My new '71 Fireglo 4001
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:48 am
A month or so ago I was scouring the web for an early 70's 4001. My dream bass has always been a 69-72 4001 in near mint condition. I already own an early '73, which is a beautiful bass, but it has some road wear, and I was looking for one with walnut wings, plexiglas finger pull, and no skunk stripe. I came a cross a post in one of those Craigslist aggregators that linked to a 69 4001 for 300k. That didn't seem right, so I searched Craigslist itself until I found the actual posting. It was for a 71 and the price was 3k or best offer. The cellphone photos were grainy, but it appeared to have all the desired accoutrements, and looked to be in near mint condition in the original brown case. The plexi pull wasnt on the bass, but he had it in the case. It even had the bridge cover intact, and the original pickups with snot-colored bobbin on the bridge pickup. I searched the Rick Registry and didn't find the bass listed, but while I was researching, I couldnt help but notice this bass appeared to be cleaner than any other 71 bass shown in the registry.
I emailed the seller, and after several posts back and forth, and after doing some sleuth work online, I was of the opinion that the seller was legit, and not a scammer. He had owned the bass since 1981, and had always babied it, keeping it in a case under his bed, only pulling it out occasionally and wiping it down afterwards. His plan had always been to leave the bass to his son, but he needed cash and while he hated to part with the bass, wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate and take care of it. That would be me! He wasn't very Internet savvy, and couldn't even provide additional photos because his cellphone memory was full and he'd lost the upload cable. After several phone calls, I decided to risk sending him a $1000 cashiers check if he would hold the bass until I could fly from Michigan to Albany, NY to pick it up. While he had other interested buyers, my offer was highest, and he agreed to accept my offer of $4k, and pulled the Craigslist posting.
After scrambling to come up with the remaining cash, I flew to Albany this weekend and picked up the bass. It was cleaner than I thought. Only slight wear on the back in one spot, and a bit of checkerboard binding yellowing, otherwise the bass was as new, nearly mint. The G string had some buzz, but only when playing the open string, which led me to believe that someone had filed the nut down, but it didnt look like it. The neck was perfectly straight, and I noticed no cracks along the fretboard at the nut. The seller told me he had taken it to a guitar tech who said it had no neck issues. Later, after I left his house, upon closer inspection, I realized this tech was probably not a very good one. There's a very slight hairline crack appearing where the fretboard meets the nut at the G string, resulting in the fretboard being elevated almost to the nut groove, enough to cause buzzing for that string only. It's so slight as to be unnoticeable unless you look really closely, and a straight break, only for the length of one fret, likely easy to fix.
My plan is to pull the rods, straighten them if need be, glue the crack, and clamp it down for a couple of days. Any advice on type of glue would be much appreciated. I've read that crazy glue gel works, but I don't like the sound of that. Doesnt seem flexible enough and I hate working with that stuff. Some say Titebond, watered down, and another tech recommended epoxy. Any advice would be much appreciated. There is no tech in my town that I trust enough to have repair it.
I'm typing on an iPad so the only photos I have so far are these two I posted to Facebook yesterday. Will post some more in a few days. Thoughts?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... t=1&ref=nf
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... permPage=1
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... t=1&ref=nf
I emailed the seller, and after several posts back and forth, and after doing some sleuth work online, I was of the opinion that the seller was legit, and not a scammer. He had owned the bass since 1981, and had always babied it, keeping it in a case under his bed, only pulling it out occasionally and wiping it down afterwards. His plan had always been to leave the bass to his son, but he needed cash and while he hated to part with the bass, wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate and take care of it. That would be me! He wasn't very Internet savvy, and couldn't even provide additional photos because his cellphone memory was full and he'd lost the upload cable. After several phone calls, I decided to risk sending him a $1000 cashiers check if he would hold the bass until I could fly from Michigan to Albany, NY to pick it up. While he had other interested buyers, my offer was highest, and he agreed to accept my offer of $4k, and pulled the Craigslist posting.
After scrambling to come up with the remaining cash, I flew to Albany this weekend and picked up the bass. It was cleaner than I thought. Only slight wear on the back in one spot, and a bit of checkerboard binding yellowing, otherwise the bass was as new, nearly mint. The G string had some buzz, but only when playing the open string, which led me to believe that someone had filed the nut down, but it didnt look like it. The neck was perfectly straight, and I noticed no cracks along the fretboard at the nut. The seller told me he had taken it to a guitar tech who said it had no neck issues. Later, after I left his house, upon closer inspection, I realized this tech was probably not a very good one. There's a very slight hairline crack appearing where the fretboard meets the nut at the G string, resulting in the fretboard being elevated almost to the nut groove, enough to cause buzzing for that string only. It's so slight as to be unnoticeable unless you look really closely, and a straight break, only for the length of one fret, likely easy to fix.
My plan is to pull the rods, straighten them if need be, glue the crack, and clamp it down for a couple of days. Any advice on type of glue would be much appreciated. I've read that crazy glue gel works, but I don't like the sound of that. Doesnt seem flexible enough and I hate working with that stuff. Some say Titebond, watered down, and another tech recommended epoxy. Any advice would be much appreciated. There is no tech in my town that I trust enough to have repair it.
I'm typing on an iPad so the only photos I have so far are these two I posted to Facebook yesterday. Will post some more in a few days. Thoughts?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... t=1&ref=nf
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... permPage=1
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... t=1&ref=nf
... beautiful FG bass with flat Grovers, I wonder whether it could have HS? 
if they were still mounted that period. Probably not or only as a famous transition "mistake".
