Here's a convincing knock-off of Paul McCartney's famous Hofner Viola Bass. Lots of vintage vibe to be had with this one ~ just needs a little TLC...
You'll notice the alignment of the strings and bridge is off centre. For some peculiar reason when this bass was made, the tailpiece was attached 1/4" off, causing very little space on the bass side and a whole lot of space on the treble side of the fretboard.
Fortunately, the set neck is in very good shape and the instrument itself is quite well made. The usual shortfall of discount brand instruments ~ they produce relatively well manufactured gear until they attach the components. A few adjustments and you can have a very good instrument...
Yes, those are frets set in slots to make the bridge saddles! It's actually very functional and intonated perfectly once finally set-up.
Removing the tailpiece and attaching a string to the headstock, pulling it tight while measuring the same distance between it and the edge of the fretboard at the 12th fret revealed how far off it all was. These holes were filled and new holes were drilled in the proper place.
Next came the wiring. For some reason the neck pickup wasn't working and although all solder connections looked fine, I believe it was the odd circuit itself that was the culprit. One of the switches was also misbehaving. Like a true Hofner, this configuration used separate volume knobs for both pickups, switches for bass and treble instead of a tone knob, and another 2-way switch to select the pickups ~ "Rhythm" for the neck and "Solo" for the bridge, just in case Les Claypool of Bela Fleck chooses to shred on it!
Once the control plate was removed it was easier to see why the treble switch was misbehaving ~ it was rubbing against the side, preventing it from shifting into place! A little work with a small hand file to square the edges a little better made a big difference...
The usual Hofner wiring is a little strange, using a series of capacitors and resistors which is reputed to be rather noisy. This ElDegas had it's own version, and it was a dysfunctional mess...
I used a combination of three capacitors to achieve the subtle variation in tone when in each pickup position, which would be much more functional if there was an option to have both pickups on at once. Basically, the higher the capacitor value, the more high end is cut. For those that understand it, this circuit allows for .22uf, .44uf, 1uf, or 1.22uf, the latter being the "Bassiest" sound.
It's not pretty, having used the old volume pots and switches, but it's a whole lot better than whatever that was before!
These guitars were made only for one year, with every part being produced in the U.S. as usual, then shipped to Mexico for assembly. Note the "California Series" on the headstock. This particular one is a fantastic player's Strat, so it needed a fret dress and some minor soldering repair.
The lacquer on the neck and fretboard is showing typical signs of wear, with blistering and chipping in the high traffic areas. This certainly adds to the character of this guitar, proving many hours of play have been logged!
