The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: ilan on April 10, 2015, 02:32:12 AM
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So a friend of mine got this el-cheapo bass in a trade, and called me to do a quick setup. Not much to look forward to, right? But once strung with fresh DR's, set up and plugged into my friend's wonderful old Portaflex, it turned out to be one great J. Perfect neck, excellent sound, good weight and balance, what more do you need. And it has a neat trick in the wiring, where you pull the tone knob and it turns on both pickups, and you have master vol and master tone (middle knob disconnected) - very useful. This 33-years-old MIJ bass sounds and plays way better than some real deal 70's MIA Fender J's I have had the pleasure to play, and it costs only a small fraction of their price. I couldn't put it down!
(http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll127/ilanlukatch/cimar.jpg) (http://s287.photobucket.com/user/ilanlukatch/media/cimar.jpg.html)
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Yeah - those were awesome J-bass clones back in the day. I always keep an eye out for old lawsuit Ibby's and Cimar's when trolling the used and pawn shops.
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Cool. Never seen or heard of these. Are those DiMarzios?
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The cream color and hex-wrench adjustable pole pieces look like DiMarzio but the pickups have rounded corners, significantly rounder than DiMarzios (or Fender).
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I remember those. They seemed to be equal in quality to Ibanez. Maybe just an alternate brand for different retailers?
The brand appeared again in the late 90s. Those may have been made in Taiwan or Korea, can't remember.
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Cimar J-bass, anyone? A little rough and not working, but how hard can it be to fire up a J-bass? Price is low, shipping is high.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cimar-Vintage-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Made-in-Japan-Estate-Item-/381213316996?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c2159784
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j306/apowell1/Cimar%20J_zpsujx9j9vt.jpg)
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Cimar J-bass, anyone? A little rough and not working, but how hard can it be to fire up a J-bass? Price is low, shipping is high.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cimar-Vintage-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Made-in-Japan-Estate-Item-/381213316996?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c2159784
About $350 with shipping for a non-working bass with rust, corrosion and a lot of cosmetic issues. Too much for this one. They were good guitars and basses but there's no real vintage value.
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I remember the name but can't remember why... ;)
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Cimar was to Ibanez as Squier is to Fender. Also, I'm pretty sure they never "officially" sold Cimars in the USA, but who really knows?
From WIkipedia:
"Cimar was a Hoshino Gakki guitar brand. Designs of Cimar guitars are sometimes very similar to Hoshino Gakki's Ibanez guitar brand. Cimar guitars appear in Hoshino Gakki catalogues."
So basically they're the same, just more likely to use their "B-team" parts suppliers. THis looks like a really nice bass, no matter what the headstock says.
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Cimar was definitely carried by Guitar Center in the mid to late 90s. I'm sure that was done officially.
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That's what I get for believing what I read on the internet... I've never seen a Cimar but I've seen lots of pix on forums (especially with non-USA members) and I read that Hoshino used the Cimar brand as their "budget" line in "countries other than the USA"... but I'm not an expert!
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And I realize I sound like I'm arguing with you, and I TOTALLY don't mean to!
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I know you weren't arguing about it.
The ones from the 90s were all inexpensive, but IIRC there were some even less expensive Ibanez models then. Ibanez had a full line including some expensive models, there weren't many Cimars. No idea where the brand fit in Hoshino's lineup or why it reappeared on the US market then.
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Gotta admit I'm a bit tempted by that beat up one on Ebay. Always liked the Fender "maui blue" - reminds me of that. Also, I had an Ibanez 2365b jazz copy for a while (bought it as a $200 cheapie for those outdoor gigs, crappy venues, etc) and it played and sounded fantastic! I don't regret anything I've ever sold, but I do still think about that bass sometimes...
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I remember Cimar well from the late 70ies, they were always sold and discussed as an Ibanez sub-brand and had a good reputation in quality. Guy I knew loved his Strat from them.