Tune Bass Maniac basses

[Guest MoJo]

Anyone have any experience? Much difference between the MIJ and MIK models? Any info would be appreciated

Edited June 19, 2018 by MoJo

[visog]

Not me but I'd be interested to hear too. Pretty rare birds these. I thought of them as sort of Eastern take on 80s/90s boutique basses like some of the top-scale Ibanez basses...? 

[b7l4s]

Just saw this post and the auction below within 5 minutes of each other... of course, one might have inspired the other, but anyway:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-guitar-90s-Tune-Bassmaniac/323313701857

Only a few hours left, but you could always contact the seller via ebay if it is not sold or re-listed today?

[Guest MoJo]

2 hours ago, b7l4s said:

Just saw this post and the auction below within 5 minutes of each other... of course, one might have inspired the other, but anyway:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-guitar-90s-Tune-Bassmaniac/323313701857

Only a few hours left, but you could always contact the seller via ebay if it is not sold or re-listed today?

This indeed, was the bass that prompted the post. I believe this to be Korean and as @kodiakblair has pointed out, in another conversation, they're 90's basses with 90's electronics. Probably great in their day but no so impressive compared to modern electronics

[kodiakblair]

Bloody hell,it went for £175 !!!  If someone stuck a new preamp in that they'd have a killer bass.

@MoJo I know what I said about the electrics but the build quality is great. My first bout of GAS was for the Tune Maniac,back in the mid 80's, so I've a long term interest in them 🙂 Here's my take on TuneBasses. The Korean/Japanese thing is kind of muddled and not helped by folk on the various clubs/FB pages.

Tune Guitar Technology started the ball rolling in Japan. Kawai,SGC Nanyo,Washburn and Ibanez quickly started with their takes on the Maniac. Late 80's Tune Guitar Tech got the contract for the Levinson Blades so started importing necks and bodies from Korea. This gave them more time for Levinson. At the end complete basses were imported from Korea.

 

Then Tune goes tits up.

 

The Koreans keep building under the Tune Guitar Technology name. Some luthiers in Japan started using Tune templates and called themselves Tune Guitar Maniac,they claim they own the Tune brand but the Koreans dispute this saying they had a "gentleman's agreement" to produce Tune basses. Said Gentleman being dead nobody knows the truth 😃

 

Upshot is there's a factory in Korea building Tunes and a luthier custom shop in Japan building Tunes,up until recently the Japanese shop still bought it's hardware from the Koreans. The so-called "bad blood" between the two is mostly the product of owners with Japanese built Tunes. Not surprising, I think Fender Master Built owners would get upset  with MIM Fender owners claiming there's no difference between their basses.

 

A basic Tune Maniac from Japan will be built by a small team and maybe fired in their PLEK machine, photos of it featured a lot on their FB page along with fancy inlay work on folk's Strats and LPs. It'll cost you about £1200 before shipping and VAT/import duty. £1500 shouldn't be far of the mark. 

 

A basic Korean Tune Maniac can be had from Ned at VSN in Canada for £404. With Shipping/tax etc £650 easy.

 

A few years back Sam Ash over in the USA wanted to buy the brand name for another budget line of theirs. The Koreans said no and SA had a fire sale on Tune products,can't say if that was a deliberate attempt to damage the Tune brand name but that was the effect it had in the US.Both are recovering with the Japanese holding the upper hand,given the fantastic value they are for a hand built bass 👍

 

Fine basses no matter the flavour. My 30something Japanese fretless is a joy,the Korean parts but Japan assembly 90's Maniac is a cracking bass and if quality of the later Korean TWB-4Z is anything to go by the Japanese version will be outstanding. Best leave a photo after all this waffle.

 

[Pea Turgh]

Love a good back story!  They look quite a bit like Bass Collection ones, don’t they?

[kodiakblair]

13 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Love a good back story!  They look quite a bit like Bass Collection ones, don’t they?

Other way around. Bass Collections look like Tunes 😃 Maniacs appeared about 84/85

[ebenezer]

Tune did apparently build levinson blade basses.

[Guest MoJo]

On 01/07/2018 at 01:05, kodiakblair said:

Bloody hell,it went for £175 !!!  If someone stuck a new preamp in that they'd have a killer bass.

Kinda regretting passing on it now 

[kodiakblair]

30 minutes ago, ebenezer said:

26 minutes ago, MoJo said:

Kinda regretting passing on it now 

Never mind Mark I could be talked into selling one 😀

[Timmob]

I bought this in about 1993/4 from the Bass Place in Wapping London. It's immaculate very rarely used and only gigged once. It lives in a fur lined case under the bed. It is a Japanese Tune Maniac I believe. Any idea of the value? Not that i would sell it.

[AndyTravis]

this is the one I’m always on the lookout for...should’ve bought this in 2000/01 but it had a preamp fault. Bought a Spector NS-94 instead. But I’ve never been as in love with a bass as this...it had “tune guitar technology” in gold on the neck. 

I thought it was the coolest bass I’d ever seen - been playing for about 3 years at that point.

This was Korean and about £500

[bnt]

I posted about my MIK TWB-43 before, here, with pictures. It’s still my main bass, though I have long term plans to defret it after I go to a 5-string again. It has a kind-of “average” sound that I think would work as a fretless.
 

It wasn’t expensive and I have no qualms about using it as my test bed bass. I had trouble getting it set up the way I like it and ended up sinking the bridge in to the body, which was interesting  Combine that with some truss rod adjustment, it’s much closer now. I won’t be selling it, it’s not really worth it. 

[uk_lefty]

@kodiakblair that Fretless is perfection! Tell me they're the only Japanese builder that didn't do lefties?! Lie to me if you have to. I've got kids to feed. 

[kodiakblair]

On 14/01/2020 at 07:17, uk_lefty said:

@kodiakblair that Fretless is perfection! Tell me they're the only Japanese builder that didn't do lefties?! Lie to me if you have to. I've got kids to feed. 

No starving bairns in your future 😃 TUNE Guitar Maniac in Japan appear prejudice against lefties 😮 Nothing in their custom options hints at left hand 😟

Good news is you can stop torturing yourself,they stopped making the extended board at least 30 year back 😊

[mangotango]

@Stingray5 has a couple.  You want to chip in here, mate?

[Stingray5]

6 hours ago, mangotango said:

@Stingray5 has a couple.  You want to chip in here, mate?

Happy to oblige.

In fact, I posted a few pics of my TWB-6 in the TunePorn thread way back in 2009. This 'ere post:
https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/18385-tuneporn/?do=findComment&comment=655632

However, I'll park a couple or three here and just say that Japanese Tune's are a bit like hen's gold teeth, at least in the UK. Well worth snagging one, though, if the opportunity arises.

Japanese vintage Tune TWB-6 (c.1991). Purchased in 1997 from the Bass Centre, Wapping.

Also bought this Korean Tune SWV4-BB a few years back (through Basschat).

[pete.young]

On 12/01/2020 at 14:56, Timmob said:

I bought this in about 1993/4 from the Bass Place in Wapping London. It's immaculate very rarely used and only gigged once. It lives in a fur lined case under the bed. It is a Japanese Tune Maniac I believe. Any idea of the value? Not that i would sell it.

Hard to make out from the pictures and I could be wrong but it looks more like a top-end SGC Nanyo Bass Collection to me. What does it say on the truss rod cover, and what is written on the cover plate on the control cavity?

[uk_lefty]

8 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

No starving bairns in your future 😃 TUNE Guitar Maniac in Japan appear prejudice against lefties 😮 Nothing in their custom options hints at left hand 😟

Good news is you can stop torturing yourself,they stopped making the extended board at least 30 year back 😊

Weird, I know very little on the subject but the far East producers seemed to look after us lefties a bit better than the Yanks do. Saved me a few hrs trawling the Internet to see what they sell for though, thank you! 

[kodiakblair]

41 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Saved me a few hrs trawling the Internet to see what they sell for though, thank you! 

Tune Guitar Tech in Korea offer lefties but they are a production line only outfit. They do just the 1 fretless model, it has a left hand version but it's nothing like the Tune Maniacs.

https://www.tuneguitars.com/wb-page1

Tune Guitar Maniac in Japan .... I'd expect them to offer left hand,it's a luthier shop doing fancy Fender copies. Left hand basses would be a doodle.  I suspect the preamp is the problem,those are PCB units. Could be a special run required for left handers.

[TheRev]

1 hour ago, pete.young said:

Hard to make out from the pictures and I could be wrong but it looks more like a top-end SGC Nanyo Bass Collection to me. What does it say on the truss rod cover, and what is written on the cover plate on the control cavity?

Nope, that's a Tune Bass Maniac. The lower horn on a Bass Collection is stubbier and curves downwards and the Tune headstock was longer, narrower and pointier than the Bass Collections'

The Bass Collection bass was a copy of the Bass Maniac,so the designs are very, very similar.

[kodiakblair]

Cheers @TheRev

Saved me typing and posting photos 👍

[pete.young]

THanks guys, it fooled me anyway! Nice looking bass.

[uk_lefty]

That's still pretty special though!! 

https://www.tuneguitars.com/wb5-fm-left-spec

 

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

That's still pretty special though!! 

https://www.tuneguitars.com/wb5-fm-left-spec

 

Aye it's a pretty thing. Piezo circuit is the same as my TWB-4Z 👍

 VSN Guitars in Canada are the only folk I know stock Tune,don't have the fretless ATM so it's an email to Ned telling to get one 🙂 Not sure of a price but the most expensive is a 6 string leftie Hatsun for £800. Should give you a rough idea 😎

 

https://www.vsnguitars.com/brands/Tune--Guitar-Technology.html