"How bad is it?" Silvertone Hornet resurrection

[JIO]

Wow... that thing looks like it was scraped with a house paint scraper before being sanded with 40 grit sandpaper and then painted with latex house paint and a brush...

Pretty close

 

[JIO]

Double Amen. Love old Silvertones.

Me too! They are anti-boutique, but in being so completely what they are - the are like a working-mans, meat & potatoes boutique! At least that's how I feel about it!

 

[JIO]

Well, now we know where all that leftover flat white went . . .

Whoever did that "refinish" was a wimp. There he was, halfway to creating his own guitar completely out of house paint, but no, he had to use a wood core. SOOOO close to greatness . . . Of course, I must give him props for chipping himself his own wood plane out of flint.

He needed something for the paint to stick to... hence - a Silvertone bass. The rest is revisionist history!

 

[JIO]

They PAINTED the tort? Servant of Satan, their souls are eternally darned to heck.

Yes, paint tort - go to jail. (where you and the accordion player can play cards)

 

[dwizum]

This paint job is just so awful, almost makes you wonder if it was done by a drummer.

 

[JIO]

The 1443/Coral/Dano was thin to begin with, and the neck is a baseball bat. I readily use Jasco stripper on -bodies- that look like badly painted basket cases (not necks). Hose 'em down with water? Yeah. Poplar has some good points- it doesn't absorb water (or stain) very well. Hey, you have to raise the grain anyway...
I've played maybe half a dozen different 1443's. Some original, some refinished many, many times. I've yet to come across a neck that wasn't straight. Any face/back bow issues were addressed by using different strings.
I love mine. I've done two salvage jobs on different 1443s over the years. Chasing down parts is the bugger.
There is a full set of original 1443 knobs, a neck plate (some didn't even have them), and a few other bits on eBay right now, btw. Not mine.
The repop Dano bridges seem more prone to bad sagging in the center, over time. I've not seen any sagging on an original bridge that couldn't be mitigated by some judicious shaping of the rosewood saddle.

That's cool that you are a fan - I've definitely become one after owning my Coral Deluxe Bass. I was on to them design-wise for a long time, but after owning/playing one - I'm hooked. It sounds like no other bass I own. Sorta P, sorta Jazz bass, but only sorta - growlier, rawer, nasalier (I know, not a word) and it's a tank. Need to smash a plate-glass window to escape Godzilla? These basses will do the job. And not that they are heavy - they are actually not too bad weight-wise. (thin polar body) My Coral is 8lbs/13oz. Once I do all the sanding needed to get this poor crusty bass right - I'm sure some weight will be lost in sawdust!

 

[MCF]

Me too! They are anti-boutique, but in being so completely what they are - the are like a working-mans, meat & potatoes boutique! At least that's how I feel about it!

The Silvertones sold through Sears and their siblings available through other catalogs and retailers were the gateway for our generation and a lot of kids first instrument. 1/3 to 1/4 the price of a Fender. Adjusted for inflation, they still cost more than the entry level CNC stuff today. Some had lots of character. Love that your showing us this project.

 

[JIO]

Holy crap you're good at this!

It's funny, being attracted to this kind of project. My dad was a fixer, not a discarder/re-buyer. So I got used to that technology - people that cherry out vintage cars are like that. It's a challenge and it's also that your version will be better than when it was new. There's a certain attractiveness of "new" factory made things, like cars and guitars. But to see a fully restored vintage car - that's something special. A few years ago I was at a local car-show in South City "home of the car guys". Jeff Beck and Clapton have been spotted there as they are both "hot-rod" guys. So this guy re-created a '54 Corvette Nomad estate-wagon. Apparently only 2 were made (prototypes) and he only had a clutch of factory in-progress B&W photo's to refer to. It was off the charts. If I could own any car on earth - that one!

The willingness to take on challenging and creative projects is in my DNA. That willingness takes on many guises, but the inspiration is basically the same - an appreciation of beauty in all the forms it takes.

 

[JIO]

The Silvertones sold through Sears and their siblings available through other catalogs and retailers were the gateway for our generation and a lot of kids first instrument. 1/3 to 1/4 the price of a Fender. Adjusted for inflation, they still cost more than the entry level CNC stuff today. Some had lots of character. Love that your showing us this project.

1966 is the year I bought my 1st solid-body electric bass. No pics of it - imagine that by todays standard. Unimaginable. I can only guess what it was and what it looked like. It wasn't a Silvertone - it only costed $40 bought at Woolworths Dept Store.

This is what I think it was - a Stadium, also badged St George like the pic... but I would have remembered that being a George... The St George name came from Anthony George who imported guitars/basses from Fujigen Gakki in the 60's to his "Georges Music Store" in New York and CA. He visited their factory many times, helping to influence their designs for the American market.

 

[JIO]

This paint job is just so awful, almost makes you wonder if it was done by a drummer.

Actually I know a really good drummer who is a really good house painter!

 

[JIO]

Ewe. just, ewe. Good luck! Only thing that actually disturbs me about fixing it is the split wood - I wonder how much of the wood is just splitting soft garbage now?

Electronics can be replaced. etc.

The electronics look bad, but are working - 50 years old working. I'm liking the concept of a nicely refurbished exterior with a crusty, gnarly electronics harness under the hood pumpn' out some vintage tone. Gotta celebrate the life it's been through good and bad!

 

[JIO]

When did they start using the dual steel beam?

Had more than a few with nothing, in guitars.

I'm actually not certain, but the late 60's Dano related (Coral/Silvertone) long-scale bases (34") had them. I doubt that the short-scaled Dano's had them. And only for a few years. ('66-'68) Sellers post "64" etc, but these basses didn't exist then. Dano sold Danelectro to Coral in '66 and went out of biz in '68. Silvertones ended around then, lingering a bit into 1970.

 

[IamGroot]

Hot rod the electronics, or would that be missing the point?

 

[Mike Whitfield]

Actually I know a really good drummer who is a really good house painter!

But . . . he's still gonna be fired, right? Otherwise I'm questioning everything I've learned here.

 

[Beej]

But . . . he's still gonna be fired, right? Otherwise I'm questioning everything I've learned here.

Actually the truth is even stranger than fiction...

Typical axioms found in reality elsewhere on TB and the internet don't even exist in the Luthier's Corner. For example, here there is no such thing as a drummer. We have only luthiers, builders, makers and people-who-have-yet-to-build. All are welcome, camaraderie is the baseline, and things like "P/Tort/Flats" have altered meanings. The ground is solid, but there are a lot of sharp blades and spinning machinery in here...take our hand for guidance, and watch your step...

 

[JIO]

But . . . he's still gonna be fired, right? Otherwise I'm questioning everything I've learned here.

^^^^^^^^^^
what Beej said!

One axiom (as a bass player) I do ascribe to concerning drummers is : be at one with your drummer . (and on the one too!)

 

[JIO]

Hot rod the electronics, or would that be missing the point?

I want to hear it before I fool around with such. V/T/V/T with a 3 way pu switch - it could all be there as is. If not, it would be a consideration.

 

[JIO]

The neck is nearly ready to paint. I filed/polished the frets, scraped the fb, removed all paint and first pre-paint seal-coat applied. So far, so far.

 

[Gary_M]

The neck is nearly ready to paint. I filed/polished the frets, scraped the fb, removed all paint and first pre-paint seal-coat applied. So far, so far.

Hmmmm, yeah. I don't see how this can be true if there aren't any PICTURES!!!

 

[JIO]

Ok then... fingerboard and frets - the line above the 7th fret is a shallow cut - for what reason? who knows. It affects nothing.

The uncovered heal shows one of the steel bars flush with the end and the other inset a bit. (like on my Coral) Also uncovered was the tilt-neck stop. These necks were held on with only 2 screws (top two) but someone added a third below them. No problem there, I'll continue that mod for added connection. I'll also skip fabbing a plate and just use individual screw collars.

View of the nut - filled the extra string-restraint hole - only one standard round string 'tree' is sufficient.

So a breakthrough - I had 4 large size string-thru ferrules (like on a '51 P) and thought.., these might work. BINGO!- they are perfect. I just needed to open up the lower hole which was easily done using a step-bit. Shown; pre-opening of those ferrule holes and after drilling the hs openings a slight bit bigger, again, using a step-bit.

All done and working with string tree added -

Still need to see if I can find 4 matching bolts - the thread is unlike anything I have in my parts bin. Also cleaned up the tuners as good as possible. Prior owner did some shaping on the lower section of the headstock - originals are squared-off.

In progress mock-up - will be using these knobs as I don't want to pay for overpriced originals. (missing one) I like the look of these better anyway.