Bacchus CLASSIC series?

Thought it,s time i introduced you to my little collection of MIJ and this seems as good a thread as any as i,m now seriously infected with the bacchus virus. Here,s my Dukes which both have 43.5mm Nuts and what was described by Hisashi as a 59 neck profile but feel more like a 58 to me. They might not have AAAAA tops but i dont care as everything else is AAAAAA, they are by far the best guitars i,ve ever played. Here is one of the backs there was a comment early in this thread that the mahogany backs they use now arent like the old ones without stripes and translucency and they are reserved for the more expensive momoses, i,m not so sure as i think this proves. I think this type of mahogany is heavier which i prefer as these weigh in at 4.4kg for the master and 4.5kg for the standard, i say standard but these are Hisashi specials with different pickup selector switches and surrounds and the standard has HMC alnico 111 pickups and not the usual BRH-1 set, the top was described as maple but looks like a lot of the Koa tops i,ve seen, the master has the usual STP-1 set and both sound fantastic, i will do a proper feature on them one day. This last one is of my 2 tokais an LS98F VF and a LS75 CS and the first proper guitar i ever bought a Fujigen made Fender Esprit Elite which i,ve had from new about 25 years and are seriously good guitars.

Nice Dukes I'm sure the tops are maple. They only look a bit like the Koa ones because of the oil finish.

Dave

Nice Dukes I'm sure the tops are maple. They only look a bit like the Koa ones because of the oil finish.

Dave

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Yes your,e probably right, it was only the standard i was talking about the master is definitely maple.

Nice Dukes

Yeah the backs are so amazing I just couldn't have them possibly paint it. So just painting the top. And I'm very familiar with woods as I'm a bit of an acoustic guitar connoisseur and have had many built for me. So Madagascar rosewood I believe is what they use for the finger board and it's very close to Brazilian rosewood. I've had guitars built out of both and Madagascar is very resonant so why would I want that eaten up by blocks of anything? That's why I'm putting dots in. Plus I like the simplicity of dots. I'm actually considering not putting anything in the neck. Hum,,,

JVsearch said:

marcusnieman said:

Width of the neck at the nut including binding is 1-5/8" (sorry guys, can find my metric feeler rule)...

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That's 41.5mm or standard Fender width, so yeah that's definitely narrower than a Gibson LP or one of Jacco's Super Reals.

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True but it's still a big fat neck.... if it were any wider at the nut, I'd have problems

marcusnieman said:

JVsearch said:

marcusnieman said:

Width of the neck at the nut including binding is 1-5/8" (sorry guys, can find my metric feeler rule)...

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That's 41.5mm or standard Fender width, so yeah that's definitely narrower than a Gibson LP or one of Jacco's Super Reals.

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True but it's still a big fat neck.... if it were any wider at the nut, I'd have problems

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Yeah, that's what I've been trying to get across to people. Many Bacchus necks are no wider than 42mm but the LP necks have deep D or U shaped profiles that are what I would call a fat neck.

This is one of the reasons I really like Bacchus.

Like you, I would not want any extra width anywhere on the fret board of my Duke otherwise that would make it a lot like the Gibson Historic I had, which was 44mm wide with just as deep a profile, and it was just a bit too big for my liking.

I had figured that most of the Super Reals were like this as well, but it seems there could be some with narrower neck shapes.

I was wondering about that myself. If this is any wider would it be too much? Hum, these are tough decisions.

Mitch wrote;

I was wondering about that myself. If this is any wider would it be too much? Hum, these are tough decisions.

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Obviously you,d like it right straight out of the box but if you generally like a 44mm nut but are concerned about the fat neck and wide nut together opting for a painted front and an oil finished back could be a good idea as it,s not a major job for a guitar tech to shave down a neck if there is no laquer to refinish and you can do it little at a time and get the perfect custom fit neck, better too fat than too thin as there is no fix for a thin neck. There are other advantages of an oil finished neck like less friction and sticking these are my first oil finished guitars and it,s one of the reasons i like them so much.

Well I was going to go for lacquer cause I'm in Nashville Tn and it's VERY humid here and this will be my stage guitar so traveling and temperature changes would be best to have the wood covered. They recommended paint and lacquer for me. And I wanted them anyway. I've had the oiled back of the neck many times on acoustics. I like it but I also like the finish. I wonder if 1/2 mm wider than the classic would be good. I think I'm going to go for that. But I'm scared. Funny how now after 2 weeks I'm completely used to the neck it doesn't seem big at all to me. So cool. But it's amazing how touchy it is. How easily it sounds out of tune until I lighten up on my touch then the chord is suddenly in tune. But it feels like I'm not even touching the strings. It's weird but I guess ultimately will make me a better player. I asked them to make the frets flatter on the Duke. But that scares me too. I just don't wanna mess it up.

more humid than Japan? Hard to believe... it takes 3 days for a pair of jeans to dry during rainy season which lasts most of June and a bit of July usually.
So why doesn`t somebody just start a Bacchus fashion show thread since I`m not the only one here who owns the brand anymore? I have yet to find a guitar thread where players are tired of posting pics of their guitars...knowhadImean?

These are the Aluminum tail piece and bridge I have been braggin about. I'm having Bacchus install them on the Duke for me. I'm hooked. See how the Tusq saddles are black. You don't even really notice them. But you're glad they are there. :>) In fact I don't have a guitar without them. And that's my Aiken intruder head made for me by Randall Aiken. Amazing 18 wats of tone. And the Matchless. At the time they made it for me it was a one of a kind. Not sure if they have made any more since. But the head on top I helped design. Lets say I gave hem the idea for it. It's a 15 watt version of their ch 1 of the DC 30 head. The one on the bottom is a Spitfire. Great Fender slightly cleaner type sounding head again 15 watts. They are running into a 412 Aiken and a 212 Aiken in the cabinet room. And the pedal board is a bit of a mess as I keep changing things out depending on the song.

Can anyone measure the thickness of the neck of their Bacchus at 1st & 11th fret so I can compare with my Greco's?

I don't have the tool to do that. I took the pick guard of after seeing these pics. Sexier without it I think.

No anything?

I need dots or inlays or something, I get lost.

I have a MIJ guitar with red dots on rosewood and I have trouble playing that because I can't see the dots very well.

Wide and Fat necks might be for some but are not for me.

I have played Classical guitars with wide necks but if the neck is fat as well then it becomes harder for me to play it.

The Bacchus looks great.

I wish I could try that Aiken out, looks interesting and Aiken really knows his stuff.

Nice pics boys......

Mitch, I like my Les Pauls without the pickguards as well... primarily because with them on, they get in the way and it changes my single string picking attack angle.

I'm getting used to the neck of the Classic too.... now all of my other guitars feel tiny. Pretty cool.

I did the side by side with the LS150..... played thru the same amp and exactly the same vol/tone settings on each guitar.

The LS150 has hotter pickups... really a great rock sound. Pushed up to 10, they really snarl. Tokai is a tad lighter at just under 9 lbs. Neck feels smaller than the Classic.

The Classic has a warmer, woodier tone. Great out of phase honk and a fabulous neck pickup. Up to 10, they bloom nicely.

Truth be told, I can't see parting with either of them. Gonna have to sell some other lumber.... seriously. If any of you are interested in anything specifically, let me know.... I just might have it.

Part of me wants the standard shaped blocks as they do them better than any guitar I have ever seen. I'm still thinking. Every single guitar player that has played through the Aiken wants it. Thank GOD I haven't ever caved and sold it. It's a little more rock than the Matchless's but still very sweet high end. Better high end than a Marshall. I do wish though I had gotten the 30 watt model. I could use a tighter low end on at least one of my amps. If anyone knows anyone in Nashville who would let me use their Vintage Marshall for the cd let me know. I have a couple co's loaning me some stuff but I'm not sure the new Marshalls are very good. I got Bad Cat 100 watt and a Vox 50 watt both coming. :>)

jacco wrote;

Can anyone measure the thickness of the neck of their Bacchus at 1st & 11th fret so I can compare with my Greco's?

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My Duke standard needed a string change and i,ve got some digital calipers, i,ve measured just below the first fret and over the first fret and then did the same with the eleventh, here,s a pic so you know what i mean. The measurements are 22.94mm at first fret fingerboard and 24.11mm over the first fret so frets are 1.17mm deep(2.5mm wide if interested), at the 11th fret fingerboard it,s 24.62mm and 25.80mm over the fret. I would be very interested if someone with a classic could do the same. Also for the sake of accuracy the nut width is 43.3mm not 43.5mm as previously stated, just divide by 25.4 if you want an imperial measurement. Thought i,d take a look at my tennon and pickup backs while i was at it, no markings on the HMC Alnico lll pickups, wish the japanese would mark there pickups for spares identification or to stop people selling any old crap as top japanese pickups. Even without paint the tennon looks perfect and notice the made in japan written in there.

marcusnieman said:

le juge said:

Are you sure that actually Ishibashi is still selling U-Box items to overseas customers ? Not sure !

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Yeah they do.... I bought my MIJ Fender SRV Charley's strat from them via U-Box

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had my Muddy Waters tele out for pics last week and looked at the copies of e-mails I traded with Yoshi Toda in 2001 about some Bacchus guitars I had at that time...I was curious about the limited editions they made. According to him, the Charly...AKA...the BSR-LS was a run of only 12...you have one, I have one so there are only 10 more out there somewhere.
He also told me about the Muddy tele...AKA...MOJO...limited to 15 guitars, and the SRV #1 strat...AKA...BSR-98 was limited to 20 pieces...that was the first run I.D.`d by the brass bridge block...the later versions did not have a brass block...I have the later catalog showing the reissued SRV model...the original one page flyer showing the SRV and a clone of Blackie, among others, was dated 1998.
In the 2001 mail he told me they would not be making them any more and that they were changing their catalog...I remember when that happened and thats the time they tried to concentrate on their own designs which I guess didn`t sell as well as they`d hoped because they went back to cloning the US big two a couple of years later...but they have kept the altered headstock shape they use today on some models...a pointier tip at the end instead of the rounded F/USA shape.
I kept all the mails because I thought they might come in handy one day down the road. May be of interest to you though possibly not to other members.

sneakyjapan said:

marcusnieman said:

le juge said:

Are you sure that actually Ishibashi is still selling U-Box items to overseas customers ? Not sure !

Click to expand...

Yeah they do.... I bought my MIJ Fender SRV Charley's strat from them via U-Box

Click to expand...

had my Muddy Waters tele out for pics last week and looked at the copies of e-mails I traded with Yoshi Toda in 2001 about some Bacchus guitars I had at that time...I was curious about the limited editions they made. According to him, the Charly...AKA...the BSR-LS was a run of only 12...you have one, I have one so there are only 10 more out there somewhere.
He also told me about the Muddy tele...AKA...MOJO...limited to 15 guitars, and the SRV #1 strat...AKA...BSR-98 was limited to 20 pieces...that was the first run I.D.`d by the brass bridge block...the later versions did not have a brass block...I have the later catalog showing the reissued SRV model...the original one page flyer showing the SRV and a clone of Blackie, among others, was dated 1998.
In the 2001 mail he told me they would not be making them any more and that they were changing their catalog...I remember when that happened and thats the time they tried to concentrate on their own designs which I guess didn`t sell as well as they`d hoped because they went back to cloning the US big two a couple of years later...but they have kept the altered headstock shape they use today on some models...a pointier tip at the end instead of the rounded F/USA shape.
I kept all the mails because I thought they might come in handy one day down the road. May be of interest to you though possibly not to other members.

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Fabulous... great info. Also got one of their Jeff Beck Tele Gib custom orders. Heavy but very cool guitar