Model Year: 1965
Price: $250.00
Where Obtained: Friendly River Music

This Japanese made bass had been stuck in my head ever since the first time I saw when I walked into Friendly River Music. Its bulbous head, its almost [Fender] Jaguar body, it just screamed retro surf music. It has been fitted with the same old flatwound strings ever since I got it (not sure what brand) back in 2009, yes 2 years with the same strings. Blasphemy right? Wrong. This bass rarely if ever goes out of tune. It has nice warm sounding passive electronics, with minimal controls (volume and tone). A bridge and neck pick up are controlled by their own individual on/off switches, which on this bass are kind of scratchy sounding, so I need to go back into the electronics and do some cleaning.

The bass is incredibly playable. I got it and didn't have to do any adjustments to it. If you're finicky on the action on your bass, you may want to stay away from it. There aren't any individual saddles for the strings, just one bridge bar that you adjust with a couple of screws, but for me that's fine. The neck is incredibly thing, smaller than my Jazz Bass, which allows for some fast fills up and down the neck. Slapping isn't fit for this bass, but that's mainly due to the fact that it's fitted with flatwounds.

I play this bass through my Eden cab and a Randall guitar head and it sounds great. Perfect for that really bassy and warm retro feel you hear on old Hendrix albums. If you're looking for a bright trebbly slap tone, look somewhere else. You may be able to aquire it with EQ pedals, but I haven't tried it, and again, it could be chalked up to the flatwounds once again. I feel it's suited for any style of music you're wanting to play. Jazz, funk, rock, reggae, electronic, etc. it can fit anywhere. Compared to other basses it stands tall. I'd choose this bass over just about any other I own, though my other basses are there because they serve a certain function. My Jazz Bass is there for more slap oriented playing, and my fretless Wishbass is there, well, because it's fretless. I'm not planning on any mods for this bass, but I do plan on going in there soon and getting rid of the 46 years of dust and grime in the controls and replacing anything that needs replacing.

I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I needed to adjust anything on this bass. The only times I remember having to tune it are when I changed the tuning of the bass. The neck has never bowed, and I live in Maine, so it's subject to drastic weather change. I've never adjusted the truss-rod, and don't feel like I'd need to anytime soon. I did have a problem with the rear straplock because the hole was stripped so it wouldn't stay in there, but all I had to do was replace it and it's fine now.