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Maya Bass Guitar

S

Sanderdejong

Dec 30, 2009
2
0
#1
Hi Everyone,
My dad left me this bass guitar and I cant really find much information about it.

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Its called a Maya and its from the 1970's apparantly and I was wondering if it is a good bass guitar?

Hope someone can help me with this,
thanks
 
#2
Yeah, looks like it has "made in Japan in the 1970's" written all over it. It's probably a student instrument and I'd guess that it ought to be worth $100-150 once its in playing shape -does is it need a knob or a pot, too?- although some of those off brand Japanese instruments been selling for more. (Teisco, EKO, etc.)

Pretty cool, Sanderdejong!
 
#6
Hi.

Maya's weren't bad, I had a few back in the day. Beginner instruments for sure in any case.

I'd say 80's rather than 70's though, and Korea rather than Japan.

El Maya OTOH was a Japanese mid level brand IIRC.



As for the monetary value, I'd say less or the same than a used Rogue, SX, Harley Benton etc., equaling about 40€.

Sentimental value on the other hand can be rather high, it's Your dads bass in any case.

Most of the cheapos are solid players after a good setup and a fresh set of strings, so there's some value right there also.

Regards
Sam
 
#7
I had the exact same bass. The build quality is VERY good. If they weren't made in the Matsumoku factory, the quality and feel is exactly the same. The body is real wood and not plywood. The neck on mine adjusted perfectly and felt nice although a bit more narrow than typical precision neck.

Simple upgrades like a quality pickup and new wiring kit and maybe quality tuners will make it a player that will hang with any good P bass.

I sold mine to a local kid who's probably put a thousand gigs on it and it's still going strong.
 
#12
I've only played 2 Mayas in last 20 years, one P and one J, both sunburst, binded neck, pearl PGs, really classy-looking...and they were both brilliant basses, if not somewhat heavy, but i prefered them over Fenders. They werent as defined sound-wise, yet very playable and if cranked, excellent rock bass...
 
#15
You make a valid point. I noticed that too.
I'm just comparing it to what I've found catalogged as early Matsumoku. It's a near-perfect match to some early stuff.

But, it does also share almost every characteristic (save minor details; mainly the truss adjustment at headtock, not the base of the neck) with early Electra Long Necker Jazz copies, and I don't believe those are Matsumoku...

I traded an Electra Workingman for it, which I'll admit was a bad deal for me, but I get way more out of the bass.

What I really want is a Phoenix bass to match my Phoenix guitar...
 

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