Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

Kam

Kam

Shaftologist
I picked this up in a pawn shop about six or seven years ago when I needed a bass for a band. I've never known much about it and I've never heard of a company called Marathon. I've never known much about basses in general, actually.

There's no markings on it apart from the headstock, and no country of origin. It sounds pretty awesome and plays pretty well...apart from the horrific neck-dive due it's centre of gravity being thrown way off by being played upside down.

So, just out of curiosity, I was wondering if any of your guys have seen one of these before.

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By the way, I know the intonation is way off. I leant it to a righty friend for some recording ages ago, and he set it up for his own use. When he gave it back, I flipped the strings but never got around to giving it a setup. It's sat in a bag in a wardrobe like that for a few years now. I really should get it out and clean it up.

Also, I've become quite a bit better at restringing instruments since then...
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

The name rings a bell from way back, but that's about as much as I could tell you to be honest. Do you have any idea of its age?
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

None at all. It had a few small dings and the back of the neck felt a bit worn in when I got it, but overall it was pretty clean and the frets weren't worn. So it's either a pretty young instrument or an old one that hasn't been played much.

There's no markings on it at all, except the name on the headstock; not even a model name or serial number. Having said that, I've never tinkered with it, so I haven't seen the back of the pickups, the control cavity, or the neck pocket.
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

Looks like generic Korean to me. With a different headstock outline and inlays, it could be a Tanglewood or a Westfield or something of equivalent quality.
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

Neck heel extenstion on top looks like a Jackson C4 from the mid-2000s, neck bolt pattern looks like Killer (ESPee), headstock looks like a cross between a Jackson and Ibenhad.
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

Marathon was an old Shergold model, but this doesn't resemble any Shergold I've ever seen.
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

I have the same problem dude
I bought my bass a few years back when I was an absolute newb
nobody recognises the model or brand :3
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

Bass_reaper, I've only found one reference to Crimson guitars (a custom maker in the UK), but I seriously doubt this is one of his pieces:

http://crimsonguitars.com/about-us/

Most likely, this is some Asian supplier grinding out mass-market models.
Not to say yours is bad, but that nameplates/inlays swiftly change ("a dime a dozen" as we say here in the States).
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

b_r, in my opinion, your Crimson bass guitar is "inspired" by the Yamaha RBX, Ibanez Soundgear SR and Cort Action. Very probably manufactured in China.

The controls of the Crimson are set further in from the edge of the body than on a Yamaha. I suspect that the body thickness explains this.
 
Re: Can Anyone I.D. My Bass?

bass_reaper said:
^could you explain a bit :3
I'm sorry, I'm still a newb
Click to expand...

Check it;
1.jpg
This is the Yamaha RBX170. Your bass looks STRIKINGLY similar, with the only difference really being the electronic knob layout.

when you're buying a lower-end guitar or bass from a big company, you're not really buying a Dean/Yamaha/Epiphone/Fender/Ibanez/etcetcetc, you're buying a guitar from China, Indonesia, India or some other high-output factory that will pop out lower grade equipment built with company specs. If the parent company isn't looking, or if they agree to it, the factory may also churn out a pile of knockoff instruments using the same cutting/routing specs and altering a couple key points to avoid being sued. Many of these may not have past final inspection for the original company, like that bass MAY have once been a Yamaha RBX170 but didn't pass inspection for Yamaha, so the factory painted it something different and put non-Yamaha electronics in it.
 
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