First NBD in a looong time (warning: vintage JapCrap content!)

[Bassassin]

It was inevitable that returning to BC after a long absence would have a detrimental effect. I am not at all proud to say that I appear to be reverting to type.

First blood goes to an Eros Mark II Jazz copy from Ebay:



Arrived this morning, fresh out of the bubblewrap and as yet uncleaned, unrebuilt & obviously unplayed. This is a Matsumoku-built bass, and based on details like the tuners, pickups and knobs, dates from around 1971, making it one of the earliest accurate Jazz copies.

Apart from a replaced nut & (possibly) jack, it's all original & lacks only the ashtrays & tug bar it would have been sold with. Quality-wise, it's several cuts above the ubiquitous Columbus copies with its solid 3-piece mahogany body & real MOP inlays. Everything looks good - pickups & electrics work, truss rod adjusts, neck's good & straight with virtually no fretwear. No damage beyond the inevitable lacquer chips & scratches and an oddly-bent saddle screw. More pics:













Bit of background, if you're still awake - Eros & Eros Mk2 were brands used by importer Rosetti (who, confusingly, also distributed Italian-made & unrelated E-Ros acoustics) and early ones were sourced from Matsumoku & Fujigen. Later Eroses (?) were Korean-made and more in line with Hondo & Satellite in terms of quality, but this is the 3rd MIJ Eros I've had, and they're very nice instruments.

Looking forward to getting it fully stripped & cleaning it up.

Jon.

[FlatEric]

. . . . . . . and it starts again!!

Good on yer mate - dip ya bread!!

Cheers

Got your message - will be in touch.

[ezbass]

Cor an Eros! That takes me back. Jedson anyone?

[Bassassin]

Cheers Eric, look forward to hearing from you!

Jedson? House brand of Dallas-Arbiter, formerly J.E. Dallas & Sons. See what they did there? Anyway, early 70s Jedsons were often Matsumoku-sourced so it's probable that ones identical to this are out there. And if you ever see an old Jap copy of a Jazz with "Status" on the head, that's actually a Jedson 4450 Sabre bass. No, I don't understand it either.

J.

[ezbass]

Absolutely top knowledge there Bassassin, impressive.

[Bassassin]

Easy when you've got [spoiler]an old Jedson catalogue[/spoiler]

J.

[Annoying Twit]

I'll look forward to seeing it all nice and sparkly.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1386355177' post='2299295']
I'll look forward to seeing it all nice and sparkly.
[/quote]

Well - it's suitably sparkly now, however lacking a little structural integrity:



New nut from Ebay took a little longer to turn up than I'd hoped and other projects & activities have got in the way, so it's still at the box-of-bits stage.

They're very shiny & sometimes remarkably new looking bits, though:



Most of it's scrubbed up seriously well - often the plating on these old MIJ instruments isn't the best, but I've had 5-year old basses with more corrosion & wear than a lot of this. The finish on the body's the biggest giveaway of the thing's antiquity - very thin lacquer with loads of chips, scuffs, cracks & wear & tear. By comparison, the neck's almost like new.

Speaking of the body, turns out it's a 5-piece sandwich - 2-piece font & 3-piece back. Lazy routing's a bit disappointing but unsurprising on this sort of early pre-replica era copy. The body's very thin as well - 38mm depth.

Those odd-looking pups are clearly meant to be hidden under ashtrays, but I think a couple of bits of black scratchplate plastic drilled & cut to size will tidy up the looks, sit flush with the poles & provide a thumb anchor point. Hope they sound OK, though...

Anyway, looks like I'll have something to do while everyone else is Christmassing!

J.

[HowieBass]

If it's a Matsumoku bass then it should be a very decent instrument indeed - there's a lot of love for "Uncle Matt's" instruments... I've got a Westone Spectrum LX that I think I'll keep forever (had it from new in '86) and with it currently wearing flats (and having given all the toggle switches and pots a decent clean) is sounding better than ever through my Christmas pressie to myself (Genz Benz combo). Jap? Yes. Crap? I doubt it!

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1386343509' post='2299064']
Italian-made & unrelated E-Ros acoustics
[/quote]

One of those in the spare room atm. 37 yrs old and Texas Hi-strung.

Really good to see you back, Jon

[JapanAxe]

I do hope those pickups work because it might be a tad difficult to find something to fit those cut-outs. Have you checked them on a meter?

[discreet]

Finest Jap firewood I've seen in ages! Top knowledge skilz too!