Cool or confused: something from Japan for the Thunderbird crowd

[kumimajava]

Given how much love on this forum is expressed for Thunderbird type basses, and its non-reverse variants, I thought I'd share this with you. Came across it on the front page of Digimart - apparently it's a new brand, built (contracted out?) by Shimamura Gakki, one of the major instrument chains in Japan.

It's medium-scale, at 33", and also comes as a 5-string.

Haven't come across one in a shop yet - so can't quite decide whether the body is somewhat large, or whether the person demoing it in the video is of considerably smaller frame than I am...

[media]http://youtu.be/8SqQi9o1zuI[/media]

So what do you guys think?

[Cat Burrito]

A bit too modern for my tastes. The Ovation style headstock mixed with the Fender P-J style pickups all look a bit wrong. I don't mind the colour or the fret markers though.

[discreet]

That is 'jack of all trades and master of none' in bass guitar form. At least design-wise. It may of course be a fantastic player and sound great. But I'm shallow, so that doesn't matter. And tort with blue just plain doesn't work.

[Happy Jack]

I like that a lot, and it has a few design thingies that other manufacturers might want to think about, but those strings would have to go straight away.

And despite the fact that I speak no Japanese, that was one of the best and most informative demos I've seen of a new bass. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a reviewer stand up to show you how the bass balances on the strap?

I also liked the fact that the reviewer didn't devote most of the playtime to the usual slapfest w***ery that these videos are so prone to. Much of the time, he was actually playing proper basslines that you could actually play in in actual band at an actual gig.

Mind you, despite speaking no Japanese I was still able to recognise "original design", "two-piece", "P/J", "bass", "sound check", and a number of other terms.

[kumimajava]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1503564666' post='3359134']
I like that a lot, and it has a few design thingies that other manufacturers might want to think about, but those strings would have to go straight away.

And despite the fact that I speak no Japanese, that was one of the best and most informative demos I've seen of a new bass. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a reviewer stand up to show you how the bass balances on the strap?
< snip>

Mind you, despite speaking no Japanese I was still able to recognise "original design", "two-piece", "P/J", "bass", "sound check", and a number of other terms.
[/quote]

Glad you liked the review. My level of Japanese is not much higher

Digimart, in general, has quite a lot of fun reviews/tests of their own. Usually GoogleTranslate will give you a rough idea what the text is about... Earlier ran a test to show how different volume-pots influence tone (evertyhing from 25k up to 500k), maple vs rose-wood fingerboards on the same instrument, etc. They are usually quite specific about varying "just one" aspect of the test instrument.

Here's a link to Digimart's online mags:

https://www.digimart.net/magazine/


... and their "bass review" sections in particular:

https://www.digimart.net/magazine/search/?c=6&i=3
https://www.digimart.net/magazine/magazines/bass-magazine/


if you've got an interest in basses coming from this part of the world, they often pop up here first

[Bassassin]

Kind of like it - anything that's not stylistically a bloody P or J derivative feels like a breath of fresh air, though!

Design-wise it's a bit almost/not quite - the basic shape is nice but the slabbiness of it is at odds with what I think is trying to be a fairly modern-looking bass. Slim it down a bit & contour it and it would look more balanced (and probably be more comfortable) without losing its non-reverse T-Bird influence.

The headstock's a bit nasty & the scratchplate looks like an afterthought/offcut, but I really like the offset inlays. Not a big fan of the colours but they probably (the blue, at least) look better in real life.

[alembic1989]

Nice looking, nice sounding bass.

[Steve Browning]

Have to say I think the body would be better about 20% smaller. Blue and tort - hate that.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 25, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[discreet]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1503665150' post='3360117']
The tort and blue is an interesting one for me. I quite literally can't tell what's going on in my brain whenever I see it. I love it and feel a bit pukey at the same time. Burgundy Mist does the same thing. Congnitive Dissonance, I believe!
[/quote]

I know exactly what you mean. I get it sometimes when I'm grooming my donkey. Aeiough!

Edited August 25, 2017 by discreet

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 25, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[discreet]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1503666676' post='3360147']
I thought donkeys were kind of grey?
[/quote]

I find it difficult to percieve consistency in my beliefs and opinons when touching a donkey, that's all.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 25, 2022 by Jus Lukin