I took this on a trade, and while it far exceeded my expectations, it just doesn’t get as much play time as my Spector 6. This is a boutique Japanese bass that, in my opinion, parallels Japanese Tune bases. The quality, feel, and tone is better than the Roscoe 5 and Elrick 5 that I recently had. I will try to make some video or audio clips. In the meantime, there are some great examples of Bossa basses on Youtube. I’m fairly certain the only difference between the OB, OBJ, and BUS models are the body shapes. The guts and construction should be the same. Also note, I believe these Japanese Bossa basses are no longer being made. There are Bossa Tribute models (ones with a ‘T’ in the model, i.e. TBUS, etc) that are unlicensed cheaply-made knockoffs from what I understand. So this is the real deal and somewhat rare. Here’s specs:
- Transparent orange over Spalted Maple top and 2-piece Swamp Ash body (the back is almost neon orange!)
- 34” scale, 3-piece Maple neck w/ Brass nut (Low B is phenomenal and disproves this 35”+ scale length craze!)
- 24 fret Ebony fretboard with a very large radius, almost flat. It feels very much like a Yamaha TRB-6, but with a thinner neck profile.
- 2-1/4” nut width
- 18mm string spacing (adjustable from about 17-19mm)
- Bossa proprietary dual coil humbucking pickups w/ matching Spalted Maple covers
- 3-band 18V preamp with a coil tap switch? (I believe these are the same exact GZP-2 preamps found in Japanese Tune basses. Very clear and punchy!
- Gold Gotoh tuners with a very nice Bossa proprietary bridge (I’ve never seen a bridge like this before but it seems robust!)
- Very light for a 6 string at 9.4lbs
- Condition is good. It’s littered with clear coat dents and dingles, but none severe into the wood. Most are on the back and sides. The headstock and neck have minimal marks, and the top is very clean. This is a players' bass more than a case queen.
- The bridge pickup was apparently replaced as evidenced by it being a slightly different color and another pickup being included in the case! I did not hook up the extra pickup to test it, but since it’s an identical dual coil humbucker, I can only assume it’s dead.
- The preamp had two IDCs for the pickup, jack, and battery wires (Insulation Displacement Connector means you don’t have to strip the ends of the wires; you simply push them into the connector to terminate). However, a previous owner soldered wires together and tried to solder them to the connector. I later found out that this was a factory thing too. While it functioned 100%, these connectors looked very mangled/metled. So I replaced them with TE Connectivity/Phoenix Contact style screw terminals. This in no way effects playability, tone, or anything; it simply makes it easier to do any future wiring. The famed Lane Poor AC preamps had this feature in the 90s, and more companies have since started using these same screw terminals on their preamps like EMG, Darkglass, etc. The original PCB headers and IDC connectors will be included. NOTE: If I hadn’t mentioned this, you likely wouldn't have noticed. But for any Bossa aficionados that may have noticed, I wanted to make sure I was clear!
- Other than the bridge pickup and the above mentioned preamp terminals, this bass appears to be unmolested/factory.
- Includes a perfectly fitting HSC in excellent condition. (may be original)
Asking $1750 shipped (lower 48 States) and PayPaled. I'll consider shipping internationally at extra cost.
- Transparent orange over Spalted Maple top and 2-piece Swamp Ash body (the back is almost neon orange!)
- 34” scale, 3-piece Maple neck w/ Brass nut (Low B is phenomenal and disproves this 35”+ scale length craze!)
- 24 fret Ebony fretboard with a very large radius, almost flat. It feels very much like a Yamaha TRB-6, but with a thinner neck profile.
- 2-1/4” nut width
- 18mm string spacing (adjustable from about 17-19mm)
- Bossa proprietary dual coil humbucking pickups w/ matching Spalted Maple covers
- 3-band 18V preamp with a coil tap switch? (I believe these are the same exact GZP-2 preamps found in Japanese Tune basses. Very clear and punchy!
- Gold Gotoh tuners with a very nice Bossa proprietary bridge (I’ve never seen a bridge like this before but it seems robust!)
- Very light for a 6 string at 9.4lbs
- Condition is good. It’s littered with clear coat dents and dingles, but none severe into the wood. Most are on the back and sides. The headstock and neck have minimal marks, and the top is very clean. This is a players' bass more than a case queen.
- The bridge pickup was apparently replaced as evidenced by it being a slightly different color and another pickup being included in the case! I did not hook up the extra pickup to test it, but since it’s an identical dual coil humbucker, I can only assume it’s dead.
- The preamp had two IDCs for the pickup, jack, and battery wires (Insulation Displacement Connector means you don’t have to strip the ends of the wires; you simply push them into the connector to terminate). However, a previous owner soldered wires together and tried to solder them to the connector. I later found out that this was a factory thing too. While it functioned 100%, these connectors looked very mangled/metled. So I replaced them with TE Connectivity/Phoenix Contact style screw terminals. This in no way effects playability, tone, or anything; it simply makes it easier to do any future wiring. The famed Lane Poor AC preamps had this feature in the 90s, and more companies have since started using these same screw terminals on their preamps like EMG, Darkglass, etc. The original PCB headers and IDC connectors will be included. NOTE: If I hadn’t mentioned this, you likely wouldn't have noticed. But for any Bossa aficionados that may have noticed, I wanted to make sure I was clear!
- Other than the bridge pickup and the above mentioned preamp terminals, this bass appears to be unmolested/factory.
- Includes a perfectly fitting HSC in excellent condition. (may be original)
Asking $1750 shipped (lower 48 States) and PayPaled. I'll consider shipping internationally at extra cost.
