new bass Masada Performer japanese fender lawsuit era P bass

[floydman]

My first P bass! I've been dying for a P and was excited to find this gem local on craigslist. The seller bought it new, took lessons for a short while and then stored it in its case until now. He says it is 23 years old but I though the lawsuit era jap basses were a bit older than that can anyone clarify that? It is in brand new condition, very few scratches and no fretwear. It has flats that are probably from when he bought the bass. They have good feel and sound good. Does anyone know what kind of body wood this may be? It seems to mild grained for ash and doesn't really look like alder either. I love the cream pickup cover. I never liked white pickup covers but this one fits right in. I can't find any information on any masada basses. The closest thing I found to this bass was an Aria Pro II with maple fretboard from this page http://www.music-trade.co.jp/aria_80020664carte.html

[Musky]

Originally Posted by floydman

My first P bass! I've been dying for a P and was excited to find this gem local on craigslist. The seller bought it new, took lessons for a short while and then stored it in its case until now. He says it is 23 years old but I though the lawsuit era jap basses were a bit older than that can anyone clarify that? It is in brand new condition, very few scratches and no fretwear. It has flats that are probably from when he bought the bass. They have good feel and sound good. Does anyone know what kind of body wood this may be? It seems to mild grained for ash and doesn't really look like alder either. I love the cream pickup cover. I never liked white pickup covers but this one fits right in. I can't find any information on any masada basses. The closest thing I found to this bass was an Aria Pro II with maple fretboard from this page http://www.music-trade.co.jp/aria_80020664carte.html

Can't help with the bass, but the painted in contours might suggest it's either plywood or a laminated body. You'd have to examine the cavities to check though.

[the art guy]

Originally Posted by Musky

Can't help with the bass, but the painted in contours might suggest it's either plywood or a laminated body. You'd have to examine the cavities to check though.

Confused. Can you clarify what you mean by "painted in contours"?

[amimbari]

he means they paint the black on a s.burst WAY over the edges to cover up the plywood layers, like my old plywood no-namer:



.

[51pbass]

Hey------ have 2 of these Masada P Basses and love them. Frst off I am a Fender player and have been since I started playing 50 years ago. Both my Masada's are late 70's era. Both the bodies ARE NOT PLYWOOD as dsomeone else said. I beleve them both to be Swamp Ash. One has the factory wyhite Ibanez type copy pickup that came stock and the other has a replacement very early Dimarzio.Both mine are great players and sound good as well. Play that Masada my friend,it will treat you well.

[idtandt]

New find Masada Bass.

[Yorick]

Originally Posted by idtandt

New find Masada Bass.

We had these in the UK branded as Satellite in the late seventies, early eighties. Nice bass, great sounds from them, but they weighed a ton

[FenderRick]

it aint plywood,its the same as my ibanez lawsuit,its a sandwich construction

i found that out when i unscrewed the jack plate off my jazz bass,and checked the wiring of the pots/pups...its real wood allright!


EDIT: your bass looks amazing,and in perfect condition...its MIJ,so treat it well,it will serve you for a lifetime

[idtandt]

It is heavy.Very hard to find any info.Plays like butter.

[ghostdog93]

Basses: Electric Bass by Masada | Harmony Central

[Marial]

Very cool!

[idtandt]

Wanted to post this from The VintAxe Forum where I first asked about this guitar.
The VintAxe Guitar Forum :: View topic - New find: A Masada


Well idtandy, I certainly can't prove it, but I would say your guitar was built at one of the factories that supplied Aria Pro II guitars. It has late 1970's early 1980's build characteristics I associate with Aria Pro II.

First, the recess around the knobs and jack is unusual at this time. However, it was used on the Aria PE series of guitars that came out in 1977.
http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria...0_pg1.jpg.html

I can't really see the neck construction, but the 5 piece laminate neck-thru body style is also characteristic of Aria guitars in the late 70's. You can see a neck-thru version of a 5 piece here, but they also used the laminate style bodies on bolt neck guitars.
Matsumoku - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, I think Masada was buying guitars from one of the factories supplying Aria with their guitars. Of course, one of these factories was Matsumoku, I'm not sure about the name of the other supplier.

[boombloom]

I bought a Masada Master Jazz on Craigslist yesterday. The owner had installed "real" Fender pickups. He said they were "about 30 years old." There is a genuine Fender ashtray over the bridge. It feels great. He hadn't told me it was strung BEAD. It feels and sounds great. Looks like a mid 70's bass that's lived a hard life. $150. I'll know more about it when I've got it strung up properly but so far I'm very happy with the purchase!

[JIO]

Nice score! It's definitely late 70's/early 80's w/the top position finger-rest, cream pu covers, and large clovers. And it's pre Fender Performer (85-86) which was also made in Japan. Beautiful bass!

[awilkie84]

Originally Posted by Musky

Can't help with the bass, but the painted in contours might suggest it's either plywood or a laminated body. You'd have to examine the cavities to check though.

Some MIA fender bursts are like this, too. Older ones, specifically.