NightGoat

@Nick: That is a very intersting looking bass!! Looks a lot like my unknown japanese made 4001s copy. For a while now I am trying to find out how she was Branded or where she was made and when? I am very curious if the body on your bass is made of 2 or 4 parts? And if there is a little red stamp in the cavity behind the scratchplate ? So, if you are going to peek behind the scratchplate and you find a little red stamp ¨Hanko¨ underneath the knobs, please let me know! Thanks,

That´s a nice one, looks great!

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1393787366' post='2384381'] Just to add a bit more confusion to the mix, it wasn't only the Japanese factories making high-quality, accurate copies. Italian manufacturer Gherson made a very nice neck-through bass with twin truss rods (quite easy to ID, though) but for me the proper widcard is Brazilian acoustic guitar builder Giannini, whose 70s Fakers were near-indistiguishable from the best-quality MIJ examples: [url="http://hisonic.blogspot.co.uk/"]http://hisonic.blogspot.co.uk/[/url] Regarding Japanese factories, I could reel off a list of about 20-odd who were making & exporting copy guitars under various different brands in the 70s, and I'm confident there were any number of other, smaller manufacturers doing the same thing. All of them were copying the popular American instruments of the era, so it's entirely reasonable to assume they all made Rick 4001 copies. We will never be able to identify them all! J. [/quote] I am still digging a little bit into the local Dutch brand ¨Gerrinez¨ also one of those vague brand names where there is little to find about. I still think it is possible that on a day in the 70s a local music shop here in the netherlands ordered a batch of 4001s copies from some japannese factory and sold them with the ¨Gerrinez¨ brand.

[quote name='waldflote8' timestamp='1393786459' post='2384369'] here are some detail hardware shots: [/quote] My question was a little confusing, sorry for that! English is not my native language so sometimes I am struggling a little bit, think i missed a few things... I can see some similarities and also some differences with your and my bass. The bridge, the shape of the cavities, and the 4 peace body are some differences. The jack outputs and pickups look the same as far as I can tell. Giannini. would be nice.!... But i have really no idea how you can confirm that.

@ waldeflot8: May I ask you what the features are by which you think it is a maya bass guitar? Maybe Fresher or Fernandes are posibilities? these are just wild guesses! Based on my own research it appears to be almost impossible to trace the name it was originally branded with. Only because I found a bass that looks exactly the same and the little red stamp in the pot-meter cavity I found a potential maker/brand. There is still no evidence, only assumptions. @Beedster: Oh man... getting all sentimental only thinking about parting with this baby. I am actually thinking of giving her new frets and a little tuneup.

So there seems to be some kind of connection with Chushin Gakki. [url="http://hubpages.com/hub/Japanese-Manufacturers-of-Made-In-Japan-Badged-Guitars-from-1950-to-1980"]http://hubpages.com/hub/Japanese-Manufacturers-of-Made-In-Japan-Badged-Guitars-from-1950-to-1980[/url] I am thinking the Guitar is maybe a ¨Maya¨ or ¨El Maya¨ 4001s model bass made between 1974 and 1978 in the Chushin factory and not in the Maya Factory. I am in no way sure. unless other/unknown info is bubbling up from somewhere it probably stays that way.

[quote][i]The black stamp says: INSPECTOR Nov. 12, 1978 ("54" means "54th year of the Showa Emperor," which is 1978) Yamada"[/i] Neck pickup stamps (inspector hon) contain exact date of production, that complements the numbering on the back of the pickups. Pickup serials may vary in date by week or two when compared to body dating. The hone has the "inspector" top part, surname of the inspector (山田- Yamada in most cases) at the bottom of hon and the date in the middle section of the hon. First two numbers represent a year (50-1975,51-1976,52-1977 etc - the era of Hirohito "Showa" Emperor), next two numbers represent month (1-january..12-december), and last two are day of the month.[/quote]

The combination of the two stamps I am finding interesting. The dark stamp is a inspectors hon presumably from the Chushin factory. if that is so, the red stamp has something to do with Chushin as wel.

These are some pictures i came across, the red stamp seems to be the same as the one on my guitar. It presumably is a personal stamp ¨Hanko¨ whitch says ¨sanjo¨. The dark stamp is supposedly an ¨Hon¨ stamp from an inspector with the name ¨Yamada¨. Thats it for now...

A little update: Unfortunately it seems that I am not getting any further in finding out the origin of my bass guitar. I have ruled out a lot of brands and possibilities. But finding out what it is, seems virtually impossible. It seems that the Hanko stamp behind the scratchplate is the last clue that is left to figure out where my bass came from. Are there any Elmaya owners who found a similar stamp in the cavity behind the scratchplate? (post #2176)

Thanks dude for the link! Nice collection of Japanese beauties. Love the light wood bases with natural finish, always falling for them!

stupid question! i will send them a PM, thanks!

I am very happy with your knowledge Bassassin! you are actually the first one to give me some additional info. I have some blogs running in the US, NL and your BC about this bass and you are the first who mentions Maya or Elmaya. I tried japanese blogs but the translating al the stuff is just to complicated. Is there any way I can contact the guys you mention to maybe identify the red stamp?

Thanks for the reaction Bassassin! I am prety sure it is not a Greco, for different reasons. When I bought her 25 years ago in Amsterdam it was already a used guitar so where she was imported, i just don´t know. Maya or Elmaya is definitely a possibility. Although I thought that Elmaya bases had serial numbers. In another post I saw a picture of a black Elmaya bass that looks very alike. Are there any specific markings on Maya or Elmaya guitars you know of? Something that looks like this maybe? Thanks Beedster! She looks very sweet but when she opens het mouth....

That is what i thought for a long time but the Greco´s with dotted inlays i could find also had dark wood wings on the head. Google ¨Greco PMB 800¨