The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hello,
I've bought an old precision bass (wonderful sunburst-coloured with marple neck) which is named "Johnny Pro".

As I've read here in the Forum "Johnny Pro"-instruments were made in Japan especially for the german market in the late 1970s and early 1980s - is that right? Could anybody please tell me something about this brand or the bass? Is it a Matsumoku-instrument?

Here is a Picture of the Johnny-Pro-Preci

There were a lot of people making P-bass copies in the 70's. A few more pictures showing the back, neck plate, and insides of the control cavity would help. Even then it may not be possible to get a definitive answer. It is a nice looking bass. How does it play?

Thank you for answering. RSBBass! ... Yes, the bass looks nice, feels nice and sounds nice - just like a real Fender ...

I've not opened the control cavity by now, but what I can say about the Instrument is this:

- "Made in Japan"-Sign on the neck plate (4-point)
- the neck ist varnished
- the Bridge Looks similar to the 4-saddle hi-mass of my squier matt-freeman-bass
- Tuning-machines in closed style (if that's the correct decription?! )
- Weight is about 4 Kilogram

If it would help, I could make some more Pictures und release them here in den Forum ...

Update: Under the control cavity there a no signs which would help, to identify the bass ... what I can say is that they've used Noble-Potentiometers (# B 250 ..., #10 A 250 ...) ... but i fear that would not help?! ...

I've made some more Pictures, maybe some "expert" could say more about the origin of the Johnny-pro-preci ...

And two more Pictures ...

It does not have a typical Matt neck plate. I have those tuners on a Kasuga made bass. That doesn't mean much though.

Thank you for your feedback ... "Typical matt neck plate" means that japanese brands usually used shiny neck plates? ... With your keyword "Kasuga" I've found a picture of a bass (from finland) that i very similar to mine (pickups, knobs...) ... maybe "johnny pro" is a sub-label from Kasuga?! ... puh, it's remains to be difficult ...

Typical Matsumoku neck plates had the phrases "Steel Reinforced Neck" and "Made in Japan" on them with a serial number. Some also said "Product of Matsumoku". I have never seen a confirmed Matt that had just "Japan" or "Made in Japan" on the neck plate.

Kasuga, like Matsumoku, made instruments for anyone who would pay them. The Johny Pro brand may have been from a distributor or even a music store. Some factories put out there own lines. Matsumoku worked with SLM in putting out the Westone Brand. Cort, a Korean maker made instruments to order but also had there own Cort and Cortez lines.

More Information:
The Owner of a shop in southern Germany (http://www.rickguitars.net), where they sell several japanese guitars and basses, told me, my precision could be built for the brand "fresher". they made low-priced instruments in the 1970s. He supposed that the bass is older than 1975 because in the later 1970s "fresher" uses better tunes (like Schaller) ...