Unlabeled German Bass: What can you guys tell me

[MrPeel]

Hey all,

I'm looking at buying this guy down the road... I already love the sound, playability and look of the bass, but I know nothing about it.

I know it was put up for consignment after a jazz/orchestra musician retired. It's a German fully carved 1950-70 bass... if anyone knows anything else based off these shoddy photographs, I'd love to hear your thoughts or theories!

Apologies for me showing up in the pictures

[MrPeel]

More photos

[Marton]

Shape, tuners, inlay on the back and varnish look a lot like a Wilfer we have at school.

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Hofner. They're the only shop I know of that did fake flame on the back of the neck.

[MrPeel]

What are you thoughts on hofner? I like knowing as much as possible about makers, just for funzies.

[Badener]

Hi MrPeel!

Wilfer - not at all. Hofner (German writing: Höfner) seems to be right. Maybe You can get more informations there: http://www.hofner.com/?___store=stor...store=store_en The Chinese made "Hofner" instruments nowadays are labeled "Anton Stingl", a typical Bavarian name. Some more informations about the company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofner

Thomas

[MrPeel]

Thanks for the info
It looks almost exactly like today's h5/8 concert bass... just well used haha

Cheers!

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

My first bass was a laminated Hofner, labeled Anton Schroetter, made around the same time as yours. It was well made enough to survive hard time in traveling jazz bands here in the Northeast for a decade or more, plus another seven years in storage after the previous owner died. Nothing failed except a couple of seams.

Mine had similar varnish, similar machines (three leaf clover, as opposed to the two-leaf yours has), similar ebony "fillets" on the sides of the neck heel, the same Germanic shield purfling loop below the button. Your button looks like ebony; is it a splice?

It's only fault was that it was too hardy and heavy, which dampened its acoustic volume. Though it was never loud, it sounded wonderful with Spiro Starks and amplified beautifully. How a fully carved bass would compare to my old ply is beyond me.

[MrPeel]

There is ebony inlay around the heal... everything is actually in good shape other than a few aesthetic things like edge wear. The luthier said he could touch that stuff up easily though with protective varnish... the only thing I would change is lowering the string height (and putting in adjusters) and changing the strings... I think they're flexicore, but I prefer spiros

[Steve Boisen]

Originally Posted by KUNGfuSHERIFF

Hofner. They're the only shop I know of that did fake flame on the back of the neck.

Not to sound naive, but how can you tell the flame is fake?

- Steve

[playbass0410]

For cheaper basses this kind of purflings aren't made from inlayed ebony veneer but it's simply painted by black color.
This can be seen, as the painted purflings do not have even, clean edges.
Laminated basses do not need nor have purflings but for looks they are painted. For solid spruce tops purflings along the edges are inlayed to prevent cracks developing from the edges.

[MrPeel]

I'm not sure if this clarifies much, but after some digging I found this in an old forum:
http://www.hofner-guitars.com/galler...ogue-1971.html

It looks like it could be the 5/14 model with the trimming etc... they also say flamed neck, but there's no mention of it being a real or fake flame. Other than that, the year pretty closely matches.

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Originally Posted by Steve Boisen

Not to sound naive, but how can you tell the flame is fake?

- Steve

Because it stops dead at the top of the neck and doesn't continue up through the pegbox. Plus, it's way too even to be real.

[MrPeel]

Picking up the bass today after trading in my ply
I'm excited!

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Congratulation! Don't forget to pick up a cool mist humidifier!

[MrPeel]

Already taken care of ... I'm afraid of dampit things that hang in the f hole... mainly because I had the equivalent for my classical guitar, and it developed into a bit of a mold problem