That's not how one is meant to use the phrase "begs the question."
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What kinda Bass is this?
- Thread starter Bob Martocchio
- Start date
I doubt it was originally sold unbranded. It has been stripped and refinished.
Good man! Thankee!
I was aware of that as I typed it and had intended to change it. But I got distracted, and my mind being what it is the morning after a full day of wallpapering, I promptly forgot about it.
I had meant to say "asks the question." But since you called it out (good catch!) let's let it stand and see who else spots it. It is one of the more misused phrases. So building a little public awareness of it never hurts.
That hasn't changed, really. The factories just moved to China and Indonesia. There are a lot of recognizable brands and models that are rebadged from another brand's design or from a generic.
All thru the 70's I would hit every pawn shop in town buying up old fenders and anything else I thought I could double my money on - that's how I supplemented my income from playing music 6 nights a week. Basses like in the OP were the basses that lined the walls forever and would never sell even though they were priced at $50. In a way, those crappy basses did me a favor by obscuring the pre-CBS fenders I'd find hidden behind them.
Those Teisco/Kingston/Kent/etc basses were terrible pieces of junk. Always amazed to see them thought of today as valuable collector pieces as though the crappy wood they were made from has aged to perfection. Hope the OP's bass is an exception and plays well for the OP unlike the ones I remember from back then.
Those Teisco/Kingston/Kent/etc basses were terrible pieces of junk. Always amazed to see them thought of today as valuable collector pieces as though the crappy wood they were made from has aged to perfection. Hope the OP's bass is an exception and plays well for the OP unlike the ones I remember from back then.
After doing some research the past two days I think a lot of the instruments in Japan in the 60's and probably still today had used the same factories. The model and general shape seems to point toward certain factories. I will try and post an up close picture of the neck binding. It was the binding and the overall great shape of mine that drew me to this one lol!
I've been fighting this one for years --- I've finally given up as I hear it misused like that all day on the radio. Drives me crazy but doesn't look like it's gonna change any time soon. I guess I've got another thing coming --but I could care less
Yeah these short scale basses are getting some decent money. Not over the top vintage guitar money mind you but there is a market apparently. I've seen similar ones to mine going from around $300 to $600 and up. I feel pretty good about my $80 dollar investment and it sounds really nice. That's even with strings that look like they are about as old as the bass lol'
I haven't had any regrets about my $80 investment so far. Does it play as well as my US made Fender Precision? No. But I didn't think it would . I bought it for the retro feel and could tell it wasn't just slapped together. I had been looking for a shirt scale bass and this was reasonably priced so I took a gamble.
It is a one off custom made guitar built by my cousin. You can check out his guitars at Martocchio Guitars on Facebook. You can see mine being built at various stages along with others he has done.
I'm not so sure. After doing some research I've found that there are quite a few unbranded Japanese guitars and basses out there. It all depends on the factory. Who commissioned the build or who was in charge at the time. Some where branded. Some where not. Same with serial numbering and such. It's just hard to say either way.
It has been refinished. But it's a good example of those kind of instruments. Solid wood for the body under that veneer, and that laminate type of neck is nice and stable, and High quality hardwood for each ply if laminate - if it plays well now it should stay pretty much the same.
To me the only weak point on those basses, provided you like them as is, are the tuners. But as long as they don't literally fall apart on you they should be serviceable for a bass
Yeah, grinds my gears too. I take care to say "prompts the question" instead of "begs the question" when a statement leads to an obvious query, instead of assuming the question itself is true. But that meaning does seem to be falling by the wayside.
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I have a few close ups of the neck as there seems to be an interest. It is a laminate which isn't too much of a surprise as the majority of Japanese mid sixties short scales seem to be. If added some close ups of the neck and hardware. I will clean it up better once I get a new pair of strings.
