MAYA TL-14 Telecaster Bass Copy - 1970's Natural

Hello, and welcome to this listing for my 1970’s Made in Japan MAYA TL-14 bass.  This is one of four basses I will be listing, as the continuing sale of my collection goes on … 

After the untimely death of my lovely wife, Lynne, and because I need to down-size massively, last year I started selling my guitar and bass collection, and so far I’ve sold 11 of them, plus my Roland G-800 workstation – only another half a dozen or so to go …. Keep watching !!

SO, WHAT’S THIS THEN ?

When I started tracing the provenance of this unusual bass, I pretty much ran into a brick wall. Anyway, I think it’s always useful when you’re selling or thinking of buying a musical instrument to try and determine it’s origin and heritage, so I thought I’d do a bit of research on the InterWebNet-thingy.

Apparently, “Maya” was a brand named used by a Japanese Trading Company from Kobe called Rokkoman, that was established in 1970 and was around until around 1995, when the plant where they were manufactured was destroyed by an earthquake.  The guitars were marketed in the UK by Stentor.

Following this, it appears that the Chushin Gakki factory in Nagano, took over the manufacturing of the Maya / El Maya instrument lines, (for most overseas markets, they used the "Maya" brand rather than "El Maya") Apparently they also manufactured of the import versions of Charvel, Jackson, and Robin guitars, They continued to make guitars until 2012, when the pressures of the economy and large-scale disasters caused them to go bankrupt (seems to be a recurring problem …).

SO, WHAT’S THIS ONE THEN ?

Well, this is where I hit a bit of a challenge …. As you can see, it’s Maya’s take on a Fender Telecaster bass, but despite hours (literally) in the InterWebNet-thingy, I’ve not been able to come up with much by way model-specific information apart from the following which I found in an old 1976 catalogue; this baby appears to :

• Be a model TL-14,
• Have a maple body, neck and fingerboard
• Have total length of 41.5”
• Have a Single pickup
• Have single-pot tone and volume controls

But I don’t have much information beyond that, apart from the catalogue specs, plus a picture showing the TL-14 with bridge and pickup covers – both missing from this bass. There are loads of Maya P- and J-bass copies out there, but I couldn't find one of these.

So, originating somewhere in the 70’s (I estimated 1973, which is more of a guess), with a few dings and scrapes, but pretty cool-looking nonetheless.

I never used this in anger (no gigs or even rehearsals) as I used to own 20+ basses, so plenty of choice ….

The bass certainly has mojo, and is in fairly good playing condition (but it will need new strings !!)

If you’d like to inspect it, or you have any questions, please contact PETE on 07736 643853.

From recent experience, UK shipping would be £20 - £25, depending on your location. EU / US shipping costs to be agreed depending on country. Cash or bank transfer preferred - we all know about payment fees !!