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Thomann have it listed as 'in stock within 4-5 weeks' - https://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_fbss_610_short_scale_bass_bag.htm

I contacted Fender UK and looks like the new short scale FBSS-610 gig bag is available imminently. See reply below: Cecilie (Fender Musical Instruments) Sep 28, 10:26 BST Hi Ian, The details are: # 0991521206 FBSS-610 SHRT SCL BASS GIG BAG It is currently out of stock, but it will hopefully be back by next week! Kind Regards, Cecilie - Customer Sales & Support Advisor

Thanks for that. I eventually had mine rewound by Alex Exley at projectguitarparts.co.uk (good job and very reasonable rates) but it's always useful to know of people with specialist knowledge of these things. Cheers

If you can't find one maybe you could scale up the pic of Fender Pure Vintage '58 pickguard below and make your own? The pickup cover screw holes are on the pickup centreline so they should be pretty straightforward. Tug bar is a little tricker but the lower screw hole is pretty much in line with the adjacent left pickguard screw which at least gives you a reference point.

Just measured mine which is 41.4mm or 1.63 inches (including the finish). Fender measurements would have been imperial so I think the nominal body thickness spec is probably 1 5/8" (1.625). There will likely be slight variations on this due to the hand work required in those days but 1 5/8" would be my starting point.

Not in the south-east, but Clive Brown in Ripon is a renowned master of sympathetic pre-CBS restoration. The body of my '57 Precision below was done by Clive (neck left untouched). I don't think he has a website but drop me a PM me if you'd like his contact details.

Surrey Amps specialise in Ampeg repairs if that's any help - http://www.surreyamps.co.uk/amplifier-repairs/guitar-amp-repairs/ampeg-repairs

Not exactly the same but these look quite similar - https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Rocker-Switch-240v-Mains-Red-on-off-Double-Pole-4-Pin-DPST/1460306375?iid=152578178551

Bought an old Hofner 185 from Niels. Bass arrived from Berlin very well packed and padded. Everything exactly as described. Over 50 years old, loads of mojo, super lightweight and plays exceptionally well. Makes me smile every time I pick it up! Many thanks Niels!

Great news that they're bringing out a new short scale bag, but it looks like it might be a bit of a sloppy fit. Very wide at the body end and why the diagonal chop at the top left when that's where the tuners stick out? Maybe the short scale version will be a bit more slimline and a snugger fit. More like the Urban bag lol!

I had a good hunt around for old stock (including Europe) but couldn't find any. A couple of websites are rather optimistically listing them as 'on order' but I think they're just a bit behind the times.

Ta for reply. Interesting idea about getting some made, I'll keep an eye on this post for updates. In the meantime the search continues, even though it's defeated us all so far! Cheers, Ian

Hi Si, did you have any luck finding a gig bag for your Mustang? I need one for my old Hofner 185 which is the same length as a Mustang and can't find anything. The Fender Urban Short Scale Gig Bag was my fall back but I just went to order one only to discover that it's been discontinued! Grrr

I've had an ACG fretless 5 string for 8 years and the flat board felt quite natural from day one. I regularly chop and change between basses with different radius boards with no problem. Don't really notice it to be honest. My playing doesn't involve much in the way of double stops or chord work (way above my pay grade) but I can see that might be a bit trickier on a flat board. If I was speccing a custom ACG again the only change I'd make is to have a slightly less pronounced asymmetric profile on the neck which is a bit chunky on the bass side.

Yes, it's a player not a collectors item so I think you're right! I'd still like to know what the thinking was behind the original wiring though. Hofner have always been a bit 'individual' on the wiring front but this is a curious one.

Yes, big drop in volume, which is due to the wiring of the tone pot. Very wierd. Mine is exactly the same. I'm debating whether to leave the wiring in its original state and just not use the tone pots, or rewire it in a more conventional way.

H Grangur, re item #3, regular passive tone wiring leaves the third lug of the pot disconnected (see the schematics in posts 3 or 5 above). The resistance of the pot is only used to control how much signal is passed through the tone cap to earth, it doesn't impede the signal path. The Hofner circuit is different - when the tone is fully rolled off, the full resistance of the pot is directly in the signal path which significantly attenuates the output level (in addition to losing the high frequencies). The caps BTW aren't electrolytic, just regular ceramic disc tone caps. You can clearly hear the drop in output level when the tone is rolled off in this demo (from about 3.55 to 4.25)

Hi Grangur, thanks for that. Can you please clarify a few things: 1. Are the 100n and 47n caps before the two vol controls the coupling caps? It just seems a bit odd that they're different values and that the values are the same as regular tone caps. 2. The two 10n caps are positioned where you'd expect to find the tone caps (ie. bleeding high freq to ground), but why are they such tiny values? I'd expect the cap values to be the other way round, with the tone caps being 100n and 47n and the coupling caps being 10n. 3. The way the tone pot is wired, when the tone is fully rolled off, the full 250k resistance of the pot is in series with the signal path which significantly attenuates the output signal. Why would they do this?! Thanks, Ian

Yes, I'm a bit dubious about the lack of a bridge earth! The bass is in bits at the moment so I don't know if this is a problem but none of the old Hofner solid bodies seem to have a bridge earth so I'm hoping not...

Hi MoonBassAlpha. Interesting thought about the 10nF cap, but if it was there to reduce radio interference I'd expect it to be permanently in-circuit, not after a variable resistor. Not that I really know what I'm talking about lol! Interesting also about the resonant circuit. I believe this acts like a band-pass filter and the bass does actually sound a bit like this. Pic showing wiring of the later 1970s model 185 below which is a much more traditional arrangement. Maybe they eventually realised that the standard wiring was better! I'm tempted to just rewire it along these lines.

Hi Geek99, thanks for replying. The stack knob jazz circuit (below) is actually quite a bit different to the Hofner. Only two lugs of each tone pot are connected - the signal goes to the middle wiper lug, then through the cap to ground via the variable resistor. The third lug (the other end of the variable resistor) is left floating. With this configuration, even with the tone fully rolled off, the pot resistance doesn't impede the main signal path. With the Hofner circuit, when the tone is fully rolled off the full pot resistance is added to the signal path. The Hofner circuit also has 2 additional caps compared to the stack knob circuit and the main tone caps (in this case 100n and 47n) aren't where you'd expect them to be. I've checked the wiring of the bass itself (which is original) against the Hofner circuit diagram and it matches, so that's how they intended it to be. It just doesn't function as you'd expect a regular tone circuit to function. It's all a bit odd!

I'm doing some restoration work on a 1965 Hofner 185 and am a bit baffled by the tone circuit (see pic of schematic below). Each tone pot has a tiny 10n capacitor going to ground. This would bleed off some very high frequencies (much higher frequencies than a standard tone pot). There is also a 'regular' size capacitor (100n or 47n) fixed in the signal path to the vol control and the output jack. As far as I can see this would let through most of the high frequencies but attenuate some of the lower frequencies. In practice, when either tone is turned down the output signal is considerably attenuated. I guess because the 250k resistance of the tone pot has then been put in line with the signal path. Wierd. It's quite different to a standard passive tone circuit and doesn't work as I'd expect it to. Can someone explain to me what's going on here?

I tracked down some of the longer 6/32 x 1.75" intonation screws for my '72 Jazz some time ago and bought a pack of them. PM me your details and I'll drop one in the post to you.