Gorgeous Series I

[Thomasio]

"The shop salesperson said because the bass is on consignment, it can’t travel abroad, not to mention the inlays of ivory and abalone make it possibly impossible to send out."

I'm pretty sure it didn't get to where it is without traveling abroad.

Thomas

[jazzyvee]

Probably been in Japan before the rules changed, like my guitar arrived from the states with ivory in the inlay 2009 and was stopped at customs for tax and duty but no issue with the ivory content.  ow with the recent law change in the UK i can't sell it.

[rv_bass]

It looks like the ivory might be in the two larger leaves on the 12th fret and two smaller leaves on the 24th fret.  I could ask them to have them professionally remove and I could replace them with mother of pearl when it gets here. That said, can anyone tell me what shop currently has this bass?  I could contact them to see if they are open to that idea.  Thanks

[tkotmk42]

Rob-san,


It's in Kurosawa G-Club Shibuya.  Their contact is

g-shibuya@kurosawagakki.com

Phone number: +81-3-3462-0261


Although, it's not on their own e-commerce page, just on Digimart.... strange.




I am going to see this bass today, let me know if you want me to ask any questions.


Takeo

[welovecats]

Hi Rv, I have a close friend in Osaka I have asked to check out how/who you can call. But looks like Takeo might have beat me to it. I gave my friend your name and explained the ivory removal needs. Told him I think you really want it.

[welovecats]

It’s about 8:30 am there now I think, so should know something in next few hours. Just to clarify, I have no interest in this for myself, just trying to be helpful.

[rv_bass]

Awesome, thanks very much welovecats!

[rv_bass]

Thank you tkotmk42 as well, I would be interested in your thoughts about the bass after you check it out as well.

[tkotmk42]

RV-san,


I will ask the shop about the ivory removal as well.  I am pretty interested in it, I will check the scale length as well.


Takeo

[rv_bass]

Thank you, Takeo-san, and if you don’t go for it I would be interested.

Rob

[tkotmk42]

Hello

I went to the store today and checked out the bass.  Unfortunately, I didn't play the bass, but it looked to be in decent shape.  It does have some dings and scratches (which they're not showing on photos) but overall the finish is shiny and looking pretty good.
As for the inlay work, WOW, it looked even more amazing in person.  Scale wise, I am convinced it is medium scale, but staff insisted on it being short scale.  oh well

And it is on consignment and store will NOT do any modification to the bass to make it export ready, BEFORE or AFTER the sale.  Most store would NOT want to touch them for export, the staff said.

So, I think your best bet is to come down to Tokyo, purchase the bass, take it to a luthier you can trust, and have the ivory removed.
Even then, you really can't ask them to certify it is ivory free, as they did not do the original work and traces of ivory may still be hiding somewhere (staff said).

Good luck.    It's not for me, but it does have the original DS-5, cable, and hardshell case.

Takeo

[BeenDown139]

it's starting to look like this bass is made of unobtainium.

[rv_bass]

Thanks for the review and updates, Takeo-San, much appreciated!

Oh well, maybe some day it will show up in the States…until then…