The Last Bass Outpost

Well, I really wished it was the cap but it was the pickup. Bummer. Luckily I had a spare '65 staple-top pickup. I'll have the original one rewound.

So does that mean these reissue horseshoes have no function and just for aesthetics/ thumbrests?

Yes. You can remove the metal horseshoes and the pickup still functions.

The first year(s?) v63 had vintage-specs HS pickups with magnetized shoes.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111281798120?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The "guitar" pickup locations look so correct... unlike Gibson's LP basses. Short scale, I presume? Does anyone here know what they sound like and if they are neck-heavy?

It was a GTG with four other bass players, Gil brought 4 of his Ric basses - '67 4005, Blueburst fretless, '72 4001 MG, and Sept. '86 Shadow, all in the picture, and a '68 (I think) 12-string 366/12 with the "comb", left out of the pic. I brought the two hollow-bodies - the '64 Gretsch 6070 and the '65 Höfner Senator.

Played a friend's all-original '67 FG 4005 today. The bridge pickup sounded, as expected, very thin and weak. A .0047mF cap on a pickup so close to the bridge is lethal.

So I suggested shunting it. Five minutes later we plugged her in. Wow!!! HELLO bridge pickup! Where have you been hiding in the last 47 years?!

The bass sounds soooo much better now both in the bridge position (previously totally useless) and with both pickups on.

Bypassing the cap in a 4005 is much more dramatic than in a 4001/pre-'85 4003.

You beat me to it by seconds! I was about to post the same video and same time code!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCOycca1ezo&t=12m33s

I'll ask what he is going to use but I believe hide glue is a big contributing factor with early Hofner neck joint failures. I think a modern glue like Franklin's Tite Bond is a much better choice.

Hide glue is what enables the neck reset. You warm it up and it melts and the neck is off the bass, clean and simple. Then the planes are smoothed and the angle determined, and then it's re-glued.

Using Tite Bond is like using super-glue instead of the 4 bolts in a Fender: it will hold, but you will never detach the neck again without major surgery.

Hofner glued-in necks were designed to be held in place with hide glue. And yes, they may need a neck reset every decade or two, just like Fenders need shimming once in a while. I've seen the damage done when other glues are used in Hofner neck joints. It's a lot of work when it's time for the next neck reset. It's still doable, but costs more to repair.

Hide glue isn't weaker than other glues. It just melts easily when warm, to allow easy and clean neck removal. Hide glue is what holds upright bass necks in place, and the string pull there is more than double the pull on a bass guitar.

It's just wonderful. I don't know if it's $600+shipping wonderful, but in the pics it looks lovely.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EKO-1100-BASS-GUITAR-60s-SILVER-SPARKLE/231156287500