Bass Japan Direct is a small, family run operation run by British bassist Danny Stewart for bassists of any ilk worldwide. Bringing you the finest in Japanese handmade custom, new, used and vintage basses, direct from the source, we offer custom builds from Dragonfly, STR, Momose, Bacchus, AtelierZ and now Moon!
We also offer special shipping options if you need them, such as neck-off shipping to reduce costs and so-on. We like to keep things small in order to make communication smooth between ourselves, our customers and the builders we work with.
Feel free to inquire any time!
WE CAN HUNT BASSES FOR YOU - See a video with a sold out bass or can’t seem to hunt down that dream bass? Let us find and secure that elusive MIJ bass / guitar of your dreams for you… Send a PM at any time to get things going!
Not too shabby for junk 😁 I literally just won a no name one today. Still has the original mudbucker and mini hum combo. It looks pretty nice in the pics, but we'll see how it is when it gets here.
Hi Dany! Beautiful sound! Normaly, The front and rear PUs are connected in series (series) instead of the usual parallel (parallel) by pulling up the TONE pot, allowing you to choose a powerful sound with a sense of push. This allows you to choose a powerful sound with a sense of pushout.
Hi! Hope you can answer me... I saw a Jazz Bass which looks exactly like this one, but it's branded SAKAI. Do you think it is good? Says "made in Japan" on the neckplate
I have the bolt-on B2 '86, same color as yours. Love it, well, except that headstock. But it plays well and has a medium output. I few years ago, i noticed that the bridge wasn't positioned correctly like if you look at the neck from the bridge end, the strings were veering to the right 2-3 millimeters (or downward if you're in the sitting position). So i decided to reposition the bridge but since the screw holes would be too near each other, i decided to move it a bit forward. But, that made the saddles move quite near the back end, that the strings also had a difficult/acute break angle, and have difficulty moving them for intonation. After two years of this, i decided, this time to move it farther back, again minding the existing screw holes. This time, the break angle was smoother, adjusting the saddles easier. But best of all, there was a noticeable change it its sound. That added tautness, albeit minimal, gave it a different character, especially in the slap department. Another thing, I've always used D'Addario XLs, but i tried DR's Black Beauties, and it worked just as fine, maybe even more "slappy" bright. Will probably restring to D'As soon as i don't really play a lot of slap in church. Sorry for the long rant, but if this can help other bassist out there... Anyway, thanks for this review.
Drunk or tired factory worker....misaligned bridge. Seen that and corrected that so many times on vintage builds! Fill in the original holes then re-drill to reposition the bridge. Often there is room to move a bridge back as they typically try to centre the saddles at 864mm so you can usually afford 5mm or so of movement back away from the rear pup. Sounds like you did that anyway. Cheers
When the first series of Fender Ultra came out, I purchased the 5 string jazz bass. I had trouble setting it up when I got home, and after doing some research, I discovered that it had the wrong bridge installed so the intonation couldn't be fixed. After speaking to some folks at the music store where I purchased it, we also discovered that it even had the wrong neck installed! Because of that, it was the only "mocha burst" of its kind that had a maple fingerboard. I returned the bass, and from my understanding they sent it back to Fender, but who knows.
@@jwkelley the link still works, just open up the tagged products. Not sure what preamp model number it is, but it sounds good. Tune have been using Aguilar obp3 a lot recently, since GZP went out of production. I got this preamp as outlet goods, actually I bought a few of the same preamp I think the last ones left. I don't think Tune Japan makes preamps anymore, maybe you are referring to Tune Korea as there is no mention of the preamp you specify on Tune Japan's website, and I was told by the chief himself that they have discontinued all preamps, however it is confusing because I now see some Phoenix basses with the GZP2 in it again...so I dunno. I'll have to ask if they reissued it. What is also weird is Tune Korea website seems to have disappeared!
I played Victoria and Stealth 4 at music shops here in Japan. Neck is FAT and SO comfortable to play! Never realized it has variable radius to it! My next bass will definitely be Atlansia.❤
Hi mate!!... love the videos you do, some of these Japanese, in particular 'P-Bass' copies are so impressive, it's scary. If you can maybe see from my prof pic here I play a '77 USA P-Bass. I love it so much I never bothered getting a '2nd Bass' which I really shud . This kind of baby looks the kinda thing that could be a great back up type of thing for what I do... just wondering how much this kinda babe would cost /shipping etc ? Just an approximate All the best, fantastic Videos, great Bass love .All the Best!! P
@@linhbass8bp342Glad you like it, thanks! That particular one sold out a while ago, but we can make you the same spec if you like. Email dstewart@bassjapandirect.com to get an order under way. Cheers!
I have one very similar I was told it was from 1980 don’t know the exact model but it looks identical to the one you have. How do I know what model it is? Serial numbers maybe?
If you look at the bottom of your fret board, last fret you will see the number of the model. For example 60 will be the tpb60 model. Other indicators are where the base plate is, just above on the neck you have a black sticker with the model number. Last is with the tuners. If the tuners have a noticeable space between each other then it’s most likely the lower model 48 rather than the 60 or 80 (the top models) Oh I forgot. The saddles. The top models have spiral saddles just like the top model fenders. Also the saddles are brass not silver.
In addition to what @soulstar89 says, some higher models like the 60 or 80 have brass or spiral bridge saddles. The 40 usually has no walnut skunk stripe, the 48 does and the body wood may be basswood on both those models, not alder. Logo wise the Earliest models have the noodle logo, where as post 1982 have this thicker logo which I believe is referred to as the "super logo". Serial numbers with Tokai are hard to understand, they don't seem to follow a date format and are likely a manufacture number. There is no serial lookup for Tokai that I know of.
This basses are awesome, I've had 3 of them and you can't go wrong by choosing those gems, I modified mine in order to make the pickups sound together in the mid position, cause the original circuit just works as Bridge or Neck position but never both at the same time. I love your channel, can't wait to see more hunting, hopefully one day I'll fly to Japan and visit the store! Cheers from MX City.
dragonfly. It's listed here. Absolutely brilliant bass! video will be coming soon. bassjapandirect.myshopify.com/products/dragonfly-cl-dpb5-alder-pauferro-mgm?ToPasteBoard&
Dan, i might have missed it but whats the weight, it looks heavy. Also do you do a four string? Annnnd...are you expecting to be UK bound anytime soon. Im interested in one of the basses you have for sale. Edit: Great sounding bass btw 😎
Thanks for watching and for your inquiry, glad you agree about the sound of it! It is actually a moderately weighted bass for a 5 string, 4.38kg on the hanging scales. It can indeed be order made in a 4 string format. It will be a similar price for the same spec, and build time would be about 8 months. As far as visiting UK, I just returned from hols a few weeks back so won't be going again for another 10 or 11 months. What bass are you interested in? FedEx shipping is relatively inexpensive if we can keep the box size minimal. Cheers for now.
A vintage Japanese acoustic 6-string? Another item that I didn't know that I needed until I saw on a Bass Japan Direct tube. Thanks again, Danny. I'll let you know . . . .
as @cbrunhaver correctly says, the rear pup placement is different being closer to the bridge, so it is a bit different. It's really designed to be a modern Jazz/P with massive versatility. The rear pup in full coil mode sounds more like a fat meaty 70s jazz rather than an MM.
