1990 Kawai FB-IIB

Maybe you've heard of the '60s and '70s "Lawsuit Era" when most Japanese guitars were blatant copies of American designs? Well, apparently that lasted through the '80s, especially when MIJ brands found inventive ways to copy designs by smaller names who didn't have the resources (and legal teams) to fight distributors.  As an example, here's this FB-IIB electric bass made by Kawai in 1990. It is essentially a  wannabe Alembic Spoiler. It has a similar neck-through design with a five-ply neck. The Maple body has Zebrawood wings on the top and back, and the overall vibe/style of the body is right out of the Alembic playbook. Despite the ambitious specs, this bass shows high-level workmanship, and it's a well put together instrument that plays nicely. This FB-IIB features two low-impedance pickups and an active preamp system, once again following the forward-thinking Alembic designs. Each pickup has independent volume and tone controls, and a three-way switch selects the pickups. Then, ea