kalamazoo semi acoustic project

[uwe]

I think we should be over the point were anything from Japan in the seventies is regarded as junk. For producing junk, they did a darn good job conquering the market and with some justification you can say that Ibanez, Yamaha, ESP, Fernandes and what have you can call themselves bass companies with greater justification than Gibson can.

[dadagoboi]

I think we should be over the point were anything from Japan in the seventies is regarded as junk. For producing junk, they did a darn good job conquering the market and with some justification you can say that Ibanez, Yamaha, ESP, Fernandes and what have you can call themselves bass companies with greater justification than Gibson can.

AMEN!

[Stjofön Big]

A country that could produce receivers like http://cgi.ebay.com/PIONEER-SA-9100-AC-110-120V-Best-Integrated-Amplifier-/300430716915?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item45f310eff3#ht_573wt_1137 can't have been all wrong! My neighbour is selling one just like that, for $250.00. Guess who's buying! Yeah, you're right. That's why there's no question mark.

[OldManC]

I think we should be over the point were anything from Japan in the seventies is regarded as junk.

The 70's were as long a decade as any other and the level of a lot of the Japanese guitars that made their way to the U.S., especially in the first half of the 70's, still deserve that tag. I agree that era represents when Japan rose from producing cheap knockoffs to quality and innovation in their own right, but being wary of what level of product you're getting would still serve one well with Japanese guitars. Even now they differentiate between domestic and export quality. The 'luckiest' buyer is an educated one.

[Droombolus]

IMHO it sounds better than my rivoli reissue

They play great but the stock PUPs on those babies suck big time ........

[leftybass]

Speaking of, my reissue Rivoli has always had weak output from the G string, does anyone have any experience with the Artec replacement pickups on ebay?

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I don't know about the basses, and I think that it's pretty well established that the one in question is Japanese, but I used to have an Epiphone 12 string acoustic guitar that was made in the USA. It had an orange sticker IRRC. It was old and had a cracked top which I repaired, but it held tune and sounded great. I traded it and a late 80's Ibanez SR500 for a Marcus Miller Jazz (speaking of quality Japanese products) and $500 ten years ago and I don't regret it for a second. I had $100 in the pair.

[Droombolus]

Speaking of, my reissue Rivoli has always had weak output from the G string, does anyone have any experience with the Artec replacement pickups on ebay?

Yes I do, the Artec's are a bit too deep to fit the cavity but I mounted one anyway  . They sound better than the stock PUP to my ears. The cheaper solution however is the "Nail-That-Sound" mod. Some guys at the dutch bassforum bent 2 nails and taped them to the PUP to extend the range of the magnet. Apparently it works .........    PeterB knows the specifics.

[Basvarken]

Yep, here it is




Nail That Tone^TM

[Pilgrim]

They play great but the stock PUPs on those babies suck big time ........

That's somewhat true of the staple pickups on my Univox hollowbody, which is why one of my long-neglected projects is replacing them with Gretsch Filtertrons!