daws0n Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 (edited) Picked this up today on a whim from a local s/h shop - it's been strung with flat wounds and modded with a badass bass ii bridge - the burgundy pick ups suggest they're not original either. Back plate says "steel adjustable neck made in Japan" with serial number starting with 05. I've a hunch it could be a 60s/70s model, any ideas? Plugged in and she's a bit quiet but all pots are working. Edited February 26 by daws0n 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 1971 Aria 1540. Bridge wouldn't be original. Not sure about the pickups. Love the crimson covers though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 (edited) here's a similar fella https://reverb.com/item/5504768-aria-1540-1970-3-color-sunburst-jazz-bass tuners are swapped but that's what you got i'm sure. Edited February 26 by lidl e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Late 70s (hooky headstock shape says 1976 or later), made by Matsumoku. The pickups (or those red covers at least) & the BA2 aren't original, and it may have been refinished - 9 times out of 10 MIJ Jazz copies will be sunburst or natural. For the most part the serials Matsumoku used on 'Steel Adjustable' neckplates are random & can't be dated. They used several different formats but weren't consistently dateable until probably around 1980. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 1 minute ago, Bassassin said: Late 70s (hooky headstock shape says 1976 or later), made by Matsumoku. The pickups (or those red covers at least) & the BA2 aren't original, and it may have been refinished - 9 times out of 10 MIJ Jazz copies will be sunburst or natural. For the most part the serials Matsumoku used on 'Steel Adjustable' neckplates are random & can't be dated. They used several different formats but weren't consistently dateable until probably around 1980. interesting. I didn't notice the hooked headstock. Would make sense for later 70s then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daws0n Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 (edited) Good spot on the headstock Bassassin, I didn't know that either! Re: finish it's had a life and taken a few knocks, not bothered as it wasn't an expensive buy. The pick up screws are badly rounded on a couple of sides, so I'll be swappijg them out before I look under the covers - putting these on order https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266341683444 Edited February 26 by daws0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 All Black, Bound 'n Blocks... What's not to like... Great Find keep ya busy for a few hours arsing about. Those covers would be a real hit for someone with a dark tort or sunburst! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Looking at the damage, the black's original. I'd put cream covers on it for that pukka 70s look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daws0n Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 (edited) Given the bass a setup and it's singing well across the fretboard - turns out the muted tone on the A string was caused by the bad bass bridge innotation screw - it was too close and was choking the string. Action/innotation sorted and the strings wrapped tidy around the tuning pegs. No more choking and playing much better now. She almost took a bad knock on the weekend, I brought it down to show a mate of mine who's into his guitars - 5 mins after putting back on stand the bass slid side ways falling onto the living room TV!! Luckily I caught it before a total drop, but left with a scratched panel and bent machine head. Bloody annoying but nothing broken thankfully, could of been worse. Lesson learnt the hard way there, simple A frames have been absolutely fine for smaller Ibanez basses but for larger jazz bodies they can be unstable. Just collected a new stand off eBay for a tenner, much better Edited March 6 by daws0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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