*MINT* 1968-1970 Univox Bass (Matsumoku Japan) - Red Burst

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When I received this bass a year ago, I opened the box and thought it was a replica. It looked brand new. After some research, I concluded it's a late 60's closet queen. It doesn't appear to be a "Coily" and I couldn't determine the exact model name/number, if there ever was one. I found very little information about this particular guitar; only one reference at vintageunivox.com which referred to it as "unknown." Follow this link () and scroll down to "Gibson 335 Bass Copy:"

To justify the assumed date of manufacture, I relied on an article in Vintage Guitar Magazine () which states "Based on the evidence of the logo on the 1968 amplifier, we suspect Univox guitars with the plastic logo debuted at about the same time. By 1970, Univox was employing decal logos on some models, further corroborating this conclusion."

Here's what I know for sure. It's an old Japanese short-scale (30"), 4-string, hollow-body, archtop bass. A true hollow-body with a single post at the bridge. It has 2 adjustable single-coil P90-style pickups (side-mounted ceramic magnet on copper frame), a trapeze tailpiece, rosewood bridge with brass saddle, pickguard with finger rest block, bone nut, zero fret, rosewood fretboard, 3-way pickup toggle switch and 2 pots: 1 volume, 1 tone. Frets and screws are still shiny. It's as if it was never played and properly stored. Absolutely amazing condition.

Everything works. Truss rod turns. No corrosion anywhere. No scratchy pots. Equipped with flat wound strings which appear to be original. Tuners are a little stiff but they turn and tune just fine. Neck is straight with medium action and could be adjusted further to make it a perfect player. I made only a minor truss rod adjustment. Otherwise, I played it only for testing and haven't done any other work on it. I assume a true collector would want to do any work deemed necessary.

I judge it to be in exceptional condition; perhaps museum-quality. I've never seen a guitar this old in this condition. There is just one minor paint flaw as shown in the photos, which appears to be a factory defect. I included some interior photos taken with a low quality scope camera. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Includes a decent gig bag and custom-fabricated truss rod wrench.