Andrew, if you are still looking,
Link Removed.
I bought a used one earlier this month (thanks, Inge!), and it's a nice instrument. I have added a lot of relief to the neck by loosening the truss rod, and that allows the strings to sing much more like an upright. I like it, and it's a lot of fun.
However, it has several minor problems. One is that the fingerboard needs to be radiused a bit. On most notes, the E string wants to buzz on a high spot on the board. This can be corrected by raising that side of the bridge quite a bit, but that's not the answer- a radius sanding is.
Another problem is that the volume pots seem to be wired wrong. When both are full up, there is a noticeable amount of cancellation and loss of signal. Turning one or the other pot slightly back causes a big jump in signal.
Finally, the bridge is crappy. The two posts that the thumbscrews turn stick out through the top of the bridge block. See below for the Douglas bridge and a Hofner bridge. The Hofner bridges are not made like that. Second, the bridge uses small lengths of fretwire for the saddles. The factory cut these too long, which means you can't change the positions of the saddle bits. Also, the posts sticking through the top of bridge prevents moving the E and G saddles to their middle positions.
I've ordered a Hofner ebony bridge to completely replace the stock bridge. However, I imagine any good guitar tech could fix the bridge issues.
I'm also going to take the bass in to my good friend Nathan (HofnerGuy) at Pick'n'Grin here in Kville and have him do the fingerboard and electronics work.
Should be a really fine little bass when all that is done.
MV
