This Maya Jazz bass is a good example:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Left-handed-Maya-Custom-Jazz-Bass-lefty_W0QQitemZ7380721985QQcategoryZ68177QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nice neck, like the block markers, would consider it but for the daft opening price. However, it has that duff, two-saddle bridge and nasty, thin tuners as found on my Yamato Precision oddball. Putting in Fender-style tuners would involve some routing. Maybe the Schaller/Gotoh/Grover minikeys would fit, but the elephant ears would look better on this bass. The look of the pups doesn’t inspire me and I’d probably want to replace the pots and jack. Again, there’s something a bit strange looking about the wood. As with the Yamato, it’s considerably thinner than the 1.75″ of a typical Fender. Keeps the weight down, but probably sacrificing a bit of sustain.

I wouldn’t rule them out, but they need a bit of effort to bring them up to standard. By contrast, my 1990 Fenix is great as is; I’m replacing the bridge pup with a Fender Vintage 60s, but the bridge pup is a weakness of many Jazz-type basses I’ve come across.

[quote]Speaking of these old Japanese beasties of the 70s, does anyone know anything about guitars branded Sanox Sound Creator?[/quote]
There are reviews on Harmony Central, glw.

Lee, it’s interesting what you say about the Maya, because I’m darned certain they’re from the same factory as the Yamato (coincidence? the Maya and Yamato were both Japanese WWII warships) and I’d say the same about the Yamato bass of mine. It has a fabulous neck, worth the payment alone. The body is a bit weird; it is not ply but I can’t make out what it is. The electrics absolutely stink; the pickup is terrible but I have a plan to Dremel it out a bit for a ’51P pup. The hardware, from bridge to tuners to pot-knobs, are awful. I want to wash my hands when I touch them.

So, basically, a Maya or a Yamato has a nice neck. Beats a Hondo, Columbus, Satellite but it’s still a major project. Today’s Shines and the SX range from Rondomusic in the US are miles better starters for the money than budget 70s gear.

[quote=”1bassleft”]It’s not the best welcome to the forum, Blood, but it is the truth 😥

There are great 70s Japanese guitars (Ibanez, Tokai, Greco) and there are, erm, not-so-great 70s Japanese guitars. Falling into the latter category are Columbus, Satellite, Avon, Maya, Yamato, Hondo etc etc.

Whereas the first three made better guitars than Fender at the time, the others were being pumped out of a different factory and quality mindset(the English and US companies “CMI” also imported them).

I have a Hondo bass (ply body, bendy neck, rubbish electrics, good tuners and bridge) and a Yamato bass (excellent neck, wha??? body, absolutely awful electrics and totally awful hardware). For some reason, they will fetch over 70 ($ or £) on eBay. I’d sell it and, if I wanted a guitar, buy a nice new guitar for $80. They’re much better than those old things.[/quote]
I agree with everything you said Bass, except on the Maya front..
I have a 79′ Maya Tele copy, and its a very good copy, very nice neck one of the best ive seen on a Telecaster, also a very solid 3 peice solid ash body, the only thing that let it down was the pick-up’s, i changed those for a Kent armstrong on the neck, KA in the middle and a Seymore Duncan hotrails in the bridge, it makes for a very versatile guitar.
Looks more like a Nashvile Tele, is it a Nashvile with the 3 pick up combination?

Speaking of these old Japanese beasties of the 70s, does anyone know anything about guitars branded Sanox Sound Creator? Some of you may remember me posting a pic of my plexiglass Strat, which I have to add, is a great guitar.

It’s not the best welcome to the forum, Blood, but it is the truth 😥

There are great 70s Japanese guitars (Ibanez, Tokai, Greco) and there are, erm, not-so-great 70s Japanese guitars. Falling into the latter category are Columbus, Satellite, Avon, Maya, Yamato, Hondo etc etc.

Whereas the first three made better guitars than Fender at the time, the others were being pumped out of a different factory and quality mindset(the English and US companies “CMI” also imported them).

I have a Hondo bass (ply body, bendy neck, rubbish electrics, good tuners and bridge) and a Yamato bass (excellent neck, wha??? body, absolutely awful electrics and totally awful hardware). For some reason, they will fetch over 70 ($ or £) on eBay. I’d sell it and, if I wanted a guitar, buy a nice new guitar for $80. They’re much better than those old things.

Well, Lee has done an admirable job of summing up the quality issues inherent in your guitar. If you want to know who was responsible for spreading this blight to the musical future of the U.K. it was Bell Musical Instruments Ltd. I think Eatons distributed Columbus in Canada. sb

Dont know about a series 2, but a Colombus from the 70’s is worth its weight in potatoes. 3kg’s ? @ 50p a kilo? you do the math.
Wish i could be more positive but they are truely awful guitars and the fact he has sprayed it green probably to look like a Francis Rossi has only added to its appeal, he has probably made a £3 guitar into a £3.50p guitar. Sorry if it sounds a bit harsh but, when i was in my first band aged 13 i played a Jap Colombus, almost new, thats was about 78′ and i just could not tune the thing, whatever we played sounded out of tune, we used to rent a rehearsal room once every 2 weeks ( it used to take us that long to save up for it ) and none of us could understand why we all sounded out of tune, and it was to do with the terrible setups we had on our guitars, the action was too high cos the necks were not straight, any lower and the whole thing buzzed, its only years later you realise how much Guitars like that set you back, if we would have had half decent playable instruments we would have progressed as a band a whole lot better.
Dont get me wrong, the Japanese made some excellent instruments in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, i have a couple myself, but dont get sucked in to thinking they were all great, they weren’t, Colombus, Hondo II, Hohner, Shafstbury, Satteliite all made some real duffers but i especially remember Colombus as totaly unredeemable, a truely terrible minger amongst mingers and it is my mission to collect up all those 70’s banana necked, ceased up machine headed colombus’s, heap them in a pile, invest in a pint of petrol, douse the whole lot and let them go up in a blaze of redemption, i could save the youth of the world from ever picking one of these things up.

Phew, i feel better now, i think i’ll go and lay down in a darkened room.