Hey, a friend of mine told me he had this bass and wanted me to check it out. It's a Tempo made in Japan. Nice bass but needs work. Action is WAY high! Pickups not working and one has a broken piece that the screw goes in and it won't stay in position. Gonna see if my luthier/tech can restore it to decent playing condition. What do you think this is worth in good working condition??
No idea what it's worth in dollars, but that would be a great project to do yourself. All it really needs is cleaned up, a few screws replaced, and a neck shim. If there's a truss rod make sure you lube it a touch before you start cranking on it. Any, my, is it ever sunny where you live!!! I'm amazed you don't go blind!
Yes, there is a truss rod. Sorry about the bright pics. I did have it in the sun as my phone camera doesn't have a flash. I'll take a few more pics of the full bass with my regular camera.
Worth fixing up. Tempo basses were built by Matsumoku, so have a creditable pedigree. They were mostly variants of Aria models.
Chris Kohlman, from Kohlman Bassworks, did a fantastic job of cleaning and restoring this beauty. A neck shim was needed, along with a new bridge concept, now has the action very low! This bass is extremely playable now. The electronics were fine. They just needed a little cleaning up as well. New strings and this thing plays very well. I now have GAS for one of my own.
A quick and dirty low budget repair, albeit a bit of a creative one. But it worked well, and now I want one too...
Hello, Can you post pictures of the overhaul? I just purchased one just like yours, but it need a good amount of work before it will be really playable. Thanks in advance!
Here are some related products that TB members are talking about. Clicking on a product will take you to TB’s partner, Primary, where you can find links to TB discussions about these products. Browser not compatible
