kimbara Ripper on FB

[NikNik]

Ripper

[Bassassin]

Very tidy-looking example. No idea how reasonable the price is (£550) but you'd pay a bit more for a 'real' one.

[Earbrass]

My first bass was a Kimbara Jazz. Very lovely and well-built, but could have served double-duty as a boat anchor.

[NikNik]

Deleted

Edited April 20, 2023 by NikNik

[Shaggy]

I remember Kimbaras standing out from the other ‘70’s copies by having really attractive wood for the bodies, usually Sen wood (Japanese ash).

This is nice, though not that special. 

[Rayman]

We’re Kimbara not made by Kawai or similar? I can’t remember, but I do remember them being decent, a bit like I thought Cimar (Ibanez) were decent.

[fleabag]

CSL  ( Charles Somerfield Ltd ) were also very good copies

[3below]

3 hours ago, Shaggy said:

I remember Kimbaras standing out from the other ‘70’s copies by having really attractive wood for the bodies, usually Sen wood (Japanese ash).

This is nice, though not that special. 

I owned a Kimbara strat copy sometime around 1977.  Maple neck, natural body with nice grain, a well made guitar very playable.

[Shaggy]

20 minutes ago, 3below said:

I owned a Kimbara strat copy sometime around 1977.  Maple neck, natural body with nice grain, a well made guitar very playable.

 

Bells catalogue 1977 (I perused my copy so often at the tine I still remember most of the models listed!)

[BigRedX]

13 hours ago, Rayman said:

We’re Kimbara not made by Kawai or similar? I can’t remember, but I do remember them being decent, a bit like I thought Cimar (Ibanez) were decent.

 

IIRC Kimbara were the import brand for FCN. I have a Kimbara acoustic guitar which was bought in 1974. It's OK but nothing above any other £30 MIJ acoustic guitar from the mid 70s. I suspect they came from a variety of Japanese factories as the quality seemed to change over the years. I always saw them as being a bit better than Columbus but nowhere near as good as Antoria.

[Rayman]

Ahh Antoria….. I had a fantastic Antoria Jazzstar guitar in the 90s. Totally ruined it by putting SD pickups in it 🫣…. tool. 

[Bassassin]

8 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

IIRC Kimbara were the import brand for FCN. I have a Kimbara acoustic guitar which was bought in 1974. It's OK but nothing above any other £30 MIJ acoustic guitar from the mid 70s. I suspect they came from a variety of Japanese factories as the quality seemed to change over the years. I always saw them as being a bit better than Columbus but nowhere near as good as Antoria.

 

Quite correct - and they were a bit better than Columbus; in the 70s FCN had a 3-tier range, Satellite at the bottom, Columbus in the middle & Kimbara at the top. From what I've seen, most but not all copy-era Kimbaras were Matsumoku - this Ripper has an Aria-branded counterpart that's likely to be identical. There are some Kimbara oddities with effects circuitry which are the same as the Japan-market Fresher brand, these were made by Chushin Gakki.

 

I had a very nice Kimbara L6S copy, Matsumoku-made, very much a sibling to the Ripper. Was a bit of a resto.
 

 

[Maude]

I have a Kimbara Ripper. It's definitely above average build quality wise for the time and it's not overly heavy, big body but not very thick. It plays really nicely with that comfy, worn in feel that you don't get with a new bass. That may be physical but may equally be psychological. Mojo eh?