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What the hell is this thing?

#21
dazza027 said:
The neck plate says Made in Japan, as for the neck construction, I reckon its prolly a cheapo, the fretboard almost looks like plastic or urethane based. I dont know what you mean by 3 pieces. Is that down the length of the neck or accross the face of it as in like you would attach boards together to make a table. It looks like one bit though. The nut doesnt look to be original either, it has what looks like match sticks underneath for support lol. Still sounds luscious though.
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A 3 piece neck has the joins running top to bottom. It would be fairly obvious if it is a 3 piece as it would have cross sawn wood in in there.

Where abouts is the MIJ stamp? 3 thirds of the way down (i.e. nearer the bottom)? The pics you've supplied rely aren't good enough to help in IDing this. I suspect some of the hardware has been changed (like the scratchplate). To find out more you'll have to start stripping the bass to look for clues. The pickups may be stamped to indicate the date, stamps on the neck, and it may have holes where the thumbrest was originally located below the strings.

Do the pickups have rounded ends, and what does the bridge look like?

Lots more clear pics please! :)

Edit to add: Without the name on the bass you'll never find the brand, but we might be able to ID the manufacturer.
 
#24
M0ses said:
Just a small note; it's ok to play through your guitar amp, but ONLY AT QUITE LOW VOLUMES. If you crank your bass through guitar speakers, you will blow them in no time.
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And cut your lows just to be safe!

As for the bass, it's probably a copy. It may be a Squier. Previous owned may have been a gear snob and sanded the name off. Cause that headstock is copyrighted.
 
#25
JakeAndAirwaves said:
Cause that headstock is copyrighted.
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That doesn't mean all that much. My first bass was a really cheap no-name brand, and it had the Fender headstock shape alright, copyright or no. And it was exact - it wasn't modified for legal reasons. It was just such a small, insignificant brand that they were under the radar.

At any rate, that bass looks to be a pretty nice instrument.
 
#26
pocketgroove said:
That doesn't mean all that much. My first bass was a really cheap no-name brand, and it had the Fender headstock shape alright, copyright or no. And it was exact - it wasn't modified for legal reasons. It was just such a small, insignificant brand that they were under the radar.

At any rate, that bass looks to be a pretty nice instrument.
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Yes, it does look nice. Could be under the radar, or maybe old? Before the legal action was taken against these companies? I don't know much Fender history honestly.
 
#29
Possibly an older SX. They had that headstock. Need more pics to tell. Maybe that hole at the base of the neck means something. It's probably for truss adjustment, but, I have never seen it.

Truly, if it's a great bass and plays well and is to your liking, that is all that really matters. That is worth more than a stamp on the headstock. Regardless of brand.
 

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