Flying Samurai

[msb]

For years I’d go pokin ‘ round the interweb looking for a Flying Samurai , oh you could usually find them for sale in Tokyo , but I didn’t want to brave that. I’d see the occasional one in the US , sometimes one might surface in the UK or Australia. But I was reluctant do deal with international shipping , duties and taxes. And one day I noticed one pop up in Toronto , and I had some cash available in the musical emergency sock … and I got it. 
It’s much like a Jazz , on steroids. Not too heavy , sits nice on a strap, real good player. This is the long scale reissue , and although I generally play short scales now I make an exception for this darling. 
We have a little instrumental project coming up , I’ve decided this will be the one . My backup will be another classic Japanese surf bass , my UniVox HiFlier. I’m going retro cool. 
Been putting some time in on this , and I like it.

[Agent 00Soul]

They never stop being cool!

 

I'm a big fan of Group Sounds, and the original versions of these were big parts of that scene.  They were also the instruments of choice on the first two albums of one of my favorite bands Go!Go!7188.

 

 

[Waddo Soqable]

Like it.!  Have to say I've never heard of these basses, looks cool tho.. a bit like an upside down rickenbacker painted by Salvador Dali 😁

[jd56hawk]

Best surf-band bass of them all!

[msb]

18 minutes ago, Agent 00Soul said:

They never stop being cool!

 

I'm a big fan of Group Sounds, and the original versions of these were big parts of that scene.  They were also the instruments of choice on the first two albums of one of my favorite bands Go!Go!7188.

 

 

Nothing quite like a nice girl with a Samurai and an SVT! 

[Little Dragon]

My Son had a one in blue. He sold it for a decent profit but hadn't told me he was even considering parting with it!

[PaulThePlug]

 

[BassApprentice]

I've had 2 of these (both blue) one bought from a friend who at one point had 11 or 12 of these.

 

Like a jazz, but more fun! Really comfy too despite how they look!

[Bassassin]

Had mine maybe 15 years now, bought it off a guy on here who went through an odd phase of collecting them - he had every colour of SBV500 (the common J/J version) as well as the SBV550 P/J and some other variations, including a couple of the original 60s SB5s or 7s. Mine was a duplicate! Reversibly modded with a hi-mass bridge I had lying around & home-bodged red pearl scratchplate, because the I thought white looked a bit cheapo & nothing like vulgar enough.

 

 

Definitely a keeper - like the OP says, sounds like a Jazz on steroids and with a 38mm nut width, plays a bit like one too. One of my 3 go-to basses for recording, not too heavy & nothing like as neck-divey as you might think. I've gigged it a few times, although paradoxically, playing prog rather than surf.

[TheGreek]

I like them. There's one currently available on either eBay or Gumtree - I keep looking at it - around £600 IIRC. 

 

I'm even more tempted now that I've read this thread....I HATE YOU ALL!!

[TheGreek]

There you go!!! Hope that you're all suffering from the same lust as I am!!

 

https://www.guitar-list.com/compareprices/17931/uk/bass%2Bguitars

 

[BigRedX]

If you are interested in getting one remember that the re-issues are all long scale while the original 60s models are short scale.

 

I used to own this:

 

The rarest of the all the basses in this shape made in a limited edition of 50 as the signature bass for Terry & the Blue Jeans, a well-know Japanese Surf band. There as also a T&tBJ limited edition guitar in the same shape. It is essentially a TRB5 with the SVB shape, so it doesn't have much in common with the 4-string versions. Unfortunately it didn't get used much as it was far too big the wield on most of the stages I was playing at the time, without putting the rest of the band and the audience at risk of injury. Also it was massively heavy.

 

The SVBs seem to have been popular with girl bassists in Japanese bands - Fumi from Polysics uses one and Miki Furukawa of Supercar even has her own signature model.

[Agent 00Soul]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

If you are interested in getting one remember that the re-issues are all long scale while the original 60s models are short scale.

 

I used to own this:

 

The rarest of the all the basses in this shape made in a limited edition of 50 as the signature bass for Terry & the Blue Jeans, a well-know Japanese Surf band. There as also a T&tBJ limited edition guitar in the same shape. It is essentially a TRB5 with the SVB shape, so it doesn't have much in common with the 4-string versions. Unfortunately it didn't get used much as it was far too big the wield on most of the stages I was playing at the time, without putting the rest of the band and the audience at risk of injury. Also it was massively heavy.

 

The SVBs seem to have been popular with girl bassists in Japanese bands - Fumi from Polysics uses one and Miki Furukawa of Supercar even has her own signature model.

 

I think it was Ako, the bassist in that video that started the trend around 2000.  She was an official endorser and they band was major label successful at the time, leading to a large female following that they had until they broke up.  I went to two of their gigs in Japan at the end of their career and the girls outnumbered the boys by quite a bit.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Agent 00Soul

[Agent 00Soul]

14 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I like them. There's one currently available on either eBay or Gumtree - I keep looking at it - around £600 IIRC. 

 

I'm even more tempted now that I've read this thread....I HATE YOU ALL!!

 

It's times like this that I'm glad I'm a lefty, otherwise I would be GASsing too!

[Baloney Balderdash]

Love the look of this bass.

 

Would love to own the short scale version.

 

[msb]

I’ve pretty much switched over to shortscales , but make an exception for this. Or when I get that urge to play a Ric.

[edstraker123]

I've wanted one of these for ages but whenever they've come up the ones I've seen have always been a bit to dear for the condition they are in. They look like they should cost £400ish (unless it's the white one !)!

[msb]

They were inexpensive new. But because they’re out of production they fetch what people are prepared to pay, I will say they sound good , and are fun to play.

Found mine for a good used price. 

[BigRedX]

It's a Yamaha, so as long as you can get on with the shape, you know it's going to be an excellent instrument.

 

And as has been said, they are no longer in production so the second-hand market sets the prices people are prepared to pay.

[msb]

An old friend was the local Yamaha rep around this region for years , so I asked him about local Samurais. He said they are some around but I’ve only heard of a couple , and those were not for sale. 
Occasionally I’d see them for a good price in the US  but those sellers were not willing to ship internationally. Sometimes you might see a US seller willing to ship , but those were usually asking inflated prices. I was reluctant to order from Tokyo. So , for the longest time , I didn’t think I’d find one. The odd one would surface in the UK one Australia , usually at a premium price.

I spent some years watching and waiting.

And then one popped up in Toronto for a good price. No taxes or duties. 

[Machines]

I picked one up in 2019 for £250, nice bass but the neck dive didn't work well for me. I got it too cheap and managed to double my money.

 

[msb]

Dive isn’t an issue on mine.

 

Love that shade of green!

Edited March 29, 2023 by msb