Product: Lyle Eb2 style semi
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
04/05/2008
at
07:55am
by
b-overit
Features
:
9
This bass is chocolate brown semi accoustic in the matsumoku Eb2 body style with a fenderish 4x1 headstock. The word Lyle is written on it in gold. It's a mid scale bass with a three way throw toggle on the bottom bout, 2x passive pickups 2xtone vol pots with a basic trapeze bridge and string damper. The harmonics are adjustable and the chrome bridge cover pretty thin. It has the typical Matsumoku rosewood neck with inlays.22 frets. I would date this around mid sixties. jack is side mounted. The neck and headstock are staine the same colour as the body....black plastic pickguard and toggle base....nice looking old axe
Sound
:
8
Strung with nylon wrapped strings it sounds as it looks dark and mellow, but turn up full treble at your peril. pickups on bass setting are silent but noise attenuates as treble is added.I love that almost accoustic sound though.A real effects instrument.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
came to me with high action. It was a cinch to set up....shimmed the neck with 4 business card thickness, tweaked the truss, and the action is the best I have experienced from a jap semi guitar. Something different happening here from the Aria style laminate neck. Thin c shape and comfortable.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
Feature guitar for live.....don't try and build a career with it.Well constructed and the finish has taken it for 40 or so years and looks good. If I had to gig it all night it would take it in stride.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Somewhere online I read that Gibson techs made these in Japan for Norlin then in the 70's sold the rights to Matsumoku...its a fair bit Aria though as far as I can see. Theres just something different going on here with the neck but not the fretboard as far as I can see.
Overall Rating
:
10
Played through the seventies.. session records (remember those) more through the eighties. Play with myself nowadays but got some nice stuff....my old customised Rick (you have to do that you know) a smith, coupla jazzes, headless, but for some strange reason I'm enjoying the character of a few old semis lately. I would have thrown this away in my heady days...like that 62 eb3....but I'm digging more narly axes lately.
