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Identify this bass!

Bass_Bear

Bass_Bear

Jun 4, 2008
119
3
Ottawa, Ontario
#1
So I'm browsing the local online classifieds, and I find this bass, for sale for 300$. So at first I assume that its just another MIM fender someone is trying to sell. But then I look at it a little closer, and certain things jump out to me, such as the dark coloured headstock, the thumb rest, the vintage shape with what looks like a single coil pickup, and the precision style pickguard.

Overall I'm really curious, and wondering if 300$ is a steal. Also notable is the fact that the seller seems to know absolutely nothing about the bass. So tell me what you guys think, this is the only picture available.

weirdbass.jpg
 
#6
I have a bass I'm satisfied with at the moment, considering my experience and budget, it was more of a 'let me make sure this isn't worth a lot more than asked for' post. I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity, and destroy any false hopes I might have created for myself.

J

PS. So while were on the subject, forgive the ignorance of my youth but is a lawsuit bass as simple as an illegal copy of an original model?
 
#7
Bass_Bear said:
PS. So while were on the subject, forgive the ignorance of my youth but is a lawsuit bass as simple as an illegal copy of an original model?
Click to expand...

The term used to refer to only guitars with actual lawsuits, now it seems to be used for any clone that the poster doesn't approve of whether or not there ever was a lawsuit about them.

Notice in your picture how the black in the sunburst completely covers the armrest contour? That often means a plywood body which usually means a super cheap knockoff. They can sometimes sound great but are almost always made horribly IME. I would guess the tummy cut on the back is also painted the same way.
 
#8
I picked this up not too long ago, but paid a lot less than 300 for it. It is a typical Matsu/Teisco/whatever 70's heavy plywood no-namerJazzClone, branded with "SCOTT" on the headstock. A typical "Standard Issue" from the day....

after a good setup, it is a fine instrument even with the baseball bat neck, ( narrow fretboard-thick backside )and looks so pretty I have it hanging on the wall most of the time on display.

here's a pic with both pup covers on.....

scott.jpg
 
#11
Those are probably single coils with the coil in between the two rows of fake pole pieces. There isn't room for the coil because the pole pieces are so close to the edge of the cover. One row of ploes might be real if it's a sidewinder design, but that's unlikely. There were many MIJ fake guitar HB's with only one coil inside.
 
#12
GlennW said:
Those are probably single coils with the coil in between the two rows of fake pole pieces. There isn't room for the coil because the pole pieces are so close to the edge of the cover. One row of ploes might be real if it's a sidewinder design, but that's unlikely. There were many MIJ fake guitar HB's with only one coil inside.
Click to expand...
you know I always thought that, but never bothered to tear it all apart to find out...the bridge pickup is extremely different sounding than the neck, but that could just be characteristic of the placement, and not the actual pickups themselves...

when your dealing with "standardized" no-name stuff, it's always a crap-shoot what your gonna find inside.

some day when I get frisky and change the strings, I'll pull the pickguard, and look if they aren't sealed so much I cant tell whats in there :)
 
#15
A word of caution, if the covers aren't soldered on and are attached by little metal tabs that are just bent over they may break. A lot of the metal was so thin bending it 2 or 3 times would snap it.

Also in that pickup pic, notice that the adjustable screws don't do anything. They're just there for looks.

A lot of the old MIJ pickups actually sound pretty good in spite of the highly cost conscious techniques.
 
#16
GlennW said:
A word of caution, if the covers aren't soldered on and are attached by little metal tabs that are just bent over they may break. A lot of the metal was so thin bending it 2 or 3 times would snap it.

Also in that pickup pic, notice that the adjustable screws don't do anything. They're just there for looks.

A lot of the old MIJ pickups actually sound pretty good in spite of the highly cost conscious techniques.
Click to expand...

ya Glenn, I'm not expecting to find anything "golden", but again.....this is only a playtoy, and I'm also curious as to the routing under that guard. You can be sure I will take pics of it stripped so I can show someone in the future if they ever wanna buy it.

p.s. SORRY OP for de-railing this thread a little...
 
#19
NickInMesa said:
This is a very informative thread.

Did Fender introduce Squier as a way to get all these people to make Fender guitars under license and little regards as to the quality?
Click to expand...
well I wouldn't go so far as to say "little regards" to quality... Even the mass majority of Fender owners here say there's enough defects in a lot of those Fenders as well...

Like Gibson and Epiphone...one line for the people who have 1000+ to spend..one line for those who need something cheaper. When buying brand new, I never thought of cheap as garbage, just less expensive, because mass produced anything is bound to have some rejects. ( ever see a perfect 30,000.00 car every time? ) :D

That's why I appreciated the mass produced copies out of Japan in that respect as if your Fender cost 800.00, back then, the MIJ version no-namer cost 350.00, and was equally as good in most ---I SAID MOST cases....lol
 
#20
NickInMesa said:
This is a very informative thread.

Did Fender introduce Squier as a way to get all these people to make Fender guitars under license and little regards as to the quality?
Click to expand...

The truth will never be known as the Fender history is full of happy myths with very angry fanboys defending them, like Leo was a luthier or musician of any kind.

In the '80's one of the Fender knockoffs was made by Tokai, they were excellent pre CBS copies right down to all the flaws in the pre CBS designs. They were a tiny fraction of the full Fender price and better made. Fender sued them to make a small headstock change and then eventually hired them as one of the outsourced companies to make Fender basses which I understand were some of the first Squires.

So in that case Fender hired the cloners to make better basses than Fender did. And now 1/4 century later Tokais have become collectable along with the early Squiers.
 

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