Duarte Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) As some of you may know I'm a sucker for old Japanese instruments. This came up for sale relatively local to me in Australia- it's a Greco TVB-45. There's not much info available, but I'm intrigued. I've just moved here from Thailand, and couldn't take my bass collection (like some kind of poligassist I now have separate bass families on 2 continents with a third rearing its ugly headstock). Is there any info in the basschat wisdom on these basses? It looks so damn cool. It's a shorty, with gotoh harware, and it's from 1987 Japan - that's all I know. Thanks in advance. Z Edited July 11, 2022 by Duarte 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 BBOT bridge aside (promise me you'll put something chunkier on it if you pull the trigger), the lack of pickguard plays tricks with the aesthetics/geometry; that looks a lot nicer than any double-cut Les Paul Junior bass I've ever seen from Gibson. It has a distinct Hamer-esque look. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 Nope, never seen that model before. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 New one on me - had a bit of a dig and it's on page 56 of this 1988 Greco catalogue: https://vintagejapanguitars.com/greco-1989-catalogue/ Should be good quality, at this point Greco was still exclusively MIJ & Fujigen was the factory. Not going to be a particularly common bass so I'd leave it stock, or at least don't do anything irreversible. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted July 11, 2022 Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 Thanks for the info. If you have never seen it, it must be uncommon! Good to know it's not going to be a piece of junk. I'll have to make the trip and go try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted July 11, 2022 Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 7 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: BBOT bridge aside (promise me you'll put something chunkier on it if you pull the trigger), the lack of pickguard plays tricks with the aesthetics/geometry; that looks a lot nicer than any double-cut Les Paul Junior bass I've ever seen from Gibson. It has a distinct Hamer-esque look. Oh there's a big chunky gotoh around here somewhere, just waiting to be transplanted into something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChWillie Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 I love it because I love somewhat symmetrical horns. And that’s just a fantastic slab of bass. Get it!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted July 11, 2022 Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 6 minutes ago, HippieNerd said: I love it because I love somewhat symmetrical horns. And that’s just a fantastic slab of bass. Get it!!!! I'm arranging to go and try it out. I think it would be the perfect sibling for the Greco P and the medium scale Aria Pro II. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 16 hours ago, Bassassin said: New one on me - had a bit of a dig and it's on page 56 of this 1988 Greco catalogue: https://vintagejapanguitars.com/greco-1989-catalogue/ Should be good quality, at this point Greco was still exclusively MIJ & Fujigen was the factory. Not going to be a particularly common bass so I'd leave it stock, or at least don't do anything irreversible. I love the Greco coding relative to the price in Yen.😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 24 minutes ago, NikNik said: I love the Greco coding relative to the price in Yen.😄 Pretty much all mainstream Japanese guitars and basses do this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansbrew Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 Just wondering if you got to buy this Bass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted November 16, 2023 Author Share Posted November 16, 2023 4 hours ago, briansbrew said: Just wondering if you got to buy this Bass I didn't make it in time. The guy did manage to sell me a nice Tokai Hard Puncher though. It's cool, but I really wanted to try that Greco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansbrew Posted November 16, 2023 Share Posted November 16, 2023 There is one for sale and was just wondering what they sounded like, seems decent quality. The hard Punchers are very good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted November 16, 2023 Share Posted November 16, 2023 As much as I like the symmetry I never see the point of a cutaway that still doesn’t give access to the upper frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted November 16, 2023 Author Share Posted November 16, 2023 9 hours ago, briansbrew said: There is one for sale and was just wondering what they sounded like, seems decent quality. The hard Punchers are very good Please go and check it out, for all our sakes! I still these basses so compelling so I'd love to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted November 16, 2023 Author Share Posted November 16, 2023 7 hours ago, Dazed said: As much as I like the symmetry I never see the point of a cutaway that still doesn’t give access to the upper frets. You mean 12th fret isn't considered upper?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted November 17, 2023 Share Posted November 17, 2023 I know, stupid comment for a bass 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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