❌SOLD❌ Jerry Jones Neptune Shorthorn Bass 4 Copper, 2006

The Jerry Jones Neptune Shorthorn Bass 4 draws from a classic American design by Danelectro, and was built in Nashville from 1981 to 2011. At that point, Jones retired and liquidated his shop.

Danelectro was operated from 1946 to 1969 by Nathan Daniel and from 1966 to its close was owned by the MCA record company. Specializing in mass produced, low cost but decent quality instruments and amplifiers, Danelectos were largely available through catalog stores like Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward but often under other names including the Sears brand Silvertone. Ultimately, Jerry Jones met with Nathan Daniel to discuss the details of Danelectro guitar construction.

Here we’re looking at a Jerry Jones Neptune Shorthorn Bass 4 dating to 2006 and built in the USA at the Jerry Jones shop in Nashville. It features the characteristic thinline body with pressboard (originally a Masonite product ) with thicker sides of Poplar or similar woods covered with a textured plastic, a bolt-on Maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard, and a pair of ‘Lipstick Tube’ pickups. These pickups are called this because, in an effort to limit costs, Nathan Daniel’s pickups were packed into lipstick tubes he was able to purchase inexpensively.     Original Danelectro bridges were a piece of steel with a Rosewood insert as the saddle, but Jerry Jones installed an improved multi-saddle bridge offering much better tuning.   The scale length is listed as 30 inches or 758mm, like a Hofner violin or Beatle Bass, but I measure it as 29.75 inches (757.6mm).      At the time this model was built, Jones put the serial number inside the instrument’s control panel, and the first two digits identify the year. 

This Jerry Jones Neptune Shorthorn Bass 4 is in overall good shape, with some wear to the copper finish.  This wear is most evident on the bass side of the neck pickup, where the player’s thumb rested.  Fretwear is light, and as a short scale bass it’s easy and fun to play. 

Sold with its original hard shell case.