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Bossa Bass Club

#21
My Bossa OB5 is the best bass I've ever had. I love it. I've been playing it pretty much exclusive for most 5-string gigs since 2008. I got turned on to them by Hussian Jiffry, the US rep. I also have an ash 5-string this which looks similar to the first bass in the post.

This bass was refinished by Pat Wilkens in LA and he did an amazing job. I can't recommend him enough.

I get many many compliments on this bass and it's tone. It sounds great plugged direct into FOH or for recording, with any rig, etc... Balance and weight are great.

I'm told that the builder in Japan is very ill and it sounds like there is no more future for Bossa. I am very sorry to hear that and hope he recovers soon. These are great instruments.

Also, If anyone has one of the new Bossa pre-amps they would be interesting in selling I'd like to get a spare.


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#25
bemasek said:
My Bossa OB5 is the best bass I've ever had. I love it. I've been playing it pretty much exclusive for most 5-string gigs since 2008. I got turned on to them by Hussian Jiffry, the US rep. I also have an ash 5-string this which looks similar to the first bass in the post.

This bass was refinished by Pat Wilkens in LA and he did an amazing job. I can't recommend him enough.

I get many many compliments on this bass and it's tone. It sounds great plugged direct into FOH or for recording, with any rig, etc... Balance and weight are great.

I'm told that the builder in Japan is very ill and it sounds like there is no more future for Bossa. I am very sorry to hear that and hope he recovers soon. These are great instruments.

Also, If anyone has one of the new Bossa pre-amps they would be interesting in selling I'd like to get a spare.


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Hussain owns some cool Bossa's too! :-)...indeed, Wilkins does great (re) finish jobs and build some very nice basses himself! :-)...oh no, too bad if this is true?..I'm sorry for Mr. Toshio as well...this might explain why I had not heard from him since a long time...hopefully he's not that seriously ill!...btw, I'm also searching for this new Bossa preamp, yet no luck so far...cheers, JJ
 
#29
ddnidd1 said:
I just noticed Bossa Tribute basses on Ebay.

Anyone have information on the Tribute line ?
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Indeed there are Bossa Tribute's up on Ebay...and I understood from the owner of Bossa..he's quite annoyed about this fact, as they are simply copycats and not officially licensed by Real Bossa Design, Japan!...seems they had been first build in China & now coming from Korea/Taiwan?...their quality is sure not high-end & identical with the original Bossa's!...though more affordable, they are lacking the better wood, preamp & hardware options of the originals...that's what I know so far & I could be also wrong..:)
 
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#32
stark william said:
Actually, there are many for sale here in Japan...the best one is the Brazilian rosewood with rosewood neck..the tuners, preamp, and pickups are JUNK...but when you replace them the sound is so unique.
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Indeed, that's maybe the negative aspect of the Tribute line..I could notice pic's of a few on the internet.:-)
Hey William, do you have any suggestion about where to get the new Bossa preamp & bridge?..I suspect both are used & coming from TUNE basses?
 
#33
i just picked up a bossa UJB-5E with either spalted or burled maple top..and not sure how old it is but it sounds and plays awesome. i have been looking for one for years.. the plain ones come up every now and then a few times a year but i haven't seen any fancy ones come up until this one..

i heard someone mention a mid toggle switch in the electronics cavity but i don't see it when i open it up. i see three little blue things that might be some kind of dial but not sure.. does anyone one know if one of these is the mid freq toggle? the dial has a tinny arrow but looks like it has a a whole range it can possibly be turned to? haven't tampered with it though..
 

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#34
DEMETRI said:
i heard someone mention a mid toggle switch in the electronics cavity but i don't see it when i open it up. i see three little blue things that might be some kind of dial but not sure.. does anyone one know if one of these is the mid freq toggle? the dial has a tinny arrow but looks like it has a a whole range it can possibly be turned to? haven't tampered with it though..
Click to expand...

The little blue things are potentiometers called trim pots. Two trim pots control the output volume of the individual pickups and the third controls the mids at 800 Hz. There is no toggle switch.

You can adjust the trim pots with a very small screwdriver. When the arrow is in the center of the travel of the trim pot the mids are flat. When you move the adjustment counterclockwise, you are cutting the mids and when you move it clockwise you are boosting the mids.

Just experiment with the adjustment of the trim pots until you get the desired effect.
 
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#35
DEMETRI said:
i just picked up a bossa UJB-5E with either spalted or burled maple top..and not sure how old it is but it sounds and plays awesome. i have been looking for one for years.. the plain ones come up every now and then a few times a year but i haven't seen any fancy ones come up until this one..

i heard someone mention a mid toggle switch in the electronics cavity but i don't see it when i open it up. i see three little blue things that might be some kind of dial but not sure.. does anyone one know if one of these is the mid freq toggle? the dial has a tinny arrow but looks like it has a a whole range it can possibly be turned to? haven't tampered with it though..
Click to expand...

Hello...oh that's a gorgeous & possibly rare UJB version, as I never saw one with such a heavy spalted Maple top..also I guess it got a light Ash body & Ebony fretboard...really nice!...well, I'm not sure, but concerning the Hipshot-A bridge & the preamp with switch...it could be much a build from 2000+?...as it has the great new NBC-1 active circuit installed and with the so called Half Tone switch on the body front & the balance control...one can choose some options for the 2 Dual Coil Humbucker's...either both Pu's / neck or bridge Pu only / the outer Coils of both Pu's / the inner Coils of both Pu's...that's what I understand & noticed so far as I have this great preamp on 2 of my Bossa's installed yet without the switch...unfortunately the Bossa builder gave me this info only in the Japanese language..so I could be also a bit wrong! :-)...anyway, because you asked...with the 3 little things you can boost or cut...the general gain...and also adjust your preference/balance output for the neck and bridge Pickup...check how the 3 Bluish are already had been set..maybe at Zero?...then listen & compare any differences at boosting or cutting these controls a bit...by carefully using a screwdriver and 1-3 steps up or down might be enough to hear a significant difference...don't overdo the general gain setting to avoid possible distortion!..so far I'm not aware of any Mid toggle switch or control?...well, I hope this might help you a bit :-)..cheers, JJ
 
#36
ddnidd1 said:
The little blue things are potentiometers called trim pots. Two trim pots control the output volume of the individual pickups and the third controls the mids at 800 Hz. There is no toggle switch.

You can adjust the trim pots with a very small screwdriver. When the arrow is in the center of the travel of the trim pot the mids are flat. When you move the adjustment counterclockwise, you are cutting the mids and when you move it clockwise you are boosting the mids.

Just experiment with the adjustment of the trim pots until you get the desired effect.
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Hi there...I would in general say the same...yet, I thought the 3rd trim pot would be for adjusting the overal volume output instead of setting the Mid's?..interesting if that's the case and I could be wrong :-)..right now I can't recall my settings on 2 of my Bossa's with this preamp installed...both sound simply great!...I'm satisfied and never looked back into this.:-)
 
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