It would indeed be an “interesting” use of $4000 
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Considering there is literally a city block of basses - correct!
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Here’s my Made in Japan Fender Jazz Bass. I modified it with a Badass 2 Bridge, Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickups, and an orange pearloid pickguard. It’s a 2019 and was part of Fender Japan’s Color FSR run. Everyone says sunburst, but officially it’s called Sienna Burst. Also included what it looked like when I bought it for $989 as an unloved 2nd hand bass in a guitar shop. It played nice anyway. But after it came out of the shop with the pickups installed it’s creamy smooth and thundery.
The day I bought it.
Here it is after I got it out of the shop and shined it up.
As a used instrument, you can always expect some wear. There’s a ding visible here. And on the edge there’s a ding that goes all the way to the wood. Looks like it was dropped. No matter. I like an instrument that’s been through the rigors of gigging or touring. It plays perfect now.
Behold! The high mass Badass Bridge 2!
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My Seymour Duncan Bass. Even though the pickups aren’t branded, they are the Quarter Pound pickups. The headstock is branded Seymour Duncan. And the model is called Traditional. But, let’s face it, it’s a custom Jazz Bass. It’s made out of Northern Ash. And it’s pretty heavy. Definitely not a gigging bass! It’s studio only. And I don’t play it standing up anymore. The only mods I made are replacing the tuners with a set of Gotoh tuners. And I took the chrome pickup cover off as I find it cumbersome. This was the top of the line model as it has block inlays and Japanese Lacquer finish. As you’d expect, it’s creamy smooth and thundery. The pic of the headstock was taken the day I got it. So the chrome Gotoh tuners aren’t pictured here.
The day it arrived from A Flash Flood of Gear. Alex Budnik curates a lot of Japanese Made guitars and basses. He goes there on buying missions and ships his hauls over on a pallet. So you get good deals on Japan made guitars. This one was sitting around at $1,200. He discounted it because it didn’t sell for $999. I offered $888 and he took it. (Clearly, I’m also into bodyboarding aka Boogie Boarding. Boogie Boards are a brand name. So saying Boogie Board is like saying I’m Fendering when you mean playing bass.)
It was built in the ESP factory in Japan between 1999 - 2001. Not sure exactly when. But, this was the top of the line model. The way to know if it was the top models have the block inlays, stand out Northern Ash figured body, and a Japanese Lacquer finish.
The gorgeous figured Northern Ash body under the Japanese Lacquer sunburst. I thought there was a scratch on the back. But it turned out to be an accumulaiton of polish that was easy to remove.
The headstock of the Seymour Duncan Traditional with the original aluminum tuners.
You can really see the figured Northern Ash wood in this shot. Beautiful bass!
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Well, if @joergkutter would like to burn some cash, he wouldn’t need to travel to Japan and could just make an appointment at Bass Buddha’s 
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Yes, it’s a great store and Morten is a great guy. Luckily, even for a country as small as Denmark, he is sufficiently far away that I don’t feel tempted to go there every other Saturday
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oooooh I will definitely keep my eye out for one! I love the look of them and I have no doubt I’d love the sound 
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heading to Japan in June - and am gonna be on the look out for a vintage Aria or anything from Matsumoku.
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Matsumoku will not be hard - though I wouldn’t fixate on just that factory. The whole Matsumoto area is full of guitar makers making outstanding stuff, including Fujigen’s current production. The vintage era stuff isn’t necessarily better, just a well earned reputation. Dyna, Sugi, several others down that way.
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