Obscure Musical Backwaters - The Great SGC Nanyo Thread

[missis sumner]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Not what you'd call a looker...

That's exactly what I first thought when I saw a Nanyo (headstock especially)...

I dunno.  That one there looks quite "retro" cool to me. 😄

[BreadBin]

16 minutes ago, missis sumner said:

I reckon... It's just the bodywork letting it down.  Still, should make a very light, playable 5-string...

That's if you can play 5 stings... It'll be a first for me, if I can get it.

Good luck, I hope you get it 🙂

That has the potential to be a really decent bass to play. 

[pete.young]

8 hours ago, missis sumner said:

I've seen a bit of a basket case Japanese Nanyo on Gumtree (yes, I know I have too many basses already...), and I have a technical question for the five string gurus out there - do these have a three piece neck?  I believe it to be sen, in see-through gold, with gold hardware.

I'm looking at my '95 four string SB320 series for comparison, and is has a single piece neck with a scarf joint.

Edit:

Think I've answered my own question after looking at some photos on the Facebook page.  The 5 string versions do indeed appear to have a 3-piece maple neck, and not 1-piece as described in the catalogue...

My 465 has a 3-piece maple neck, and I think the SB505 I used to have did too.

The one you linked to on Gumtree looks like an SB325 to me. The fingerboard is probably ebony. £75 quid is a good price.

Edited April 25, 2019 by pete.young

[missis sumner]

The seller has responded to my messages and I'm just trying to set up a time to meet... 

Edit: And I bought it at £75. Saw no reason to quibble with the price - aside from some fret wear, it looks better in the flesh than it did in the ad photos. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by missis sumner

[missis sumner]

Sunday morning musings... has anyone ever seen a SBK (See Through Black) nanyo with gold hardware (320 series)?

I notice the '96 catalogue lists SBK amongst the SGR (See Through Green) and SHS (See Through Honey Sunburst) options.

It would be nice to complete my Bass Collection collection... 😀

[bassix]

Was sorting through my files earlier and found this, thought it might be of interest to see the prices at the time! Great value basses now. 

[AndyTravis]

On 25/04/2019 at 19:15, TheGreek said:

Not what you'd call a looker...

I quite like that - never seen that model before? What is it and did they do a 4?

[Ricky 4000]

Oooo, I've often been tempted by these basses over the years, and it happens that there's a 'fiver' that's been up for sale for ages (relisted a few times), and near to my location too (collection only).

I managed to resist, and I see it's finally attracted a sale (for the opening bid. A very reasonable price IMHO).

It was this eBay item here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SGC-NANYO-039-BASS-COLLECTION-039-5-STRING-ACTIVE-BASS-JAPAN-MIJ-1988-SILVER-RARE-/153520314697?nma=true&si=4E3s6Viq7qpB%2FUYYiCp2iZkRmUE%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

However, what a great resource this thread is for the Nanyo collector / enthusiast! 👍

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Ricky 4000

[BassBunny]

2 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Oooo, I've often been tempted by these basses over the years, and it happens that there's a 'fiver' that's been up for sale for ages (relisted a few times), and near to my location too (collection only).

I managed to resist, and I see it's finally attracted a sale (for the opening bid. A very reasonable price IMHO).

It was this eBay item here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SGC-NANYO-039-BASS-COLLECTION-039-5-STRING-ACTIVE-BASS-JAPAN-MIJ-1988-SILVER-RARE-/153520314697?nma=true&si=4E3s6Viq7qpB%2FUYYiCp2iZkRmUE%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

However, what a great resource this thread is for the Nanyo collector / enthusiast! 👍

 

I've been so tempted that I have 3 of them. 🙂 The one you highlighted is a pretty rare colour. I've only seen one other and it's in my possession.

[BreadBin]

5 hours ago, BassBunny said:

I've been so tempted that I have 3 of them. 🙂 The one you highlighted is a pretty rare colour. I've only seen one other and it's in my possession.

I have a 4-string fretless in that colour, but it's going to be stripped as it's a bit battered.

[Ricky 4000]

I have a case of 'didn't buyer's remorse' today. 😔

£145 for (what I assume was) an SB405 in good working order - seems an absolute bargain.

Having said that, I've never owned a five string, so I don't know if I'd like that aspect. Plus, all my basses are passive, and active basses seem to be generally out of favour these day (with the exception of Stingrays). Finally, from these pages, I note that @Happy Jack prefers a P/J Nanyo over J/J, so perhaps the P/J configuration (on a Nanyo), sounds better...?

[Happy Jack]

Dunno if it's "better", but I'm a P sort of a guy rather than a J sort.

If you have a J/J configuration then it's a J. If you have a P/J then (arguably) it's a P into which you can feed a little J edge if you want it.

I had two SB325s, and on neither of them did the B-string convince me ... too flobadob. It was partly as a result of that experience that I moved exclusively to 35" scale on 5-string basses.

 

[Ricky 4000]

Thank you, Sir.

Yep, I'm assuming the P/J setup on a Nanyo makes a decent job of adding that bridge pickup edge to the P tone.

(I'm interested in trying a double P at some point, but that's drifting way off topic)

There's another Nanyo for sale quite local to me. 4 string P/J, don't know if it's active or passive, and not such a bargain price as that fiver was...

[tauzero]

10 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Having said that, I've never owned a five string, so I don't know if I'd like that aspect. Plus, all my basses are passive, and active basses seem to be generally out of favour these day (with the exception of Stingrays).

Eh? Just because Ps and Js aren't active doesn't mean active is out of favour. Just because Model T Fords don't have ABS doesn't mean that ABS is out of favour.

[Ricky 4000]

4 hours ago, tauzero said:

Eh? Just because Ps and Js aren't active doesn't mean active is out of favour. Just because Model T Fords don't have ABS doesn't mean that ABS is out of favour.

That's your daft analogy, not mine.

I think it's obvious that active was all the rage in the late 80s & 90s, but not so much in recent years.

Do you happen to know how the active Nanyos compare to passive ones?

Edited June 22, 2019 by Ricky 4000

[Al Krow]

16 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Plus, all my basses are passive, and active basses seem to be generally out of favour these day (with the exception of Stingrays). 

That would seem a bit of a generalisation from the fact that your basses are all passive?

I have two purely passive basses (Yamaha BBs), but the rest are all active, most with a combined active / passive ability and I love them all - which is why I still have them and have not moved them on.

I suspect if you ran a poll you'd find folk split between whether they prefer active or passive circuits on their bass EQs.

Edited June 22, 2019 by Al Krow

[Wilco]

17 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Plus, all my basses are passive, and active basses seem to be generally out of favour these day (with the exception of Stingrays). 

 

1 hour ago, Ricky 4000 said:

 

I think it's obvious that active was all the rage in the late 80s & 90s, but not so much in recent years.

All my basses are active. Passive basses are a bit meh these days (with the exception of Hohner)

They were all the rage back in the 50’s 60’s, but not so much in recent years. 🤔😆

[BassBunny]

2 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Do you happen to know how the active Nanyos compare to passive ones?

I have never owned a passive Bass Collection but all 3 of my 5 strings are active. In my opinion the pre-amp isn't the best there is, but then again it is an 80's design. I've swapped 2 out, (the third will be changed this week). One has a Bartolini, which is great, the second a Glockenklang which is awesome. Both have made a real difference in how the bass sounds. I also put an Artec in a BC I sold and that was a worthwhile swap for around £30.

[pete.young]

20 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

Dunno if it's "better", but I'm a P sort of a guy rather than a J sort.

If you have a J/J configuration then it's a J. If you have a P/J then (arguably) it's a P into which you can feed a little J edge if you want it.

I had two SB325s, and on neither of them did the B-string convince me ... too flobadob. It was partly as a result of that experience that I moved exclusively to 35" scale on 5-string basses.

 

5-string P/Js are relatively rare. I had one and traded it to Skezza, but I haven't seen many others. The other option is to change the JJ pickups - mine now has Delano stacked humbuckers which do a pretty good impression of a P.

The 5th string is OK - not as good as my BBNE2, but then that's what you'd expect.

[pete.young]

2 hours ago, BassBunny said:

I have never owned a passive Bass Collection but all 3 of my 5 strings are active. In my opinion the pre-amp isn't the best there is, but then again it is an 80's design. I've swapped 2 out, (the third will be changed this week). One has a Bartolini, which is great, the second a Glockenklang which is awesome. Both have made a real difference in how the bass sounds. I also put an Artec in a BC I sold and that was a worthwhile swap for around £30.

Agree with this. I have a Nordstrand in my 5-string which is also a big improvement on the standard. I've used the Artecs too and they're OK until the pots start crackling.

[BassBunny]

1 minute ago, pete.young said:

I've used the Artecs too and they're OK until the pots start crackling.

Correct. It's a damn shame they can't put better pots in as it's a decent preamp for not a lot of money.

[tauzero]

17 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

That's your daft analogy, not mine.

I think it's obvious that active was all the rage in the late 80s & 90s, but not so much in recent years.

Do you happen to know how the active Nanyos compare to passive ones?

It's not a daft analogy. I think you'll find a lot of non-primitive basses are active these days. Fender even tried making a couple of primitive basses active.

I don't know how they compare - it was 25 years ago that I owned a fretless 4, and with my memory, I can't even remember whether it was active or passive. I do remember it had a very nice neck and was incredibly light - so light that I found it disturbingly so, and eventually sold it and got a Vester bass (the Thumb-ish one) that had been defretted.

[mangotango]

On ‎22‎/‎06‎/‎2019 at 06:19, Ricky 4000 said:

 

Do you happen to know how the active Nanyos compare to passive ones?

Yep, I have an active 5'er J/J and a passive 4 P/J. The 5 is great to play, has a lovely neck and the stock active electronics are quite bright and lively.

The passive 4 fills a gap in my Weapons of Bass Destruction. Equally lovely neck and possibly the easiest-playing bass that I've ever had. I'm struggling to make a direct comparison with the original stock pickups as I can't remember their exact tonal qualities; I can only say that found them a bit "polite", and definitely not bright, so I had  Entwhistle Neos installed. Those are neither dull nor particularly polite.

Given that I have recently acquired my Spector 5's, I guess that I shall be looking to let the 5'er go anyway in the near future. Too many basses, according to Mrs. Mango….mind you, she did encourage me to acquire the Spectors, so I can have no complaints.

[BassBunny]

I'm after a favour from the Bass Collection owning fraternity. I'll get the humour out of the way first. 

I replaced the pre-amp in my 88 Bass Collection as I had a spare Bartolini one kicking around. When I removed the old one I was very careful to diagram where all the wires went and that drawing was parceled away in a small box. Fast forward to now and the Bart is playing up, so I'd like to replace the original pre. I opened the box and to my horror/amusement the wiring diagram turns out to be a shopping list.

Now I have 2 other Bass Collection, both with different pre-amps to the 88.

Is there a BC owner with a bass using the same pre-amp that could identify what goes where for me? I have attached pics of my pre-amp, it is the one with the "dip" switch that seems to do nothing and 2 wires are still present. I assume these are ground and signal out that go to the jack. So I need to know where the pickups are wired to etc. Hope that makes sense and that someone can help out.

[pete.young]

Sorry BassBunny, none of mine look like that.