Old NBD - Maya Jazz - Japcrap content!

[GarethFlatlands]

Spied this in a local shop a few weeks ago and it stuck in my mind as I've never owned a Jazz before. Went in for a play today after chatting it over with Bassassin, really got on with it and ended up leaving the shop with it. It has a few cosmetic issues as to be expected from a bass that's 40+ years old but it played and sounded really good. I got a set of pickups from a MIM Jazz on Facebook which arrived today and ordered a new control plate and chrome knobs for a rewire. The scratchplate has been hacked around the neck pickup so I'm going to take it off and see how I like the look and consider whether or not to get a new plate made by Bass Doc.

[Grahambythesea]

Good find. I remember the Maya's being thought of as one of the better Jap copies . Strange to think that today we wouldn't call Japanese crap. I hope your going to keep the very cool bridge and pickup covers.

[GarethFlatlands]

Yeah, I think of it being a catch all term for any cheap Japanese copies but this certainly isn't crap. I'm probably going to keep the bridge cover as the saddle adjustment screws protrude a lot and I can see myself cutting my hand on them but the other one gets in the way so it's off.

Everything is here for the rewire so I'll do that this week but probably keep everything else as it is bar a string change and setup.

[gjones]

I saw an early one on Ebay today and it certainly looked crap. It had cheapo tuners and a bridge with only two saddles on it (as per the original tele basses).

I know Maya made some nice basses back in the 70s but this isn't one of them http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/maya-electric-bass-guitar-/322422611008?hash=item4b11e29c40:g:FPEAAOSwCU1YogNE

Edited February 19, 2017 by gjones

[Geek99]

Now I really /do/ like that

[GarethFlatlands]

Thanks Geek! I've always loved the look of Sunburst Fenders, I own a Japanese Jazzmaster in that finish and briefly owned a Squier Bass VI until I realised I would probably never use it. This is as close as I can get on a budget.

This one too has cheapo tuners (they hold tuning fine but aren't well geared in that they need a lot of turning to make small adjustments) and a 2 saddle bridge. I'm going to see if I can intonate and set up OK with it before I consider new hardware.

[Bassassin]

The Gotoh tuners used on these (and a million other MIJs in the 70s/early 80s) get a bad rap & I've never been sure why. I've never found them to be unstable, inaccurate or difficult to use - and they were good enough for Shergold!

[GarethFlatlands]

Yeah, I was expecting worse but they just need a bit of extra turning compared to what I'm used to. They seem very stable from what I've seen so far.

[Geek99]

i may just set up an ebay alert...