Basses from Japan- often different than models in the US?

[vindibona1]

As I've been perusing different basses, particularly focused at the moment on Yamaha, I noticed that there are a lot of basses for sale in Japan, models that I've not seen in the US. We know that many MIJ guitars are coveted models and I would suspect that basses might be the same quality, but don't seem to get a lot of extra love over here like the MIJ guitars do.

One of the basses I'd like to own some day is one of the original Yamaha TRB 5 stringers. Occasionally I see them offered from Japan, but with outrageous shipping costs attached.

Any thoughts in general or specific?

 

[GTHintz]

If you can find a reasonable price it'll be great. I think the Japanese hold out on us on purpose. We get Indonesia, China, korea, etc. Basses and they get the best of the best in their main factory. Ibanez, Yamaha, esp all make amazing premium basses and due to some long standing stigma in the states about "not being as good as our fenders" they just don't market all the good stuff here. I've seen too many premium Soundgear and high level Yamahas getting passed off for being cheap nothing's. These days we're a lot smarter about that but there were lots of years when made in Japan anything was scoffed at.

 

[vindibona1]

If you can find a reasonable price it'll be great. I think the Japanese hold out on us on purpose. We get Indonesia, China, korea, etc. Basses and they get the best of the best in their main factory. Ibanez, Yamaha, esp all make amazing premium basses and due to some long standing stigma in the states about "not being as good as our fenders" they just don't market all the good stuff here. I've seen too many premium Soundgear and high level Yamahas getting passed off for being cheap nothing's. These days we're a lot smarter about that but there were lots of years when made in Japan anything was scoffed at.

The years when "Made in Japan" were scoffed at ended long ago. I remember making fun of TOYota and the Honda CVCC was a little fart car. Now Toyota and Honda are the leading car mfrs in the world. All Mazdas are made in Japan and are terrific cars. I've owned two now. The American standards of Chevy, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac are now the ones that people think of as sub-standard compared to their Japanese counterparts. Nobody in my family has purchased an American car since 2004. [We seem to be on to Volvos now :0 ]

But guitars have always been a little different. I've owned a couple Alvarez Yairi guitars and they are terrific for what they are. I've played a couple MIJ Strats and they too were terrific. But guitars and basses made in Indonesia have come a long, long way. How they compare to MIJ is hard to tell because there are so few MIJ instruments available in the US. One would think that someone in Japan would want to tap into the US marker?

 

[claudel]

Shipping costs seem to have soared recently ( doubled? ), but there are lots of cool basses available...

 

[GTHintz]

The years when "Made in Japan" were scoffed at ended long ago. I remember making fun of TOYota and the Honda CVCC was a little fart car. Now Toyota and Honda are the leading car mfrs in the world. All Mazdas are made in Japan and are terrific cars. I've owned two now. The American standards of Chevy, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac are now the ones that people turn think of as sub-standard compared to their Japanese counterparts.

But guitars have always been a little different. I've owned a couple Alvarez Yairi guitars and they are terrific for what they are. I've played a couple MIJ Strats and they too were terrific. But guitars and basses made in Indonesia have come a long, long way. How they compare to MIJ is hard to tell because there are so few MIJ instruments available in the US. One would think that someone in Japan would want to tap into the US marker?

I think a lot of it is this globalization kick that everyone's been on. They know they can only produce so much of everything being on a small congested island so they'd rather just focus on the high end stuff and leave the bare bones manufacturing to others. Warwick in Germany has been doing that for a while now as have some of our known brands. Only difference is that we and Germany have a lot of manufacturing capacity but very little effort goes into actually producing things due to climate crazies and politics. Japan however has the attitude of wanting to build things and always innovate but just doesn't have the space or abundance of raw materials. If they had the same land and raw materials China or the US has they'd have conquered the world 10x over by now.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

If I want something bad enough, I’ll just bite the bullet and pay the premium and/or outrageous shipping costs.

That being said, I’ve played several MIJ Fender basses over the years and I find them to be very good quality, but not as high quality as my US Laklands and Vintage Fenders. Sometimes it seems some MIJ instruments are a bit overpriced, IMO.

 

[ArteK]

I’ve tended to assemble or modify basses as Fender parts (bodies, necks, electronics). The vast majority of MIJ basses and parts I’ve bought have been excellent. I really seem to like the Fender MIJ bass necks, although I can’t seem to find them anymore. I like the vintage reissue ones with 7.25” radius and smaller vintage frets. I often pair them with Warmoth bodies to get the color I want.

The newer American ones tend to have the stiffening rods which I’m not completely sold on. (I think the necks feel stiffer (of course), but also have a slightly less warm sound.)

I’ve recently gotten a couple of American Special Fender Jazz necks that were ok. But I recently replaced an American Special P bass neck with a MIJ 70s reissue neck that had vintage frets and radius and was much happier with the feel and sound.

 

[songwriter21]

As I've been perusing different basses, particularly focused at the moment on Yamaha, I noticed that there are a lot of basses for sale in Japan, models that I've not seen in the US. We know that many MIJ guitars are coveted models and I would suspect that basses might be the same quality, but don't seem to get a lot of extra love over here like the MIJ guitars do.

One of the basses I'd like to own some day is one of the original Yamaha TRB 5 stringers. Occasionally I see them offered from Japan, but with outrageous shipping costs attached.

Any thoughts in general or specific?

My thought for you, would be to contact Danny Stewart at Bass Japan Direct. He can find just about any Japanese bass, is very knowledgeable, very communicative, and charges around $150 within days to you from Japan.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

The years when "Made in Japan" were scoffed at ended long ago. I remember making fun of TOYota and the Honda CVCC was a little fart car. Now Toyota and Honda are the leading car mfrs in the world. All Mazdas are made in Japan and are terrific cars. I've owned two now. The American standards of Chevy, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac are now the ones that people think of as sub-standard compared to their Japanese counterparts. Nobody in my family has purchased an American car since 2004. [We seem to be on to Volvos now :0 ]

But guitars have always been a little different. I've owned a couple Alvarez Yairi guitars and they are terrific for what they are. I've played a couple MIJ Strats and they too were terrific. But guitars and basses made in Indonesia have come a long, long way. How they compare to MIJ is hard to tell because there are so few MIJ instruments available in the US. One would think that someone in Japan would want to tap into the US marker?

I had a couple of those Honda Civic CVCC powered cars. Plenty of snap and 48 miles to the gallon, which is better than my Prius I have today.

As for anything out of Japan, I have no issues.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

Westone Thunder 1-A, made in 1983 by Matsumoku in Japan. (And a backup). I'd never be without them. Fender thought they were too close to a P-bass, and sued over it. I've played a Fender P-bass, but given how close the Westones get at a fifth of the price, it's not a tough decision to make unless Fender have become some kind of religion. Also maybe, Westones rarer than expected, suggests that people with good ones don't want to sell.

EDIT:
I remember a joke being that the best motorbike repair kit for Japanese bikes was a hand grenade. That stopped being funny long ago when it became clear that a persistence in making the joke merely revealed how little the maker of it knew about the rising quality of Japanese bikes!

 

[ThudThudThud]

Westone Thunder 1-A, made in 1983 by Matsumoku in Japan. (And a backup). I'd never be without them. Fender thought they were too close to a P-bass, and sued over it. I've played a Fender P-bass, but given how close the Westones get at a fifth of the price, it's not a tough decision to make unless Fender have become some kind of religion. Also maybe, Westones rarer than expected, suggests that people with good ones don't want to sell.

EDIT:
I remember a joke being that the best motorbike repair kit for Japanese bikes was a hand grenade. That stopped being funny long ago when it became clear that a persistence in making the joke merely revealed how little the maker of it knew about the rising quality of Japanese bikes!

I had a couple of friends who were hardcore bikers. They were old friends from service in Vietnam, grimy, salt of the earth type people. Lovely guys. One had a custom Harley chopper, and the other was the butt of a million jokes about his 'rice burner' [sic.] Japanese bike.
I asked him why he didn't ride an HD. "Because I like riding more than I like turning wrenches."
Seems the custom Harley chopper wasn't so maintenance free.

Aside: Please do not think I'd use any racial epithet, just telling the story.

 

[Bass]

I bought a "non-export" model Fender Aerodyne from Japan not long ago. It is an excellent bass, the quality is better than the Fender Player series in my opinion.

Including shipping, cost was just a little more than the Player. As would be expected if the quality is a little better.

I ordered the bass directly from the music store without issue.

 

[vindibona1]

I had a couple of friends who were hardcore bikers. They were old friends from service in Vietnam, grimy, salt of the earth type people. Lovely guys. One had a custom Harley chopper, and the other was the butt of a million jokes about his 'rice burner' [sic.] Japanese bike.
I asked him why he didn't ride an HD. "Because I like riding more than I like turning wrenches."
Seems the custom Harley chopper wasn't so maintenance free.

HD's are an anomaly. They have a "cool" appeal, but like Glock pistols there can be a lot of tinkering involved. Once you get one you want to modify the heck out of it. My good buddy has a nice Harley (I don't know which model, but an expensive one) and he spent money on a new exhaust system whose main attribute and reason for him to swap it out was because it was "LOUDER". it was plenty loud before. A few days ago he was coming over. I was indoors and I knew he was here when he was a block away. Obnoxious, if you ask me. I guess HD is one of those few MIA products that seem to have more prestige here than the MIJ motorcycles.

 

[Zak TMD]

A lot of Japanese companies (including Fender Japan) make Not For Export (NFE) models for a variety of reasons, and I'm willing to bet the US's old opinion of their builds is lower on that list of reasons than say tariffs and fees for shipping here. So, there are a lot of models we never get in the US.

Related - Mike & Mike's out of Seattle has a pretty large selection of NFEs Japanese instruments that you otherwise likely won't find here on a rotating basis (Greco, Tokai, etc.). They work with someone in Japan closely to get cool stuff. Got one of the MiJ JB75s from them a couple years ago, and def recommend the shop. Though don't expect a sweet deal, their prices reflect the current market.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

I asked him why he didn't ride an HD. "Because I like riding more than I like turning wrenches."
Seems the custom Harley chopper wasn't so maintenance free.

I like that, it reminds me of synths.. I love the SCI Pro-One monosynth but when I had one, keeping the proper tuning and scaling was a chore, imagine doing it for the Prophet 5. > The Japanese Yamaha DX7 took away that particular pain. I extended this principle further, I coded my own synth. I agonised a long time over the log scales and tweaks needed just to generate the lookup tables, but it's worth it because it got rid of flaws the Yamaha DX7 has, and it stays set fair forever. I'll always respect the DX7 though because all my work depended on it, its service manuals and expired patents. Without that Japanese engineering I might well have ended up nowhere.

Mind you, I think the world may be a safer place for the lack of a mass-produced Hattori Hanzo sword. Had those been possible to exist, they could have wreaked untold unrest.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

My good buddy has a nice Harley (I don't know which model, but an expensive one) and he spent money on a new exhaust system whose main attribute and reason for him to swap it out was because it was "LOUDER". it was plenty loud before. A few days ago he was coming over. I was indoors and I knew he was here when he was a block away. Obnoxious, if you ask me. I guess HD is one of those few MIA products that seem to have more prestige here than the MIJ motorcycles.

LOTS of Harleys here in Bristol UK. I don't know why, but it's good to hear, and good to see. The loudest bike I ever heard wasn't one though, not sure what it was. A friend owned it, it was a big matt black hog, and we lived in St. Pauls, and I knew when he was approaching St. Pauls from far beyond the M32! That sound shook walls. I preferred that it took maintenance because I could talk to him without having to hear it at close range.

No bass, no Japan... I think I just fell off the edge of the world.

 

[ardgedee]

They know they can only produce so much of everything being on a small congested island so they'd rather just focus on the high end stuff and leave the bare bones manufacturing to others.

I'm pretty sure it's because the cost of living in Japan is high enough that they can't manufacture entry-level instruments at competitive prices any more.

South Korea population density is more than twice Japan's. Cheap manufacturing was possible there primarily because industrial wages had been depressed, which was why starting in the 90s many instruments started being made there. But the cost of living in South Korea has been escalating over the past two decades to the point where it's also no longer competitive in many industrial sectors, and manufacturing has also been leaving South Korea for China, Indonesia and other countries, just like it has been leaving the US, Japan, and other countries.

 

[ThudThudThud]

I like that, it reminds me of synths.. I love the SCI Pro-One monosynth but when I had one, keeping the proper tuning and scaling was a chore, imagine doing it for the Prophet 5. > The Japanese Yamaha DX7 took away that particular pain. I extended this principle further, I coded my own synth. I agonised a long time over the log scales and tweaks needed just to generate the lookup tables, but it's worth it because it got rid of flaws the Yamaha DX7 has, and it stays set fair forever. I'll always respect the DX7 though because all my work depended on it, its service manuals and expired patents. Without that Japanese engineering I might well have ended up nowhere.

Mind you, I think the world may be a safer place for the lack of a mass-produced Hattori Hanzo sword. Had those been possible to exist, they could have wreaked untold unrest.

I can't seem to find an airline with the featured Katana holders. Perhaps it's for the best.

 

[Jason Bonilla]

My Japanese built BBNE2 is phenomenal, if Yamaha were to make more modern high end stuff they would be such a major player in todays scene. I mean look at the headless 6 string they made for Nathan East, why wont they sell us that!? It seems like they're happy being the traditional guys and letting Ibanez follow the trends, all their Signature bass artists are legends, but they've been legends since the 80s and their signature offerings are nearly 20 years old at this point.

People happily pay $2900 for a China made Dingwall. Yamahas Top of the line, hand made JP2 model is $3000. Imagine a Japanese built headless multiscale bass from Yamaha, with electronics like you find on the BBNE2. I would go crazy for something like that, I'm sure alot of people would.

 

[B-Mac]

As I've been perusing different basses, particularly focused at the moment on Yamaha, I noticed that there are a lot of basses for sale in Japan, models that I've not seen in the US. We know that many MIJ guitars are coveted models and I would suspect that basses might be the same quality, but don't seem to get a lot of extra love over here like the MIJ guitars do.

One of the basses I'd like to own some day is one of the original Yamaha TRB 5 stringers. Occasionally I see them offered from Japan, but with outrageous shipping costs attached.

Any thoughts in general or specific?

Fender Aerodyne non-Export models are a prime example. Never intended for USA market. They pop up used from time to time and usually cause quite a stir.