a2k Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 (edited) Deviser is a Japanese manufacturer that makes guitars, basses, and mandolins under several different brands across every price point (Bacchus, STR, Momose, and many others). Not sure how available they are outside of Asia. I've played several of their high-end basses and they are fantastic. Check out some photos of the #300 serial STR bass. Anyway, I came across a factory tour video on YouTube and saw a few interesting things. Specifically, they've got some sort of neck shaping jig that seems pretty intriguing. Not sure if this is standard factory stuff, but I'm curious about it. Anybody know the details of this type of setup? Here are the points in the video I'm curious about: 2:30 - Installing the neck profile jig 7:28 - Neck shaping with the jig 10:30 - Crazy neck belt sander (not really related to the jig, but fun) And here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wissbDVfJZ8 Edited December 1, 2015 by a2k Tried to embed video... didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I think it's an HTTPS thing why it won't embed. Not sure. But yeah, I watched tons of their videos a few years back! Amazing factory and some excellent solutions for repeatability, reliability and quality. The crazy belt sander you're referring to is called a "stroke sander". There's one at the school I studied at. Deviser also use that or a similar machine to do their radiusing; the caul runs over the top and belt tension bends the surface into a perfect radius. They also use that and the sliding table to refine the carves on top of instruments with a handheld caul which likely has what I think is Teflon paper underneath. Like I always say, I've always liked the standard of work coming out of Japanese factories. The attention to detail and general fastidiousness seems an intrinsic part of cultural identity. Quick story - but did you know that the Japanese Caparison factory was originally a Jackson factory? Jackson opened up a factory in Japan to produce a more affordable alternative to their USA models, however it turned out that the Japanese factory were producing instruments superior to their USA equivalents; they soon shuttered the production instead of shooting themselves in the foot, but it re-opened as Caparison. I used to own a Japanese-made Rhoads Professional, and I have to agree that it pissed on the USA Jacksons of that period. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I've noted that Japanese fretwork seems to be a class above. All the 70s/80s Matsumoku instruments I've played with original unaltered fretwork were divine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2k Posted December 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 When I first got here I spent too much free time sorting through secondhand shops looking for Matsumoku-made basses. They're around, but you have to know how to ID them and they aren't generally priced to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 That's a shame. They're cheap as anything kicking around the EU market. I bet you that there'll be the odd SB-R150 over there though; that's my white whale. Either that or a CSB Black n' Gold. Most of the BnGs were fantastic to be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salamon-rs Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 On 12/1/2015, 12:33:41, Prostheta said: Quick story - but did you know that the Japanese Caparison factory was originally a Jackson factory? Jackson opened up a factory in Japan to produce a more affordable alternative to their USA models, however it turned out that the Japanese factory were producing instruments superior to their USA equivalents; they soon shuttered the production instead of shooting themselves in the foot, but it re-opened as Caparison. I used to own a Japanese-made Rhoads Professional, and I have to agree that it pissed on the USA Jacksons of that period. You are right about this, those are the import series of Jackson/Charvel. I have at home a beautiful black Charvel Model 4 and it plays like hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.