TheGreek Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Never seen one of these before but the neck must be worth the £300 BIN price surely.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-aluminium-neck-electric-bass-guitar-electrical-company-active-pickups-/261449392777?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cdf992289 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnyboy Rotten Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I'm awaiting the inevitable 'Must be good for metal' post. Doh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmanady Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 There is a review of this in the April 2000 Bassist mag,its a XK-4 and got a 90% rating and cost £599 new. The neck is maple with an aluminium centre section running the length of the neck with a chromed aluminium headstock The USA version XL-4 cost a big £1349 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Can't comment on this one but, my aluminium neck Kramer DMZ4001 has the best clarity of note on any bass I have ever owned (have done Fender, Gibbo, Ric, John Birch). It also has no dead spots. A bonus is the weight, cheaper than going to the gym and managing some neck dive strengthens the arms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 £300 scrap value? Possibly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Interesting, but I wouldn't touch this without seeing it first. About 8 years so back, a bunch of these necks were doing the rounds on Ebay, I picked one up for a project, when I got it, it was obvious the headstock was bent forward from the wooden back component of the neck & the fretboard was delaminating. Fair enough, returned it for a refund no problem, but I did a bit of reading about these and it appears this was a common issue - the headstocks are welded on (presumably not particularly well) and the necks are very susceptible to temperature changes - I found details of extreme examples, eg where a bass had been in the luggage hold of an aircraft, temperature changes & string tension causing the head to detach completely. Pretty sure the neck I'd had was failing in the same way - it had signs of use and I think it was being pulled apart by string tension. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubis Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 There's been a purple/blue one on ebay on and off for quite a while [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-XL-4-Bass-Guitar-US-made-with-Vaccaro-aluminium-neck-/191162736496?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c822fdf70"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-XL-4-Bass-Guitar-US-made-with-Vaccaro-aluminium-neck-/191162736496?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c822fdf70[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 [quote name='rubis' timestamp='1399734489' post='2447163'] There's been a purple/blue one on ebay on and off for quite a while [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-XL-4-Bass-Guitar-US-made-with-Vaccaro-aluminium-neck-/191162736496?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c822fdf70"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2c822fdf70[/url] [/quote] I quite like the look of that one...glad I've got no money... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 [quote name='rubis' timestamp='1399734489' post='2447163'] There's been a purple/blue one on ebay on and off for quite a while [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-XL-4-Bass-Guitar-US-made-with-Vaccaro-aluminium-neck-/191162736496?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c822fdf70"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2c822fdf70[/url] [/quote] That's our resident Weird Bass Guru, BigRedX selling that one. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1399653039' post='2446384'] Never seen one of these before but the neck must be worth the £300 BIN price surely.. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-aluminium-neck-electric-bass-guitar-electrical-company-active-pickups-/261449392777?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cdf992289"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3cdf992289[/url] [/quote] And this one is Mr_Foxens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 The purple one which I'm selling is the made in the US XL-4 version. According to those in the know they are less likely to suffer from headstock joint failures. If the colour is putting anyone off I have black body that I could be persuaded to throw in. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) Was looking at the purple one when your weird metalwork bass was flagged on here a while ago, looks ace! Edited May 13, 2014 by lemmywinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) Thanks! It's a nice bass. If I hadn't made a decision to move on all my 4-string basses I'd be keeping it. Edited May 13, 2014 by BigRedX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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