Show me your vintage Japanese Bass!

[klaus486]

Originally Posted by bassclef112

mid 80's Kawai RB105 - Koa body, graphite neck.


'84 Yamaha BB3000S

I had one of these....my first graphite necked bass. Wish I still had her....

[armybass]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

'85 Westone Spectrum GT. Matsumoku-built, passive, the first real bass I had and the one I learned how to play on. So glad I kept it all these years. Solidly built, powerful, and a voice all its own.

drool

[kissmybASS01]

Originally Posted by armybass

THAT, is a BAD BASS my friend!

Thank you! Fender has a fretted-only version as a Mexican-made re-issue (Duff McKagan model). It feels so cheap compared to the one I have.

Sadly, my girl doesn't get played with as much as she should haha

[sobemtv]

Originally Posted by tabdog

I love my Electra and Westone Electra.

I bought this Westone Electra X640N in
the early 1980's. Ash body and an 18
volt preamp,





Electra 1972 Model 2271 Long Necker
Bass. It is a LME and was produced at
the Fujigen Factory in Japan. Ash body
with 3 piece figured maple neck,





Funkie 60's wall hanger. Kingston/Tiesco
mahogany baseball bat neck and body,





Foam mute,





Tabdog

Very Nice Electra X640

I just bought one from TBer Rogerbmiller
looking forward to receive mine one

[sobemtv]

Originally Posted by smcd

My modded Black Eagle. It only has one issue.....

Very Nice inlay on Pickguard, one of a kind.... and a super heavy bass

[sobemtv]

Originally Posted by Abner

And this... was going to comment on the blocks on a Vantage. Never seen that before. (I like it.) Are they vinyl?

And then I noticed the fingerboard seems to be ebony rather than the typical rosewood. And it looks shortscale?

What did you do?

-Alex

Hey Alex,

The block inlay is a vinyl sticker off form eBay, nice stuff, Original is black dot inlay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JAZZ-BASS-Bl...50958518929%26

The fingerboard is Rosewood, just can't capture the grain well from my iphone camera

It is a full scale 34", it does looks like short scale due to the huge body

[Texsunburst59]

My '74 Ventura Sunburst Jazz Bass:

[Smokin' Toaster]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

'85 Westone Spectrum GT. Matsumoku-built, passive, the first real bass I had and the one I learned how to play on. So glad I kept it all these years. Solidly built, powerful, and a voice all its own.

I worked at a music store in the early 80's and we sold the Electra line. There was a model of this bass with 2 necks; one fretted and one fretless. It had threaded inserts on the neck so repeated changing wouldn't wear out the screw holes. Cool electronics too with push-pull pots to turn off coils, reverse phase, etc. Electra was making some really nice guitars and basses back then.

[BassSurfer]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Toaster

1976 Ibanez Challenger Jazz copy. I was torn between this one and the Black Eagle, and I went with the Fender vibe. Shortly after buying it new, I discovered that it got a nasty buzz from fluorescent and neon lights, so I put the DiMarzio stacked humbuckers in it. I still have the original Pickups, covers, pickguard and electronics. It was my only bass for the next 25 years or so. Later I added a J-Retro pre. More than once I've had someone come up at a gig and say "I've got a 197x block neck Jazz just like yours... wait, that's not a Fender! From what I can tell, this would probably bring $400-$500, if I had bought the Black Eagle it would be worth double or triple that. Matter's not, I affectionately refer to it as my '9/16 wrench". It's an indispensable tool.

I have seen you post this story and picture in other threads and appreciate it more each time. Beautiful bass and probably does NOT kill us like the BE does!

[72LML]

Here is my 60's or 70's EB-3 SG copy with scrolled headstock. 33.5" scale neck.

[Immigrant]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Toaster

I worked at a music store in the early 80's and we sold the Electra line. There was a model of this bass with 2 necks; one fretted and one fretless. It had threaded inserts on the neck so repeated changing wouldn't wear out the screw holes. Cool electronics too with push-pull pots to turn off coils, reverse phase, etc. Electra was making some really nice guitars and basses back then.

Speaking of threaded inserts, my Aria Pro II has threaded inserts for the pickup adjustment screws. It's those small touches that display the care the designers and craftsmen put into their product.

[jbd5015]

here is tabdogs cousin!!



and my westbury track II...for sale btw. Original hard shell case and all that jazz.



ive got a 72 ibanez thats currently gettin some work, so its not available for photos...yet!

-Jeff

[ShowLow]

Originally Posted by jbd5015

here is tabdogs cousin!!



-Jeff

Whoa, Cuz looks beast!! What pups are those?

[jbd5015]

Originally Posted by ShowLow

Whoa, Cuz looks beast!! What pups are those?

Thanks! I paid $50 for it! The previous owner ditched the ashtrays and put a Badass II on it. I rather like the look and its easier to play for sure. Tone is solid with that bridge.

I ditched the ugly white pickguard and had a friend customize that one to fit nicely.

Not sure what kind of pups they are. the ibanez i have (which has to be within the same 2 year build period), has a single of the same type.

seems to be some kind of mini-humbucker, and boy are they sweet. They definitely have a lot of attitude. I use flats on all my basses and these two with the min-humbuckers still have quite the bite!

-Jeff

[Davo-London]

Originally Posted by Fergie Fulton

1983 Squier Fender JV.
A lot of wear and tear on this bass, she gigged hard, including being involved in a fire. She was protected from any real flame damage as she was in her case, but the intense heat melted and blistered her lacquer, and ruined her electronics and PUP. I got her re-built, re-finished the neck so she could be played, but decided to leave the body as a reminder.
You can see on the edges where it melted and ran, before cooling and re-setting, as did the blisters in the finish....like i said she has been through a lot.

Great story and bass. Was the maple neck original? All the JV Jazz's I've seen have been rosewood neck'd.

Davo

[Lorbass]

Very nice basses here!!!

My 1985 Tokai APB'57 with fat one piece maple neck, SD pickups and killer sound!:

[wraub]

Wow, those Ibanez Black Eagle pics really make me miss the one I destroyed in youthful stupidity.

wraub

[Basshappi]

Early 80's MIJ Fender


Early 80's Yamaha BB400

[wraub]

Oh well, here's my current line-up:






85 MIJ Squier Jazz, 83-84 MIJ Squier Precision, 85 MIJ Ibanez Roadstar II x2.

wraub

[ronaldpdbrandt]

Here's my sweet 1982 Washburn Force 8, currently up for trade:




And here's my long-gone beauty, a 1976 Univox Stereo Bass:


I'd love to have that one back someday...