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Originally Posted by neatomic
way better off with a hofner ignition...until gibson reissues (not gonna happen) one of the greatest electric basses of all time..the original!! eb-1..which eastwood is makin a feeble attempt to knock off...from little richard to felix p to cream jack bruce reunion..the gibby violin bass!!..a work of art
cheers
The OP said, and I quote "I don't want to spend a fortune on a collectible vintage signed-by-Paul model. It's really for just around the house and my very modest home "studio." Therefore my suggestions. If it's for fun, cheap is fine. For recording purposes or collectible reasons, well then a Hofner, even if it's not a reissue model, you know, "the real thing", well, I could understand. You talked about "feeble atempt" about Eastwood's work ¿is that bad?
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08-14-2018 06:19 AM
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That’s good to know - all of them I researched when getting one had been listed as either semi hollow or specifically with a block. Originally Posted by neatomic
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Always loved the 500 double cutaway club bass.
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Since introducing the double-cutaway Club bass a couple of years ago, Hofner has made only a few of them, but I agree that the double cutaway is a really nice variant on the Club bass design. Hard to find, because not many are being made, but it's still on the Hofner website. Originally Posted by Scotto
Always loved the 500 double cutaway club bass.
This past year, Hofner did a rather fun "if it had been made in the '50s" LTD Edition (6 or so) of the violin bass w/ '50s styling and a single neck pickup:
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that dc club is killer!!!
also like the cavern bass ^..violin but with pups closer to the neck..ala early macca
i also like the full body hofner arches.. the president...ala stu sutcliffe & the senator!!
cheers
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I have an old Musicmaster, a Fender short scale bass. But, all my bassist friends hate it.
OTOH, one of them, a symphony bassist who also plays 5 string electric on jazz gigs, says he tried the U-bass and loved it. That's the 21 inch scale Ukelele bass.
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This shows the construction of the Beatle bass, starting from pieces of raw wood.
I thought it was really interesting.
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^ oh yeah..thats a great vid..i think hammertone knows all the backstory, since it was originally shot!!
cheers
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Ah, here it is. Chris Wood, of the estimable Medeski, Martin & Wood, with Sco. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
And he does sound good! Thanks, Rob!
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That's the one. Which model is he playing, I wonder?
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watched the whole thing. was transfixed. are there any more videos of hofners being made at the german plant? couldn't believe how much stuff was just eyeballed and done free hand. and i kept forgetting they were making a bass, so i kept saying "way to ream the holes for the tuners" and "nice nut, dork" because everything looked off at first. would love to see how a club guitar or some of their larger archtops come together. maybe a committee or something. something with neater inlays, and maybe a cool headstock. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
really kinda want a couple now. they take layaway, right?
so hard to buy a hofner because so few make it out this way and so few are stocked, so you can't ever find one in a store. its reverb, ebay or fly to germany, pretty much.
again, awesome video. haven't got that feeling since i watched the yairi shop tour, and i own one of those now. and it may be the best guitar i have. certainly the most luxurious one.
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Yeah, I'd like to know too! Whatever it is, he appears to run it through a nice bass rig. He gets a great tone, somewhere between a Fender an an upright, at least to my foolish ears. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
And what a player!
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I guess it is an old one, 1967 or later. From talkbass.com:
Hofner Chris Wood Amazing Sound | TalkBass.com
His [Chris Wood's] bass is also a 67 or later that uses the blade pickups versus an older one that has the staple pickups. The blade version pickups do sound a little fuller. They were actually designed to do away with some of the shortfalls inherent to the staple pickups.
Although I did note that a couple guys in the thread said they could cop that sound with the mid-range Contemporary model.Last edited by Flat; 08-16-2018 at 10:51 AM.
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Originally Posted by feet
watched the whole thing. was transfixed. are there any more videos of hofners being made at the german plant? couldn't believe how much stuff was just eyeballed and done free hand. and i kept forgetting they were making a bass, so i kept saying "way to ream the holes for the tuners" and "nice nut, dork" because everything looked off at first. would love to see how a club guitar or some of their larger archtops come together. maybe a committee or something. something with neater inlays, and maybe a cool headstock.
really kinda want a couple now. they take layaway, right? so hard to buy a hofner because so few make it out this way and so few are stocked, so you can't ever find one in a store. its reverb, ebay or fly to germany, pretty much.
again, awesome video. haven't got that feeling since i watched the yairi shop tour, and i own one of those now. and it may be the best guitar i have. certainly the most luxurious one.
Have you tried to buy from Thomann in Germany? They have service in english you know.
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I'd be happy to sell you a couple of new German-made Hofner basses on layaway anytime. Send me a PM and we can sort it out. Originally Posted by feet
watched the whole thing. was transfixed. are there any more videos of hofners being made at the german plant? ...[ ]...really kinda want a couple now. they take layaway, right? so hard to buy a hofner because so few make it out this way and so few are stocked, so you can't ever find one in a store. its reverb, ebay or fly to germany, pretty much. ...[ ]...
As far as videos go, the likelihood of any new videos of Hofners being made at the German plant is slim to none.
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that was a mistake. Originally Posted by savofenno
they have some cool ones, no doubt. but sooner or later, they'll find out i'm broke. part of the hofner "problem" (i guess) is that damn near everything seems to be a one off of sorts. there doesn't seem to be many in production german ones. they just make whatever and that's it. hard to know what to expect, or know what is possible because they keep trotting out randos. which is cool, don't get me wrong. i like that they are having fun and riffing on their history.
like recently, they made some neat club guitars in a few finishes and pick up configs and now it seems they are all gone. or you'll see the violin basses with one pickup, or two, or the second one in the middle position, or two bar pickups, etc...
i'm smart enough to know that i have no need and am not in the market or position to do so, but dumb enough to ask, anyway. you can't spec something out, right? it's just a pile of hofners behind your couch waiting for fittings and such, right? if i can have it paid off by 2045, then why not? Originally Posted by Hammertone
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Hofner has been making violin basses continuously since 1956. They continue to list them in their catalogue: Sunburst, two pickups, with some minor variations, including: Originally Posted by feet
that was a mistake. they have some cool ones, no doubt. but sooner or later, they'll find out i'm broke. part of the hofner "problem" (i guess) is that damn near everything seems to be a one off of sorts. there doesn't seem to be many in production german ones. they just make whatever and that's it. hard to know what to expect, or know what is possible because they keep trotting out randos. which is cool, don't get me wrong. i like that they are having fun and riffing on their history.
like recently, they made some neat club guitars in a few finishes and pick up configs and now it seems they are all gone. or you'll see the violin basses with one pickup, or two, or the second one in the middle position, or two bar pickups, etc...
i'm smart enough to know that i have no need and am not in the market or position to do so, but dumb enough to ask, anyway. you can't spec something out, right? it's just a pile of hofners behind your couch waiting for fittings and such, right? if i can have it paid off by 2045, then why not?
- variations on the style and colour of the sunburst;
- variations on the headstock overlay;
- pups close together (not that many made this way) or further apart (most made this way);
- necks with or without binding;
- strip tuners, individual tuners, "rugby" tuners;
These are widely available at all sorts or retail stores in Europe, North America, Japan and so forth.
In addition to this, Germany has made various "Limited Edition" instruments, either at the request of distributors or to celebrate something or other. They used to make the fancier 5000/1 bass. They have offered some fun colours and special woods under the now-discontinued "Gold Label" banner. That stuff is now being offered under a re-named "premium" tier.
In addition to the above, there is a "US Custom Shop" which offers any catalogued instrument in a custom finish. Some retailers have exclusive colours, such as Sweetwater (who are major Hofner retailers). Customers are free to request any finishes they want, using any combinatin of standard Hofner hardware (this does not include custom binding or woodwork). Basses finished by the US Custom Shop include the Tom Petersson Goldtop Club bass w/3 pickups, the first British Flag 500/1 bass (also made for Tom Petersson), the ivory-finished '63 w/Cavern spacing (made for Brian Wheat, picture of one below), and so forth.
I used to handle distribution into Canada for Hofner, and still help them out here and there. I used to carry inventory to be able to supply the Canadian dealers and no longer do so, but I have a few instruments left, some of which I am keeping and some of which I am selling.
So, at the end of the day, it is dead easy to find a standard production Hofner bass, new or used, or find one one in a cool colour, or order one from the US Custom Shop through a Hofner dealer in the US. All it takes is money.Last edited by Hammertone; 08-17-2018 at 12:44 PM.
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I am not sure that I agree that short scale basses necessarily present an easier transition for guitar players. In the bass world, the standard 34" scale *is* short scale (compared to the upright bass). Your left and right hand technique changes a bit to adapt to the instrument, but you don't have any difficult stretches. Not that much string tension, either, since it is tuned to a lower pitch.
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As a guitarist and bassist (trained as a double bassist but now play both equally) short scale basses are much more similar to guitar in terms of technique. I still use traditional bass fingerings on my Hofner knock off ( 1-2-4 fingerings) because it is fretless but it is much easier to do four finger technique on the shorter scale. On a 34” or 35” scale, depending on the size of the hands, it is much more comfortable and sometimes necessary to use 1-2-4 fingering in the lower positions and even higher up the neck sometimes. So basically you can transfer your normal fingerings to a short scale bass by moving to a more traditional electric bass scale things get too wide to play four finger technique and even if it is possible it isn’t as comfortable playing in lower positions for 2-3 hours as traditional bass fingerings. All of that doesn’t matter as much if you have big Tal Farlow hands or something of course. Originally Posted by nopedals
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+1, awesome! I didn't realize the bridges were floating. I always assumed they were at least pinned. Originally Posted by feet
watched the whole thing. was transfixed. are there any more videos of hofners being made at the german plant? couldn't believe how much stuff was just eyeballed and done free hand. and i kept forgetting they were making a bass, so i kept saying "way to ream the holes for the tuners" and "nice nut, dork" because everything looked off at first. would love to see how a club guitar or some of their larger archtops come together. maybe a committee or something. something with neater inlays, and maybe a cool headstock.
really kinda want a couple now. they take layaway, right? so hard to buy a hofner because so few make it out this way and so few are stocked, so you can't ever find one in a store. its reverb, ebay or fly to germany, pretty much.
again, awesome video. haven't got that feeling since i watched the yairi shop tour, and i own one of those now. and it may be the best guitar i have. certainly the most luxurious one.
Contrast that video to one where a guitar is built via CNC!
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Would love to try one of these Hofners .... looks like I will have to get lucky and find one in a Guitar Center or just break down and buy one
As for the OP ... its hard to go wrong with a Jazz bass ... the choice of artists from Jaco to Marcus Miller ... definitely a good choice if you want something that will deliver great funk and slap sounds
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Then there are the J/P hybrids: P pup plus the bridge J pup. Originally Posted by Bluedawg
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I love my new Ignition Hofner. I put La Bella flats on it and lowered the action a bit. I also have a Squire Vintage Modified Jazz bass but it is too hard for me to play: the frets are very wide apart and it weighs a ton. It hurts!
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Yes .. those can be quite nice .. I had a nice low end US made Fender J/P hybrid for a while, but sold it Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
I seem to be playing more bass than guitar lately
I alternate between a Peavey Cirrus and a Fender P bass ... both 5 strings ..... both are great basses IMHO
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I can vouch for the Squier Bass VI as an interesting 'bass' option for guitar players.
The main reason why I bought mine was because I was getting into some multi-track recording and I wanted to a bass that didn't feel too dissimilar to a guitar.
I bought some LaBella flatwounds and shimmed the neck and it's great. Using just the front pickup it has a very big deep sound.
Sometimes I put a bit of foam just near the bridge to give it less sustain, so it's more like an upright in sound.
I've even used it as an actual "bass" for a big band gig where I had to sub in on bass at the last minute. It sounded surprisingly good!
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