Help figuring out this Jazz Bass

[Royle1987]

I recently purchased the bass from a well known auction site 😁 for a measly 29 English pounds

 

Upon looking at the pictures prior to purchase I just figured it had to be a 80s maybe even a 70s relic, the tuner pegs are super old skool, the frets are worn like nothing I've seen before and the bridge is out of this world. 

 

Made in Japan I've tried looking and possibly think it's a Maya

 

Any help appreciated 

 

Cheers 

 

Royle

[atsampson]

Bargain! I'd agree that the missing word on the headstock is Maya - and that looks like a Schaller 463 bridge?

[Royle1987]

6 hours ago, atsampson said:

Bargain! I'd agree that the missing word on the headstock is Maya - and that looks like a Schaller 463 bridge?

Thanks @atsampson

 

My initial idea was to get a cheap jazz and overall it to a look how I would like, but now having it in person it almost seems wrong to mess with it, more just trying to tidy it up and let it age gracefully 

 

Decisions decisions!!!! 

[LukeFRC]

Looks very like an old Cimar I had - it’s not a Cimar though. I would imagine laminated body of some kind

 

the bridge is not original and good news probably worth your purchase price on its own … 

 

@Bassassin helped me with info on mine. FWIW I regret selling my old one - on of the best jazz basses I’ve played. I know where it is and it’s not going anywhere:( 

[neepheid]

Yup, tasty bridge replacement with a Schaller 3D bridge and agree that it was probably worth £29 on its own

 

That's a score!  I have nothing further to add, @Bassassin has been tagged twice now and I have little doubt he will be along shortly to tell you what you have in full, explicit, hardcore, technicolor detail...

[Bassassin]

Inclined to agree the missing word was probably Maya, simply because they often used that same 'Electric Bass' suffux & most other Japanese brands didn't.

 

However! The bass is the same thing as numerous others made in the mid/late 70s by Chushin Gakki, and sold with a plethora of rebrands. Maya, Grant/Grantson, Columbus, Cimar, CMI, Avon & a whole bunch of others I can't currently prise out of my post-Covid brain-fog. Thinking about it, CMI sometimes used that 'Electric Bass' suffix.

 

 

Having found that pic, I'm leaning towards it originally being a CMI.

 

Should be a decent bass, body will probably be butcher-block or ply - the big oversprays on the contours indicate it's not solid timber. That bridge, as others have said, is a German-made Schaller 3D - which would cost you about £80 to buy new. Steal for £29, then.

[Royle1987]

Thanks for the input everyone, now knowing it's defo a 70s relic I can't bring myself to respray it, pure sacrilege!! 

 

The only thing I would like to change are the tuners, I like the butterfly style ones, set off the headstock Alot better, I may risk hollowing out the existing holes and updating. 

 

A new scratch plate and she should be good to go

 

Nice to know its an updated bridge, coincidentally worth more than the bass itself 😂

[Royle1987]

Also another note, it's quite a heavy bass, so should be decent wood underneath 👍

[Royle1987]

Just ordered, new tuner pegs, tortoise scratch plate and a fresh set of strings

 

May do a little thread in basses to see how she turns out

[LukeFRC]

35 minutes ago, Royle1987 said:

Also another note, it's quite a heavy bass, so should be decent wood underneath 👍

It will be laminate of some kind. 

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Should be a decent bass, body will probably be butcher-block or ply - the big oversprays on the contours indicate it's not solid timber.

 

[BigRedX]

Nothing wrong with laminate/ply. Even Jens Ritter has used it.

[Royle1987]

So this evening I have been doing some bits to the 'relic' 

 

From the picture below I'm happy to say that I have finally found out what it is, from slight sanding back the staining from the original make showed up just enough, it is indeed a Maya

 

 

Gave the old lass a fresh scratch plate and put butterfly tuners on (maybe not to some people taste) they're squeezed in but I like it

 

 

Cheers

 

Royle

[Bigguy2017]

That looks so much better with the new tuners. Classic.