"Hohner Bass Precision MB 010"

[riot100]

"Hohner Bass Precision MB 010" -

Hello, here is a scan from "Sounds", UK music paper reviewing the "Hohner Bass Precision MB 010" from 19th September 1981. I then purchased this Hohner Bass from Chase Music Store in Manchester, UK (see photos below), late 1982.
This 'black' Bass originally had a tortoiseshell pickguard, but I replaced that with a black one many years ago (also removed the bridge/pickup covers, sadly lost over the years), but It still has all original pickups, bridge, tunings, tone knobs (and pots, etc). I still play to this day as a back up. Great Bass!
I cannot find anymore information regarding this make of Bass on the internet, e.g. factory in Japan where it was made?, was there many other colours? etc, etc.
Any one have extra info on this model?
Regards.

[riot100]

[Bassassin]

There's actually a fair bit of info about these online if you go to the right places...

 

Hohner Morris Guitar Fan Page

 

Moridaira Guitars

 

The Original Vintage Japanese Guitar Fanclub

 

Anyway, as the name of one of these FB groups implies, your bass was made by Moridaira Gakki (the factory which made Prince's Hohner Madcat Tele) and if you bought it in '82 it was probably one of the very last Japan-made Hohners, as manufacture went to Cort in Korea at the start of the 80s.

 

This catalogue page is from 1980-ish (they are seldom dated) and from it we can infer that the bass came in at least 3 finishes (black, sunburst, natural) and that the model number in the old Snouds comic is almost certainly a typo:

 

 

It's actually really cool that you kept the review - stuff like this hardly ever turns up & I think plenty of people on the FB groups would love to see it. There's quite a thriving vintage MIJ community out there!

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Bassassin

[riot100]

UPDATE: From an Instruments Catologue from 1983 2 colours of the Japanese "Hohner Bass Precision MB 010" were on sale (see photo) -

MB 010S (Sunburst) and
MB 010B (Black).

From an 1980 Hohner Catalogue and this "Sounds" magazine advert, the LOGO is the larger curly one. The 1983 Japanese models have the smaller logo.
The exact factory it was made in is probably lost in time. Hohner had a lot of dealings with Moridaira when they established their electric guitar range in the lalate 70s. Some of the higher end guitars (like the Prince tele) were probably actually made at Moridaira. But even Moridaira's in-house brands were sometimes subcontracted to other factories (a lot of Morris acoustics were made at Terada) so it's likely the cheaper copies were always made elsewhere. Matsumoku is a factory that sometimes comes up as a possibility and they did make a lot of Precision copies so it's definitely a good candidate. Matsumoku also liked using Made In Japan stamped neckplates (Thanks to Phil for this info).

[Bassassin]

2 hours ago, riot100 said:

UPDATE: From an Instruments Catologue from 1983 2 colours of the Japanese "Hohner Bass Precision MB 010" were on sale (see photo) -

MB 010S (Sunburst) and
MB 010B (Black).

From an 1980 Hohner Catalogue and this "Sounds" magazine advert, the LOGO is the larger curly one. The 1983 Japanese models have the smaller logo.
The exact factory it was made in is probably lost in time. Hohner had a lot of dealings with Moridaira when they established their electric guitar range in the lalate 70s. Some of the higher end guitars (like the Prince tele) were probably actually made at Moridaira. But even Moridaira's in-house brands were sometimes subcontracted to other factories (a lot of Morris acoustics were made at Terada) so it's likely the cheaper copies were always made elsewhere. Matsumoku is a factory that sometimes comes up as a possibility and they did make a lot of Precision copies so it's definitely a good candidate. Matsumoku also liked using Made In Japan stamped neckplates (Thanks to Phil for this info).

 

It's not Matsumoku. FYI Matsumoku typically used 'Steel Adjustable Neck' stamped plates or (helpfully) Matsumoku-stamped plates. Other than brand-specific (Aria Pro, for example) they are not known to have used other styles, including the lower-half MIJ type on your bass.

 

 

The tuners used on your bass did make me wonder if it was from a different factory as I've not seen these previously on a Moridaira instrument - this style is common on late 70s/early 80s Tokais, Yamaha from the same era (usually with a cast key rather than the cloverleaf) and randomly on Fender-types from some as-yet unidentified manufacturers - possibly Nagoya Suzuki. However manufacturers would often use whichever compatible components were available at the time so it's not a reliable ID.

 

Terada's a manufacturer often mentioned in relation to particular brands but as yet there's no evidence they built anything other than acoustic guitars.

[Almost Simon]

Finally with a bit of searching I’ve found the model name. Heres mine, assume must be 1981/82ish. Bought a few years back for £50. Slapped some flats on it, my backup bass but as anyone else would do, intrigued on value and if there are many others still around

 

Edited Monday at 21:12 by Almost Simon