Difference in V63 Necks....

dead_in_okc · Post by **dead_in_okc** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 10:25 am

I should have my newly acquired 99' V63 4001 in a day or so...I've seen some threads here refer to a difference in the necks over the years...was this just by chance from one bass to another,or a steady graduation from the beginning of production to the end? I've also heard that there is a big difference in the C' series necks as compared to the V's as well...How so?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 10:47 am

a v63 is really a 4003s with walnut headwings and vintage pickups, vintage bridge, and a vintage pickguard ...

because it has the modern neck and truss rod system ...

bear · Post by **bear** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 11:59 am

Some that I have tried are indeed just like a 4003, others (85-88) are rather thin like an original '63, while still others have a very beefy neck, almost rounded and thick like a Hofner. My '97 is one of these beefier neck models which I was rather dismayed with when it first arrived, since then I have grown to love the different sound from all of the rest I tried. I have to work a little harder on that neck but after time it has proven itself in the studio and live and has become a keeper. It also has one of the strongest bottom ends from its capped Horseshoe but that is a story for a different thread.
Enjoy your new V63 Wayne. Please post a picture when you can.

dead_in_okc · Post by **dead_in_okc** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:19 pm

Thanks for the info guys... I'll definitely post a pic as soon as it arrives....

squirebass · Post by **squirebass** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 3:59 pm

My '97 also has a rather beefy neck like Steve speaks of, and I have noticed that the headstocks on the v63s got wider in the late '90s. My '93 has a thinner neck, more like my vintage basses, and it is my #1, mapleglo Squire Fragile tour bass!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 5:45 am

I had two: a 2000 and a 2002 first week, and both had beefy necks, unless i got the years mixed up, but I know that the second was a year after they supposedly discontunued them.
Steve did you put the cap in there for the horseshoe? I don't remember caps on either of mine.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 6:01 am

Yeah, as far as I know, a 4001V63 came without the cap.

bear · Post by **bear** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:36 pm

I picked up that '97 4001V63 used.
It has a cap that was installed by the McCartney-phile that previously owned it. I should have it measured some day as I have no idea what make or value it is. Yes it was "Dumble-ized" or placed inside some secret "gunk". All he said was that it cut at a lower frequency than the normal 47 cap. For $900 and the way it sounds, I am in no hurry to mess with it. Easy to remove though as has been stated previously in other threads.

Now the 4001C64S MG...... that really sounds like it has been capped...... hmmm I wonder?
Again I am in no hurry to start taking it apart just to take a gander inside, not that anal.... yet, besides, there are just too many weekends left under warranty.

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 4:13 pm

does the manufacturer of the cap make a difference?

Been reading too many Gerald Weber books lately.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 1:07 am

"Does the manufacturer of the cap make a difference?"

Hey maybe someone should conduct a cap contest of different makes?

Hi-end audiophiles will tell you there are sonic differences but they're probably too subtle to be detected by a pair of healthy ears. My rule of thumb is not to use the cheapest ones.

keb · Post by **keb** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 3:19 am

Yeah, I sometimes wondered about the audio quality of the cheap Radio Shack .0047 cap I had in my bass for awhile, whether it could be introducing some weird harmonic shifting or distortion or something. Probably nothing I could really hear though (if it was there at all), unless I was paying super close attention.

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 3:30 am

If it were a tone control cap it wouldn't make too much of a difference, but the .0047 cap is in line with the audio so a quality cap would be important in this case.

bear · Post by **bear** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 12:06 pm

Ummm.... yes. The quality of the cap does make a difference, so logically one could tie the manufacturer into the discussion as well. Plugged into an Avalon U5 and auditioned with Sennheiser HD 600 (with Cardas cable upgrade) headphones, it is my belief that I would be able to pick out a blatantly cheap cap versus a RIC factory, standard install, cap in the audio signal path.

Honest I really do hear a difference between my vintage Denon 103D and Musical Fidelity Research FR 1mkIII moving coil cartridges when I play my vinyl collection. Especially in the bottom end.

Although I don't have a clue as to the differences that I would be hearing in my own basses. V63 with a "custom" cap of unknown origin and value with Pyramid Flats vs. the 4001C64S MG with factory RW's (and not knowing if there is indeed a cap in that one) plus the unknown differences between the horseshoes, would render any conclusions I would make in a test fairly useless in the end.

Hmmm... yet another twist from the original thread title, do I detect a subtle trend in our posting habits? (o;}