Lefty Fresher and Yamato bass

Sorry to take so long to reply. I also have a lefty (off-white) Yamato. As you'd suspect, it's made in Japan (Yamato is an old term for Japan or Japanese).

It is Precision-ish. It has the neck, body and scratchplate style of the Precision, but there are some nods to the earlier, 1951, Precision with a two-saddle bridge and a single-coil, unsplit pickup. It's not like the '51 pickup though (unfortunately) but a copy of a Tele guitar neck pup - even with six polepieces. The Fender Musicmaster bass had a similar pup.

Although some people think "Japanese" means "list on eBay for hundreds", I'm old enough to remember different. Sadly, my Yamato is mostly horrid. The body is plywood, and thinner than a Fender. The hardware (tuners, bridge and knobs) so nasty I want to wash my hands. I don't have high hopes for the pup but I can't be sure because the capacitor is soldered to the vol pot, not the tone, and this looks like a factory mistake :shock: . The effect is as weird as you'd imagine.

The saving grace is the neck. It is gorgeous, glossy maple and will, one day, be used in a project but the rest is junk.

Of course, I might have an early one and yours may be later with better quality - let us know, please. The Fresher could be better news. Made in the Matsumoko factory, Japan. Early ones could be a bit ropey, and plywood, but by the later 1970s the "Fresher Personal Bass" looked the part and sound good. I hope you have nice ones and pics would be great to see, especially to a lefty like me.