Hi there! Any chance to identify this TBJ-1? I guess it is Japanese made, but not sure. No serial, just this picture 
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Official TUNE Club
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Sorry, I'm not great at identifying basses that far out. It looks similar to my bass purchased new in 1988. My guess is that the control knobs have been replaced, but the rest looks stock.Hi there! Any chance to identify this TBJ-1? I guess it is Japanese made, but not sure. No serial, just this picture
View attachment 7166374View attachment 7166375
It's layer than that but just a couple of years.
25 fret/square cut heel neck appeared with WSC Korea supplying necks and bodies to Japan for assembly.
I’ve got a TWB, and it’s a phenomenal instrument. Complete with fretboard LED’s! I love itThanks for your replies! Unfortunately I couldnt buy it, it was sold locally to someone elseBTW, I asked Japanese factory, and got a reply:
"This bass is definitely a Japanese product.
I think it was made in the late 80s or early 90s."
Interesting, considering my bass has the same 25 fret/square cut heel. Now I'm wondering where my sales slip is from when I purchased that bass. Quite certain it was pre-1990, but at my age...wait, what was I saying?
Indeed, it's the most comfortable long-scale bass I own, and even more comfortable than my medium-scale Yamaha Motion B. Really hard to beat those TUNE BassManiacs!
Don't go hunting, I'm the one with the failing memory
Had it in my head that Tune got the Levinson contract in 88 or 89 then allowed a year to realize they were over-stretched and move to assembling Korean imports. Tune actually got the contract in January 87, first Levinson models were ready by the October.
That memory slip of mine moves the goal posts back
Oh, that's interesting. Who is Levinson again? And does this mean that my #1 bass is made in Korea or Japan? Not that it matters much to me, I love it either way.Don't go hunting, I'm the one with the failing memory
Had it in my head that Tune got the Levinson contract in 88 or 89 then allowed a year to realize they were over-stretched and move to assembling Korean imports. Tune actually got the contract in January 87, first Levinson models were ready by the October.
That memory slip of mine moves the goal posts back
Gary Levinson, designer of the Blade guitars and basses.
Quite a hot ticket item back in the day, still are even today; late 80's/early 90's have $2k+ price tags. Being just one man, going into production was a non-starter so he contracted the work out; Tune got the contract
Thing is Tune never had the biggest workforce so faced a dilemma; earn regular income from the Levinson contract or try and eke out a living producing their own brand. They found a compromise, import necks, bodies and hardware for the Tune Maniacs from Korea and do the assembly work in Japan. That way they could keep their brand going but still pay bills.
You have to remember Tune basses were not cheap. My fretless Maniac cost £1k while at the time a US Fender was £600.
I've owned 100% Japanese Tunes, assembled in Japan with Korean parts and 100% Korean. All fine basses so leave the pointless Korea vs Japan p!ssing contests to others
Oh, I remember my Maniac was a pretty significant outlay for me when I purchased it at the tender age of 21!Gary Levinson, designer of the Blade guitars and basses.
Quite a hot ticket item back in the day, still are even today; late 80's/early 90's have $2k+ price tags. Being just one man, going into production was a non-starter so he contracted the work out; Tune got the contract
Thing is Tune never had the biggest workforce so faced a dilemma; earn regular income from the Levinson contract or try and eke out a living producing their own brand. They found a compromise, import necks, bodies and hardware for the Tune Maniacs from Korea and do the assembly work in Japan. That way they could keep their brand going but still pay bills.
You have to remember Tune basses were not cheap. My fretless Maniac cost £1k while at the time a US Fender was £600.
I've owned 100% Japanese Tunes, assembled in Japan with Korean parts and 100% Korean. All fine basses so leave the pointless Korea vs Japan p!ssing contests to others
Thanks for the background history, and I agree that I'll let the cork-sniffers go on about which vintage of components are better. I liked pretty much everything I saw in the Tune catalog back in the late 80s, but could only reach...just...so...far!
Hey guys,
i just bought an old Tune Synchro 5, made in Japan. It was very used. I just need to spend a lot of love to this bass.
All in all it is in good condition. The previous owner could not tell me a lot about this bass.
I am sure that someone put some Bartolini Pus into it ( Precision and Jazz).
I already accelerated the height of the Pick-ups, the Precision PU is so much louder than the Jazz Pu.
I found some trim potis but i guess they have nothing to do with the Volume.
My bass has Vol/Vol/Tone.
The Tone Poti is a push Poti. I guess it is boosting or cutting some frequency. I could not hear IT clearly through the Headphones.
Maybe someone has a wiring plan for the Tune Synchro 5. If IT helps i can post pictures. Maybe someone has an Idea about the volume difference of the PUs.
Greets from Germany
Christopher
i just bought an old Tune Synchro 5, made in Japan. It was very used. I just need to spend a lot of love to this bass.
All in all it is in good condition. The previous owner could not tell me a lot about this bass.
I am sure that someone put some Bartolini Pus into it ( Precision and Jazz).
I already accelerated the height of the Pick-ups, the Precision PU is so much louder than the Jazz Pu.
I found some trim potis but i guess they have nothing to do with the Volume.
My bass has Vol/Vol/Tone.
The Tone Poti is a push Poti. I guess it is boosting or cutting some frequency. I could not hear IT clearly through the Headphones.
Maybe someone has a wiring plan for the Tune Synchro 5. If IT helps i can post pictures. Maybe someone has an Idea about the volume difference of the PUs.
Greets from Germany
Christopher
The TUNE Bass Maniac, due to production/distribution problems in their 80's days (and to some extent up to today, even the Samick/Korean versions had spotty to non-existent distribution in the US except for a few models through Sam Ash in the 90's) are THE overlooked great Japanese bass from that 0's explosion which yielded the Yamaha BB's, the Ibanez Musicians, the Aria SB's, the ESP Horizons, the Daion Mk XX, etc.
This design is effectively the smallest, lightest form-factor for a full-scale 34" bass. The originals had TUNE's own pickups and hardware (save for the GOTOH keys), and were PJ basses when this was not common.
They are also the spiritual godfathers of the Ibanez Soundgears, the first ones were essentially BASS MANIAC copies.
I've always wanted one of these in a five and the fretless Woodbass. Some day . . . .
This design is effectively the smallest, lightest form-factor for a full-scale 34" bass. The originals had TUNE's own pickups and hardware (save for the GOTOH keys), and were PJ basses when this was not common.
They are also the spiritual godfathers of the Ibanez Soundgears, the first ones were essentially BASS MANIAC copies.
I've always wanted one of these in a five and the fretless Woodbass. Some day . . . .
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Pics please! We are fine with grungy and grimy as long as we get to see!
Here we go...
If anybody has an Idea about the pick-up let me know
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The trim pots actually do increase/decrease the efficiency of the circuit, so they can definitely affect volume.
My wb4f had something like 6-7 trim pots in the original circuit board, but I removed all of it, along with the 18 volt 2 battery active system.
My wb4f had something like 6-7 trim pots in the original circuit board, but I removed all of it, along with the 18 volt 2 battery active system.
The strings are all wound incorrectly on the tuning posts.(except for the middle one, A).
Sorry -you didn’t really ask about that, but my OCD kicked in when I saw your headstock picture.
