Seiwa bass guitar information

[Garethw]

Hey guys I picked up this Seiwa bass guitar recently and I'm struggling to find much information on it. I'm pretty sure it's MIJ and it looks remarkably like an Ibanez Roadster II from the 80's. Any further information would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[bholder]

Well now that's an interesting puzzle. The TB experts will chime in shortly (probably still working on their first morning coffee hehe).

 

[Volker Kirstein]

Seiwa is/was a MIJ budget line, which may or may not be tied to Ibanez. Apocryphal accounts have them being of reasonably decent quality. That's all I found with a casual google. I'm sure that the TB wizards will fill in the details as the weekend continues.

 

[taconeko]

It seems that they were made by Fujigen in the 80s. I found a few auctions for those basses going for around or less than $100.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Reminds me of the Ibanez Eagle bass a lot, not sure if there's a connection in between. I like the way it looks!

 

[FSB2021]

Hello,
I call two Seiwa Basses my own, definitively lovely "keepers". A Century Royal P-Bass and also a PJ-Bass as yours, but "Century laurel" and a different body wood, I think mine is maple.
All my information about Seiwa is from a german homepage:
Seiwa Century Royal PB-Style zu verkaufen (best-vintage-guitars.de)
Seiwa Century Crown JV ST-Style zu verkaufen (best-vintage-guitars.de)
Very good instruments, maybe some of them made out of parts from the Squire JV-Series at the Fujigen-Gakki plant. Prices go up, the last I saw here on Ebay were about 400-450 Euros.
Foto below shows them on the left (only foto I found actually, can upload more, if you want)

Best regards, Matthias from Germany

 

[Gunga Din]

@Bassaasin

You aware of these, Jon?

 

[FSB2021]

Some more pictures of the "Seiwa Brothers"

 

[Jim C]

I have a red Seiwa P bass copy that sounds pretty good but it has a really great neck. Feels good, will play with low action, no ski jump, etc. I never see these for sale.

 

[FSB2021]

I have a red Seiwa P bass copy that sounds pretty good but it has a really great neck. Feels good, will play with low action, no ski jump, etc. I never see these for sale.

My Seiwa PB has also this super-nice neck, starting as a C-shape, then becomes a flat D-shape. It is always a pleasure to touch and play it.

 

[Garethw]

It's a great bass for sure!

 

[FSB2021]

Funny, today I saw a Fender Boxer PJ Bass from the Fujigen Plant made in 1985 on FB. Looks quite the same like my Seiwa Century Laurel PJ Bass, especially Body, PUs and Poti Positions, also the two-tone SB an maybe even the wood...

 

[Dave Davidson]

I have a sparkle rose unnamed guitar that I was told was similar to a Seiwa. It is the Strat style with some Ibanez Blazer features. After digging a bit I learned some info and I found this thread. It is interesting to see the guitar from the German site. They look pretty nice,

Mine is really clean and was made as a production sample for Arai. There is some Japanese writing on the heel that says Arai in katakana and sample in kanji. Mine also has BL300 on the heel which is an Ibanez Blazer model. The body and headstock are similar to the Blazer. Mine is a 21 fret neck where the Seiwa guitars that I've seen are 22 frets. It has 2 Tokai TWB-20 humbuckers that look like DiMarizio super distortions from the front. It has the cheapy tuning keys.

There is a Seiwa model designated SC100. This is a 3 single coil pickup guitar. These guitars and mine have a stamped bridge that is lower quality than a blazer bridge.

I've also seen these Seiwa guitars labeled as Oakland. There seems to be a bit of a debate about these guitars regarding their connection to Ibanez. Ibanez is a brand name owned by Hoshino. It is not clear if the Sweiwa'a were made alongside the Ibanez models in the same facility or made somewehere else in Japan. If anyone has more info please post.

I have plenty of basses too

 

[Abrox]

Some more pictures of the "Seiwa Brothers"

Hi!
Did you change the pickguard Seiwa P Bass?
I want to put the same white pickguard as yours but the previous owner told me that the screw measurements are different, how did you do it? Best Regards.

 

[FSB2021]

Seiwa were made at the Fujigen Plant, Japan

 

[FSB2021]

Hi!
Did you change the pickguard Seiwa P Bass?
I want to put the same white pickguard as yours but the previous owner told me that the screw measurements are different, how did you do it? Best Regards.

AFAIR I had to drill new holes...nowadays I don't think that I would do this again...

 

[FSB2021]

Hey guys I picked up this Seiwa bass guitar recently and I'm struggling to find much information on it. I'm pretty sure it's MIJ and it looks remarkably like an Ibanez Roadster II from the 80's. Any further information would be appreciated.
Thanks

Hi Gareth,
still interested in this bass! Would You like to sell it? Best regards, Matthias from Germany