SOLD Vintage Beatle Bass Copy Made In Japan

This is a cool little bass that I bought for a project but ended up never using. The combo of the short scale, small violin shaped body, and flats gives this bass a tight, chunky tone. My understanding is that Sir Paul was using his Rick by Sgt. Pepper, but the tone of this bass reminds me of the tone on that album. "Plunky" if that makes any sense.

Back in the 60's there were a lot of brands, like Greco, Kingston, etc. that were made in the same factory in Japan, but for different retail outlets. I found a Greco catalog from the 70's that showed a bass identical to this one, except it had the Greco logo on the headstock. The label is missing from the headstock on this one, so I don't know the brand this was sold as, but fairly certain it came from the Matsumoku factory. If you look at the closeup of the headstock you can see the outline of the original logo. If anyone recognizes it, let me know.

I believe the bass is all original and is in very good shape. The controls are interesting. The switch closest to the neck seems to be a master on/off. The next two switches are tone controls of some kind. The tonal changes aren't drastic, but they are very usable. The volume knob closest the neck appears to be for the neck pickup - as you would expect - but the other knob doesn't appear to do anything, which leads me to believe the bridge pickup isn't working. Could be the pot, wiring, or even the pickup itself - not sure.

Comes with a nice, padded World Tour gig bag.

PayPal is preferred, but I can make other arrangements if necessary. CONUS only. PM with any questions.

 

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Me as well. I would have played mine longer but I was a kid and had no case or stand, and one day I leaned it against a wall while I took off my coat. Needless to say it did a face plant and cracked the neck at the headstock.

Learned my lesson though. I've babied every bass I've owned since.