Recent content by AltecGreen

Sugi is located just up the street and a right turn from Fujigen.

I figured you knew. I only posted because you were suggesting this reseller to others without disclosing that they are resellers and that there is a 'fee'. Your reseller and others are not doing anything extra. It's pretty much standard practice in Japan to have pictures of the actual...

This eBay seller like 99.9% of the eBay sellers selling Japanese goods are middlemen. They do not actually own any of the instruments listed. They look at postings by real Japanese stores, Japanese auctions or Japanese second hand stores. They steal the photos and translate the listing then...

This is for sale right now in Japan. https://www.digimart.net/cat03/shop5331/DS10063785/

I listen almost exclusively to Japanese music for about the last eight years. Without Google, I would have a hard time finding anyone who plays a P bass regardless of genre. Off the top of my head, I know two and neither plays a pure P bass. One is a double P and the other is a PJ. As...

My new Meta B5

Sorry to interrupt all of the AI talk. It feast or famine in Japan. Once they were none and now most stores have the basses arriving. At Ikebe’s Bassstation store in Akihabara.

I just saw an announcement a few minutes ago from Ikebe that said the Mode models were now available. These were just released today. Unfortunately, the catch is that they are only currently available from the Ikebe webstore but one can arrange for pickup at an Ikebe store. I...

I count about 40-50 companies

If you are in Japane right now, take a road trip or Shinkasen trip this weekend to Osaka and attend Sound Messe. You can try out a lot of cool basses. Besides, Ibanez will have a booth. You can ask them straight up ask them about the mode masses. I checked and it does not appear Ibanez is...

They seemed to be currently sold out. When they released a lot of stores had them but I can find nothing in Japan new or used right now. There were lots of listings for them at release but now there is nothing until a re-stock. This is not unusual. Japanese stores don't stock huge amounts...

My new Meta B5 midscale bass "Golden Malbec"

Some of you might find this interesting. Geek in Box, a Bass specialty store in Yokohama, made a comparison of all Sire basses.

The Sago branded instruments are all custom builds. They are one of a handful of Japanese shops that do full custom work. They made a YT video a few years ago that goes over the cost of a full custom. It maybe easier to just send them an email. You can literally draw a sketch on a napkin...