[hypercarrots]

Was as careful as possible but ended up burning through the finish. Oh well, my contingency plan was to strip the hs face if this happen. I like a matching hs as much as the next guy, but the decal swap was my goal.

View attachment 4591968
I flat-bladed the finish off ... laborious but I didn't want to use paint-stripper. Also, doing to that way it left the clear base/wash-coat so I could apply the decal w/o re-coating.
View attachment 4591974
Ruined 2 decals before I got this one applied as the waterslide is super thin.(which is good) I shot a couple of light coats of lacquer on top before applying which is recommended as the printing is very delicate.
View attachment 4591981
Will shoot satin lacquer on the hs face tomorrow - the decal needs to cure for 10-12hrs.
View attachment 4591984

Nice gold decal

 

[hypercarrots]

Until I shielded and star-grounded it, it was very noisy. (treble settings electronic buzz) and can't imagine they would sell it like that. I wonder if for whatever reason it was just mine, or are they all like that?

Oh, and the Mustang plate/harness arrived today and it's too small. I should have studied the pic more closely. It appears that a left-handed Fender Jaguar bass plate is what I want. It looks pretty much the same.

we'll see...

View attachment 4592313

I was going to say, the mustang control plate looked a little narrow for your purpose.

Here's jaguar control plate

And a 2nd illustration to be sure (although, maybe one is just derived from the other?)

mustang bass

 

[JIO]

Nice gold decal

Yes it is - if you need a custom decal, this eBay seller is the place to go. Guitar Headstock Waterslide Decals Metallic Inks 2 Per Order Custom & Vintage D2 | eBay I've dealt with a few different people over the years, but these are the real deal.

 

[JIO]

I was going to say, the mustang control plate looked a little narrow for your purpose.

Here's jaguar control plate
View attachment 4592383

And a 2nd illustration to be sure (although, maybe one is just derived from the other?)
View attachment 4592384

mustang bass
View attachment 4592385

I was going to say, the mustang control plate looked a little narrow for your purpose.

Here's jaguar control plate
View attachment 4592383

And a 2nd illustration to be sure (although, maybe one is just derived from the other?)
View attachment 4592384

mustang bass
View attachment 4592385

Thanks! Looks close enough for Jazz... as long as it fits, I'll install the harness from the Mustang plate on it. Does anyone know.., is the Fender Mustang P/J 250k (pot) or 500k? I'd guess 250k but I read somewhere they were 500k. I usually use 500k pots for buckers but I've used them for singles and they both sound great.