„Premium German Handcraft“ is the best term to describe the quality of Luthier Magnus Krempel who builds the Hot Wire Funderbirds. Details like pickups, finish, neck dimensions, lefthand- and fivestring configurations can be made according to the customers personal needs – after all, the original also was a real custom order!
With its big one-piece body (!) made of solid mahogany, our tester weighs in at 4.4 kilos. The one-piece neck with Precision dimensions is bolted on the body by four screws and has a birdseye maple fingerboard sporting 21 high jumbo frets. While the body features a nice hi-gloss finish which gradually gets darker towards the edges, the neck has a player-friendly matte finish. The workmanship is accurate and clean all-over, one fine detail is the wooden cover for the electronics cavitiy on the back. I think the instrument could benefit from a polishing of the frets.
Features
The tester is equipped with two horizontal stacked humbuckers by Bassculture, seated in maple housings of mini humbucker format. The speciality of this construction, quite different from the classic humbucker coil layout, is that both coils are arranged standing to the strings with the magnet in the middle, resulting in a very narrow magnetic field which can track harmonics similar to a single coil. Each pickup has its own volume control, the third knob is a passive treble control.
The solid Hipshot bridge ensures a fat tone, on the headstock we find Schaller BM tuners for the vintage vibe. Because of the special strap connection loacted at the neck plate, Schaller strap locks make sure the bass can´t jump off the strap.
Handling
Because of the big body and the stately weight you might think this bass would be rather uncomfortable to play. But that is not the case, because of the reversed body style you just can´t get avoid putting your right forearm on the body edge. This works against any top-heavyness and insures a stable posture in a surprisingly convenient playing position. The Hot Wire also is easy to control sitting down, with the Precision-style neck being just right for solid bass work and forceful digging in. The player who rather cultivates a more tender style can order the Funderbird with Jazz bass neck dimensions. The only inconvenience I have detected is the fact that you can´t lean this bass against your amp or put it in a regular guitar stand – the price for excentric bass design!
Performance
There´s no question about it, the big one-piece mahogany body guarantees a solid tone with a long and stable sustain. Interesting is the combination with the all-maple neck, adding a clear articulation. Different from an all-mahogany bass, the tone can´t drift off into muddy-bassy regions, rather keeping a clear and present contour along with the low-end propulsive force. Probably this has been a reason for John Entwistle to switch from the Gibson mahogany neck to the Precision maple neck, as he loved an offensive piano-like tone. And this is just what the Funderbird delivers, with the special horizontal humbuckers and their single-coil-type of magnetic field having a part in this.
Remarkingly different are the variations in blending the two pickups, so the passive four string offers many diverse sound nuances even without active electronics. Both pickups together create a clear and tidy funk tone along with a fat and dark punchbass timbre. Rolling off one of the pickups just a bit, you open the singing presence band with strong harmonic content. Depending on which pickup dominates the mix, you get either gnarly or throaty bassic nuances, cutting through with their strong nature. Using the mildly working tone control, you can dampen agressive metal frequencies slightly without adding muddyness to the tone. With its solid foundation and big sustain the Funderbird can work in any music style, with the offensive harmonic content and the tight contouring accounting for the distinctiveness in this original bass construction.
Resume
John Entwistle would definitely have liked the relaunch of his Fenderbird idea, as Hot Wire has convincingly met the special tonal qualities you can expect from a Fender/Gibson crossbreed: A solid and bassic foundation, but with an offensive presence and clear contours. More clear and wiry as the Thunderbird, fatter and with more sustain as the Fender bass. With this eye-catching bass a clear tonal articulation will not be left behind even at extreme volumes, an enormous tone with a clean and piano-like definition must not be an antagonism!