https://ties.jp/store/products/detail/1194

Not affiliated, but this shop has been handling high-end basses for a while.  They're known for their extensive inventory of Fodera basses.


With super-weak JPY, 3 million JPY = 18700 USD.   Not bad for the spec (Burl Walnut 3000x2, LED, special tail piece, etc...)
Oh and if you're buying from outside of Japan, buy VAT (sales tax) free, 10%.





Takeo

Unless there is something wrong with my browser, i can't see a link to this sale on your post.

WOW !!

https://ties.jp/store/products/detail/1194

nice bass.  i've yet to see one of these for sale in the USofA. that's about $18k USD for those of you without a calculator.  whoo00OO00oo!

That's a nice and strangely familiar looking bass.  But that's an awful lot of money for a non-Series model...  Rare doesn't always mean desirable.  Besides, I'll sign anybody's bass for a lot less.    

Jimmy J

My browser shows a little ... something ... right at the beginning of the post, and hovering the pointer on that reveals the link:

https://ties.jp/store/products/detail/1194

Dual simultaneous threads:
https://club.alembicguitars.net/index.php?topic=28580.0
JJ

The string spacing does not seem to be as tight as yours Jimmy.👍🏾🧐

Quote from: jazzyvee on July 11, 2024, 10:05:58 AM
The string spacing does not seem to be as tight as yours Jimmy.👍🏾🧐

The spacing looks about right to me.  It really looks like one of mine, except it's missing the hum-canceller and 5-pin jack. ;-)

Jimmy J

Man that thing showed up on every shop in Japan...

https://www.digimart.net/cat03/shop5286/DS09008707/

That is a really nice walnut top.

And I may be just seeing it because I want to, or because of the pocket-sized screen... but is that a Jimmy J-spec aluminum sustain block peeking out from under those five string saddles?

*FWIW, and I'm not really promoting a sale for anyone, but I think Takeo is pretty close here... a new Signature 5-string with these specs is gonna' be in that ballpark price-wise. We just don't see many of the JJ Signature Models for sale here. (with all due deference to Jimmy J.) I can remember like... two, or three of them in the last ten years, all secondhand auctions or sales.  Me personally, I'd much rather have this one than the King or Clarke Signature.

I have no idea how many were made ... not many ... but it's still an honor!  I just wish I was a better salesman for the Company.

I do believe the aluminum block was part of the "JJ-spec" model although it's a funny detail which was kind of the result of an accident with my original '76 bass.  I've told the story before so you don't have to keep reading... 

When we used the giant E-string as a low-B on my original 5-string, the bridge was slightly too far towards the fingerboard to be able to intonate it properly. In other words, my E-string saddle was almost at the end of travel towards the tailpiece with the bridge in its original position.  But the B-string saddle needed to go a bit further.  I can't remember why we didn't just re-drill the mounting holes on the original brass block but my father had a big chunk of aluminum so we used that to make a new block with the bridge mounting holes offset towards the tailpiece.  You can see how off-center it was in the pic below.

I really don't know what effect that had on the sound of the bass but when it came time to build new ones I always requested an aluminum block.

Jimmy J

Jimmy, even with your adjustment looks like the B saddle is as far back as it can go.  Was the entire bridge and sustain block assembly moved farther back on the bass with your newer basses?

That's a good question.  I don't remember requesting that as a modification but the newer basses did not suffer from that problem.

Also, in those early days the biggest ghs Boomer I could buy was a .120, so my set was .045, .065, .085, .105 and .120.  Not quite right by the look of it, which may have had an effect on the bridge position.  (Just guessing there).  The standard set I play now (5M-DYB) has a .130 for a B and even though that looks like it's going to be too big the balance seems good.

Jimmy J

Interesting.


At least one of the two JJ Signature basses I remember was quite different from this new one. It was an '88, and had a different body pattern, a fan headstock like Jimmy's original '76, but it had a regular 'bird' tailpiece. And I don't think it had LED's. No aluminum sustain block.


There was another one that came up for auction (in Japan maybe?) that did have the aluminum sustain block, because I remember Jimmy J. telling us about that detail then. I don't remember much else about it except that it was more like the one Takeo posted on here.


*I think you sell yourself a bit short as an Alembic influencer, if not an outright sales rep, Jimmy J. I know for sure your name came up a few times when we were planning my Custom 5-string.