1963 Les Paul Gibson Maya Bass

[linbell11]

I recently acquired a 1963 Les Paul Gibson Maya bass...was wondering if anyone has seen one or knows anything about it. I have read about Fender and Rick copies, but have not seen anything on this style Maya bass.

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Welcome to TalkBass linbell11.

I haven't seen one, but I'd hope to.

So, pics would be nice .

Regards
Sam

 

[linbell11]

Here ya go. I'm new to this, so I hope I attached the pic correctly.
Thanks

 

[Hawkbone]

Nice! can you do some closeups?

 

[johnk_10]

well, it's obviously not a Gibson. looks like a MIJ LP bass from the 70's judging by its bolt on neck, TRC, inlays, tuning keys and bridge.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Yeah I cant see that being a 63

 

[capnjim]

yeah, 70's MIJ for sure.

 

[Randall]

Maya or El Maya is made in Japan. I have a Ric 4001s copy made by them. El Maya was supposed to be a higher quality model.

 

[cdef]

This gets a little involved... It appears that Maya was a brand first produced by the Matsumoto Musical Instruments Manufacturers Association, but distributed and later (1976) acquired outright by the trading house Rokkomann. Mayas were then built at their factory in Kobe until it was destroyed by an earthquake in the 90's. Imports to the UK were rebranded e.g. Avon (Rose Morris) or Columbus. Quality was average for the time.

El Maya, on the other hand, was a deluxe line built for Rokkomann by the Tahara company of Matsumoto, some at the Chushin plant in Nagano. I've played a couple of El Maya LP copy guitars, and they were very high quality.

 

[Howzit]

From previous TB threads: Maya Bass & Maya Bass Guitar

...Les Paul maybe but no Gibson.

 

[Pudge921]

Hi all. I'm new here so sorry if I mess this up.
My son found a maya bass in a friends basement. $40 dollars later and it plays great. Needs new PG and tlc. Has Hi-A pickups. Any info on these maya would be appreciated

I'll post a pic soon.

 

[Avalon]

Here ya go. I'm new to this, so I hope I attached the pic correctly.
Thanks

It looks pretty solid on appearances. How about that bridge? Is it adjustable? Is that a string mute I see?

 

[Pudge921]

Here are some pics of the maya I discussed. http://photobucket.com/albums/k588/doug921/maya bass[img]
Comments about pickups, value, wood type, etc would be appreciated.

Sent from my iPad

 

[rockstarbassist]

iCancer fail

 

[cdef]

It's a copy of a Gibson Ripper from about 1976-77. Several Japanese companies made these. The neck is 3-piece
maple, the body looks like "Japanese ash", known there as tomo.

The original pickups have been changed out to Hi-A's, which were made by Bill Bartolini up to 1978. Also, it seems
the rotary switch has been removed and replaced with a simple toggle. The tuners have been replaced with a set
of Grovers - not a bad thing. The bridge cover is gone, but not really needed.

You say it plays well, so all you need now is a new pickguard, proper installation of the G string tuner and a Gibson
"speed knob" for the missing one. Nice bass.

 

[Pudge921]

Cdef
Thanks for the info. I lifted the pg just now to see what was inside. Definitely old, looks original, but I really can't tell. All the pots were 500k (maybe said CHINA), but no other marks.

I'm working with pick guard heaven for replacement, but can't remove speed knobs without further damage to the pg, so tracing is a pain.

Thanks again for the info on the wood. Do u think a garden-variety luthier could fix the tuner?

 

[lowend1]

What is the deal with the bridge? Holy radius, Batman!

 

[Joe Nerve]

This is the first and only bass I've ever seen that scares me. I'm going to have nightmares about it. I know it.

 

[Pudge921]

What's really freaky is that the left post has a small hex nut inserted between it and the bridge as a spacer.

 

[Pudge921]

We just replaced all the caps and pots in a Maya (Gibson) Ripper. We Tried to replace everything exactly as before except we used an audio taper instead of a linear taper for the volume pot. Now the volume has very little dynamic range and can't be turned off completely. Is it because of the different taper or did we screw up something else?

Thanks for the help. Would load pics but you might make fun of the soldering.