70's CMI Jazz Bass??

[freelancesam]

I'm picking up this Jazz copy this week, not quite sure what it is or whether it's any good but I've established it's from the 70's by a company called CMI.

I'm buying it because it looks fun and I don't have a 4 string anymore.

Anybody came across these?

Also, if the electrics/pickups aren't up to any good, can anybody recommend me some good replacements for under £150 ish? I will mostly be for soul, think jamerson/pino etc.

Thanks!

[Lozz196]

A mate of mine had one of these and he really rated it. And having heard him play it it sounded great too. I`d certainly give it a blast as it is before making any upgrade decisions,

[NancyJohnson]

From memory (I think CMI) were rebranded Ibanez guitars. They was a link with Marshall as well - look at the scooped M in the headstock decal.

[BigRedX]

CMI - Cleartone Musical Instruments were an offshoot of Marshall - mostly imports although there were some home-grown amps with that name.

I think you'll find that the imported instruments like the example in the OP came from whichever Japanese factory was offering the best deal for a particular quality of instrument at the time.

No doubt Bassassin will be along to enlighten us soon.

[yondergo]

Pretty sure from my guitar days that CMI guitars were rarely if ever associated with the fujigen factory who made guitars for companies like ibanez/hoshino, CSl/antoria and others. Fujigen instruments are viewed as the better examples of the Japanese instruments of the era. Solid bodies, great necks, decent pickups. Hence any 70s Japanese guitar on eBay invariably being tagged as fujigen to whip the price up, despite it being just one of many Japanese instrument makers at the time.

I seem to remember CMI being more frequently being linked to moridaira or matsumoku factories, who made some not so good instruments, a lot of plywood bodies, some ropey pickups etc, columbus and rose morris for example.

a mate of mine still reckons theres some good matso's out there with proper bodies and electrics, but they churned out that much dross its hard to pick them out sometimes.

Have you had a chance to check the pickup or control routs to see if its solid or ply?

[Bassassin]

Still lots of grey areas & misinformation out there about copy-era MIJ stuff.

BigRedX is on the money about CMI, a sub-brand of Marshall amps who sourced from various suppliers- including UK - built Ned Callan.

However I don't think this bass is Fujigen, Matsumoku or Moridaira. Most of the CMIs I've seen have been identical to low-end Mayas, which many MIJ experts now believe to have originated from Chushin Gakki.

Regarding upgrading it - that's going to depend on the original pickup routing, which may well be for the square 8-pole Maxons or little chrome Tele-style units which were both common on these basses.

Jon.

[alyctes]

That looks quite a bit like the CMI p-bass I bought from BCer oldslapper (nice guy ). The tort in particular looks very similar. Sadly I had to change the neck (immovable trussrod) and it's now wearing a Collins J-width neck.

[freelancesam]

Thanks for all the information guys, really interesting, especially about Antoria as I recently bought a 70's Antoria Jazz star for £100 and couldn't believe the build quality.

Regarding the CMI, I've been asked to make an offer on it and I'm not sure what they're worth, does anybody have a ballpark street resale value for them?

Thanks again!

[yondergo]

Oh man, I'd love an antoria bass, from the fujigen guitars I had I know the quality is so good, hardly ever see those kind of fujigen basses come up though. The bass player from United Vibrations had an 70s ibanez jazz, looked really nice.

Devils advocate: If you've got a good mij bass from that era, do you really need a not so good example like the cmi too?

Edited September 26, 2015 by yondergo

[Bassassin]

This CMI isn't necessarily a "low quality" bass. Importers tended to sell different levels of build within the same ranges.

The only things I can tell from the pic are that it's probably in original condition and it really needs a clean.

Value-wise, if I was selling I'd hope for £150+, buying I'd want to pay under a ton.

J.

[cybertect]

FWIW this guy on Flickr seems to have the same model and doesn't think much of it

https://www.flickr.com/#/photos/lord_mudshark/sets/72057594077196720/

[freelancesam]

[quote name='yondergo' timestamp='1443248961' post='2873348']
Oh man, I'd love an antoria bass, from the fujigen guitars I had I know the quality is so good, hardly ever see those kind of fujigen basses come up though. The bass player from United Vibrations had an 70s ibanez jazz, looked really nice.

Devils advocate: If you've got a good mij bass from that era, do you really need a not so good example like the cmi too?
[/quote]

Sorry, the Jazz Star is a gretch style guitar not bass.

Thanks for the info again

[BigRedX]

[quote name='yondergo' timestamp='1443203886' post='2873128']
Have you had a chance to check the pickup or control routs to see if its solid or ply?
[/quote]

You don't need to take it apart to see if it's ply. If the black of the sunburst extends over the belly cut as well as the forearm contour (as can be seen in the photo in the OP) then it is almost definitely ply. Not that it particularly matters if you like the sound and feel of the bass.

Edited September 28, 2015 by BigRedX

[Bassassin]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1443437717' post='2874586']
You don't need to take it apart to see if it's ply. If the black of the sunburst extends over the belly cut as well as the forearm contour (as can be seen in the photo in the OP) then it is almost definitely ply. Not that it particularly matters if you like the sound and feel of the bass.
[/quote]

Well, to be pedantic, what those big oversprays tell you is that it's not a solid, single piece of timber.

Many 70s MIJ basses (including an Ibanez P copy I own and a Fujigen-build J I recently traded) had this finish concealing a butcher-block build with front & back veneers - a cut above ply but not quite solid wood. Years ago I also had a Columbus Jazz with the same construction, and have seen it on numerous good-quality Gibson guitar copies.

I still maintain that without any idea what's under the ashtrays, it's not possible to assess this bass in any kind of meaningful way. It may or may not be the same as Flickr Guy's bass (take the hashtag out of the link if you want it to actually work!) but personally I doubt the judgement of someone who can't even do simple & basic research regarding his main question about the CMI brand.

J.