Gibson vs. Dean update

[Pilgrim]

The early Japanese imports were influenced by the then current designs but not copies. And many had that wonderful early Italian influence , knobs and switches , and were as cheesy as cheesy could be.
A mix of space age retro futurism and rubber lizard movies.
I loved the period when Teisco and the rest made wonderfully unique looking cheap guitars. There's some modern builders that embrace that aesthetic.

Unfortunately their work is rarely cheap.

I think having and owning those early basses is a lot of fun.  I had a Univox Mosrite copy but it was an assembly and repair project and I passed it along to someone who had more time.  I'd be happy to play one of the Eastwood reproductions. 

I've had a couple of Kay KB-2s which I enjoyed, but both had neck problems. 

[slinkp]

I recently picked up a UniVox Mosrite copy , a HiFlier. And it's a lot better than I originally expected , aside from one slippy tuner. It sounds really good. But I suppose I'm guilty of playing cheap basses through really nice amps.

I love that approach. Cheap instruments through nice amps is a great way to get cool sounds!

I used to own a Univox Moserite short-scale copy too. It was a great little bass, but I bought it with a specific hacky modification in mind...
I put a cheap guitar bridge and slotted a nut for 6 strings and hacked some guitar tuners onto the headstock, dropped a P90 copy on sale into the bridge pickup, and basically turned it into a baritone (though I strung it and tuned it differently than most).
This was in the 90s when baritone guitars barely existed, and a Fender Bass VI was out of my budget. The Univox cost me maybe $300 USD.
I did a terrible job, but I got a lot of mileage out of that instrument.

[Dave W]

The Univox Mosrite copies sounded better than Mosrites.

[morrow]

A number of people that have owned both have told me that. I've never had the opportunity to spend time on a Mosrite , but have to say the Flier sounds a lot better than I thought it would.
It's a good sounding bass!

[Ken]

I always find it funny that Ibanez made a Flying V bass long before Gibson did.

Now I'm not a rock guy at all , but I couldn't resist picking up an Epi V bass when a friend had one for sale. And I love the trashy little thing. They just announced a Korina run of guitars , but no basses.

That's what Bob Mould played in Husker Du.