"How bad is it?" Silvertone Hornet resurrection

[JIO]

On a unrelated search and found this Gibson RD standard wiring diagram. Might be helpful?
View attachment 3686723

Thanks - just waiting for the 3-way switch. I'm wiring it like a standard Gibson-style 2 pu/VTVT - as basic as you get. While I had the old harness off, I used shielding paint to fully coat the underside of the pg and then shot a thin coat of satin lacquer over to to keep my fingers clean while working on it. (that carbon paint gets everywhere!) It does what it needs to do regardless of the seal-coat on top. I'll screw in a grounding plate where the copper tape (bridge ground) connects to the inside wall of the cavity. The switch should be here tomorrow so it'll be back in action soon.

pretty much this but for 2 singles

 

[JIO]

So I finally got the fresh harness completed with all new componants - this pic shows it with .022uf caps... I switched to .047uf after hearing it and forgot to take a pic. The neck pu still has less output - I should have ordered the overwound version. (might still order one) It sounds good otherwise. I also pulled the ground wire off the B pu - part of an earlier attempt to run down a grounding issue. (don't need it)

 

[Verne Andru]

Nice clean wiring.

 

[JIO]

I could start a thread "What recent unexpected bass knocked your socks off" on Basses BG... but I'd rather talk about it here. The recent unexpected bass for me would be these late '60s Dano made basses. (Coral Deluxe Bass & Silvertone Hornet) I just love them in so many ways, but most especially the way they sound. I love a good P-bass, love a good J, love a T-bird, love a Darkstar'd bass. Love them all really - I don't rate things like that. Different flavors that all provoke/inspire different playing. Never owned or played a Dano until I got the Coral. And now the Hornet - its cousin really, definitely related. The neck is probably next - wide P nut, narrow heal, 22 frets. Kinda a straight rail compared to the tapered Fender-style. I own 20, 21, 22 and 24 fret basses - but my fave is 22. The profile is a flat D - really comfy/fast. The rest gets into style and design and curious engineering - the quirky-cool part of a Dano. Some real innovations, some odd but functional particulars.

Hard to say if it's only some players who would gravitate to these basses. I was in my SF used guitar shop today and was talking to one of the owners about the Dano/Silvertone Hornet. He said he knows a guy who runs/owns a recording studio and they have one there if anyone wants to record with it. Sez' it blows away Fender P-basses all day long. It is like that - if you have ears you'll hear it. Playing through a vintage B15N not only accentuates how awesome it sounds, it seems to have been made for that sort of bass. Like a modern 18v 6-string bass through a Warwick or similarly high-end rig - it's the coupling of the two that fully expresses the resulting gestalt. Wouldn't want to play Jazz Fusion with the Coral or Hornet - but if push came to shove, I'd throw it down through it's unique character and I bet it would sound awesome!

Here's a recent recording my band made - this song I'm playing the Coral thru my '76 B15N w/late '60s JBL D140R - delivers the tone I hear in my head. (my tone)

 

[fivestringdan]

I could start a thread "What recent unexpected bass knocked your socks off" on Basses BG... but I'd rather talk about it here. The recent unexpected bass for me would be these late '60s Dano made basses. (Coral Deluxe Bass & Silvertone Hornet) I just love them in so many ways, but most especially the way they sound. I love a good P-bass, love a good J, love a T-bird, love a Darkstar'd bass. Love them all really - I don't rate things like that. Different flavors that all provoke/inspire different playing. Never owned or played a Dano until I got the Coral. And now the Hornet - its cousin really, definitely related. The neck is probably next - wide P nut, narrow heal, 22 frets. Kinda a straight rail compared to the tapered Fender-style. I own 20, 21, 22 and 24 fret basses - but my fave is 22. The profile is a flat D - really comfy/fast. The rest gets into style and design and curious engineering - the quirky-cool part of a Dano. Some real innovations, some odd but functional particulars.

Hard to say if it's only some players who would gravitate to these basses. I was in my SF used guitar shop today and was talking to one of the owners about the Dano/Silvertone Hornet. He said he knows a guy who runs/owns a recording studio and they have one there if anyone wants to record with it. Sez' it blows away Fender P-basses all day long. It is like that - if you have ears you'll hear it. Playing through a vintage B15N not only accentuates how awesome it sounds, it seems to have been made for that sort of bass. Like a modern 18v 6-string bass through a Warwick or similarly high-end rig - it's the coupling of the two that fully expresses the resulting gestalt. Wouldn't want to play Jazz Fusion with the Coral or Hornet - but if push came to shove, I'd throw it down through it's unique character and I bet it would sound awesome!

Here's a recent recording my band made - this song I'm playing the Coral thru my '76 B15N w/late '60s JBL D140R - delivers the tone I hear in my head. (my tone)

Sounds great!

 

[JIO]

Sounds great!

Thanks! One of my favorite live performances of WL by Glen Campbell (below) shows the bass player playing a Dano Longhorn. I wanted to get his sound by using the Coral. We play it in a different key for Kirstins' range.

 

[fivestringdan]

Thanks! One of my favorite live performances of WL by Glen Campbell (below) shows the bass player playing a Dano Longhorn. I wanted to get his sound by using the Coral. We play it in a different key for Kirstins' range.

Flats and a Bat...neck that is..lol All you need. Totally captures the vibe. I love finding these 60's basses. They sound so cool.

 

[JIO]

Flats and a Bat...neck that is..lol All you need. Totally captures the vibe. I love finding these 60's basses. They sound so cool.

My Coral and Hornet both have nickel rounds (D'Addario EXL160BT's 50-120) but yah, love flats and the tone you get. I have a few basses with flats. I use a pick and palm muting which gives me that plunky tone with rounds. I also like a baseball-bat neck, but these two basses have a very flat D profile which I also like.

 

[JIO]

Added another string restraint - the A string was getting this annoying buzz that only was silenced pressing down the string above the nut. I filed string slots/channels under the tree so that all strings are at the same level above the nut to the tuners. Solved the problem - Jaco Sock-Monkee approves. I've already played it at a rehearsal so I think I'll play it at our upcoming Sunday afternoon gig. For me a bass isn't given a full seal of approval until it passes the live performance test.
I have a feeling it will pass with flying colours!

 

[JIO]

Yay! Just "won" this on eBay - a "project bass" right up my alley! It's coming from the UK. Always loved Jim Burns (of London) quirky designs - this "Vista Sonic" is from '64, same year as my T-bird II. Three pu's! woo-hoo!

Some dicy zero-fret fb issue - it almost looks like someone hacked-in an extra piece judging by the way it looks ...

Very nice tuners -

A standard feature of '60s Burns basses - "Wild Dog" - can't wait to hear it. I'll assume it's a fuzz effect. "Contra Bass" is cool also, more bass I'll assume.

This will present a problem if wanting to return to original. I'm thinking I could have one cloned by someone like Bruce Johnson... The roller saddles are very cool.

 

[Beej]

Cool score JIO I bet a machinist could make you up one of those saddles in 20 mins...

 

[JIO]

Cool score JIO I bet a machinist could make you up one of those saddles in 20 mins...

Yep - I'm thinking the same thing. I could do it myself I think, I'll have to determine what material that block is made of. Doubt it's brass - most likely steel. McMaster Carr might have the threaded wheel.

started a new thread for it - Project VistaSonic (rut row, JIO's at it again!)

 

[JIO]

Played the Hornet at a chill Sunday afternoon show at a club in Potrero Hill/SF. (not The Knarlymen - using their kit) Sounded/played great - these basses are winners. Makes me wish my 1st bass back in '66 was a Sears Silvertone Hornet! Who knew?

 

[JIO]

 

[jsamans]

What a fantastic thread. I have had a hornet since the early 2000 ‘s, someone gave it to me for free. It’s been up in my uninsulated attic for well over 10 years by now. I pulled it out recently and was shocked to find out after all of that time it was still in tune! It’s been stripped and maybe oiled? But it all seems to be there minus 2 knobs and the headstock logo. It’s got these weird plastic coated strings on it that need to go. I’m going to slowly start rehabbing it.

JIO you wouldn’t happen to have your original knobs left (and be willing to part with two of them for a price) would you?

Here are some pictures of mine, I think the wood grain actually looks really cool...

 

[JIO]

What a fantastic thread. I have had a hornet since the early 2000 ‘s, someone gave it to me for free. It’s been up in my uninsulated attic for well over 10 years by now. I pulled it out recently and was shocked to find out after all of that time it was still in tune! It’s been stripped and maybe oiled? But it all seems to be there minus 2 knobs and the headstock logo. It’s got these weird plastic coated strings on it that need to go. I’m going to slowly start rehabbing it.

JIO you wouldn’t happen to have your original knobs left (and be willing to part with two of them for a price) would you?

Here are some pictures of mine, I think the wood grain actually looks really cool...

Thanks! Very nice Hornet! Yours shows the poplar clearly - same wood my Coral Deluxe Bass (below) is made of. I dig how dark and predominant it looks on the front of your bass. If my Hornet is also made of that wood, it has very little of the darker greenish colouring. Unfortunately I gave the original 3 (1 was missing) to another tb member who has a Hornet.

It was striped and DIY gloss lear-coated when I got it.

 

[flatwound62p]

It’s got these weird plastic coated strings on it that need to go.

Tapewound strings. They last forever and are probably still playable but they're either your thing or they're not. Somebody with a bass that same scale length would probably love to score those off you if they date from 60s or 70s.

 

[flatwound62p]

Tapewound strings. They last forever and are probably still playable but they're either your thing or they're not. Somebody with a bass that same scale length would probably love to score those off you if they date from 60s or 70s.

So that's two things I've seen today that make me want to get a shorty Mustang

 

[JIO]

So that's two things I've seen today that make me want to get a shorty Mustang

View attachment 4100791

That's a Musicmaster bass - same body as the Mustang and that example has been modded with a Gibson "mud-bucker" and upgraded (BA?) bridge. Debbie was the bomb then!

 

[Verne Andru]

Debbie was the bomb then!

That she was! I got to work with her on Rock& Rule. I still say this is her singing at it's best: