1970s Sakai EB Short Scale Bass – Made in Japan – Cherry

A wonderfully quirky piece of 1970s Japanese guitar history. This Sakai features the less commonly encountered dual-pickup configuration, three-position rotary selector, four-control layout and an exceptionally compact 29.1" short scale. Supplied with a vintage fitted hard case.

Sakai Short Scale Bass

Made in Japan · Circa 1970s

Some vintage instruments are desirable because everybody recognises them.

Others are desirable because almost nobody does.

This 1970s Japanese Sakai short-scale bass definitely belongs in the second category.

Taking obvious inspiration from the classic EB family of basses, Sakai created its own wonderfully Japanese interpretation: a compact SG-style body, transparent cherry finish, enormous chrome neck pickup, secondary bridge pickup and a rather fantastic three-position rotary selector.

This particular example is the dual-pickup version, making it substantially more interesting than the single-pickup Sakai EB-style basses more commonly encountered.

And at approximately 29.1 inches / 740 mm scale, it really is short scale.

Compared with a standard 34-inch bass, the difference is immediately noticeable. The frets sit closer together, the reach is shorter and the entire instrument has the compact feel that makes vintage short-scale basses so enjoyable to play.

The controls are half the fun

Sitting beneath the black pickguard is a huge chrome mudbucker-style neck pickup, complemented by a smaller chrome bridge pickup.

The control arrangement consists of:

2 × Volume
2 × Tone
3-position rotary selector

Rather than the conventional toggle switch, Sakai fitted a large numbered rotary selector with a chicken-head-style pointer.

It is exactly the sort of eccentric detail that makes 1970s Japanese instruments so interesting today.

Proper Japanese vintage character

The headstock carries the gold SAKAI logo, while the six-bolt neck plate is stamped:

MADE IN JAPAN

The transparent cherry finish allows the body grain to remain clearly visible and has aged beautifully.

It isn't pristine — and we wouldn't want it to be.

There are small knocks and finish chips around the body edges, scratches and signs of use, together with age-related wear to the pickguard, screws and chrome hardware.

They are the marks of a bass that has existed for roughly half a century rather than artificial ageing applied last Tuesday.

Specifications

Workshop prepared

As with our other vintage instruments, the Sakai will be checked and set up through the Freo Guitars workshop prior to collection or dispatch.

We will inspect the neck relief, action, intonation and electronics so that it leaves us as an instrument intended to be played — not simply displayed.

A note about originality

Vintage Japanese instruments from this period rarely arrive with factory build sheets, receipts or complete histories.

For that reason, we prefer not to claim that every screw, pot, pickup or component has remained untouched since the 1970s unless we can substantiate it.

The bass presents as a convincing and substantially period-correct Sakai, and we have provided extensive photographs so collectors can assess the instrument for themselves.

The included fitted black hard case with gold plush interior likewise appears period-correct, but we cannot conclusively establish that it was originally supplied with this exact bass.

Why we like it

Because it's weird.

In the best possible way.

The enormous neck pickup, little bridge pickup, rotary selector, chrome bridge cover, black pickguard, vivid cherry body and tiny scale combine into something with enormous personality.

It isn't another Precision Bass.

It isn't another Jazz Bass.

And you're unlikely to walk into the next rehearsal room and discover somebody else holding one.

For the Japanese vintage collector, it's an interesting survivor.

For the player, it's an exceptionally compact short-scale with a genuinely unusual control layout.

And for somebody who already owns all the obvious basses, this might be exactly what they didn't know they needed.

FREO GUITARS 1 QUARRY ST