any hofner reissue pros out there??

swicker · #1 10-09-2012, 04:52 PM

i wanted to find out if this was a legit 500/1 german made reissue bass...

its a bit weird to me, 1. it says 62 bass inside the cavity, 2. owners manual says 63 reissue, 3. there seem to be kinda mother of pearl tuners on this bass, but i thought the reissues had solid colored tuners...

can anyone vouch for this bass being a legit reissue from '96...

im not expecting anyone to vouch for the ebay dealer, who only has 3 items theyve either sold or bought...

but id like to know, i havent been able to find any info on this year / model bass... strange!! any help would be great..thanks!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-1962-re...item416c22f3e7

afzoomie67 · #2 10-09-2012, 06:14 PM

Paging Thorton Davis.

mccartneyman · #3 10-09-2012, 06:21 PM

The Hofner bridge is moveable, so distance from the bridge pickup is no determination of authenticity. Here's North Coast Music's description of what the 62 reissue has:

http://www.voxshowroom.com/northcoas...guitar/62.html

It says strip tuners are standard, and the bass you point to has individual tuners.

I don't know if specs varied. Check these URLs:

http://www.basscentral.com/2003/hofner.shtml

http://mandoweb.com/Instruments/Hofn...eatle+Bass/631

http://altomusic.com/shop/Hofner-H50...-_pid115332.am

Rob Martinez · #4 10-09-2012, 09:51 PM

Looks like a V63 to me.

Peacefrog35 · #5 10-10-2012, 04:49 PM

It looks like a legit German Hofner, I've owned quite a few. I just don't think got it correct on the number inside the bass. Perhaps earlier models were called V62s at first until they made the corrections. . This has 4 separate and a 3 piece neck so it's a V63. It's a nice bass for sure.

Thornton Davis · #6 10-10-2012, 07:20 PM

Definately a V63!

TD

swicker · #7 10-11-2012, 04:47 PM

bought it... it really is beautiful... has a nice vintage tone to it, like my 66, but just more powerful pickups...

i do love the finish too, its a bit more vintage looking and not as 'dark' a burst as the more current ones... very cool, for me at least...

so weird... catalogs are showing the v63's always were 42mm at the nut... this one is 40mm...

and im wondering if this really is nitro finish... or just poly... if its a 96 or whatever year, perhaps they were still getting things organized and not quite as accurate as the later ones...

its got a bit high action right now, and a little bowing... which im sure can be fixed with adjusting the truss rod (although the space given to adjust the truss rod is very small, my tools wont fit in that space, i guess ill take it to a friend to do)... and im thinkin of having the bridge somehow shaved down a bit to get the strings a bit lower....

lastly, n very important.... what strings should i put on there??? im thinkin the la bella beatle flatwound 50 - 100's...

im also very tempted by the black nylon strings, but my thoughts are it might be a bit too specific a tone.... thoughts???

thanks again for all your help guys...

mccartneyman · #8 10-11-2012, 05:56 PM

I have LaBella Beatle flats on my icon and love them. IT Jazz flast also would be a good choice.

gary m · #9 10-11-2012, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swicker

bought it... it really is beautiful... has a nice vintage tone to it, like my 66, but just more powerful pickups...

i do love the finish too, its a bit more vintage looking and not as 'dark' a burst as the more current ones... very cool, for me at least...

so weird... catalogs are showing the v63's always were 42mm at the nut... this one is 40mm...

and im wondering if this really is nitro finish... or just poly... if its a 96 or whatever year, perhaps they were still getting things organized and not quite as accurate as the later ones...

its got a bit high action right now, and a little bowing... which im sure can be fixed with adjusting the truss rod (although the space given to adjust the truss rod is very small, my tools wont fit in that space, i guess ill take it to a friend to do)... and im thinkin of having the bridge somehow shaved down a bit to get the strings a bit lower....

lastly, n very important.... what strings should i put on there??? im thinkin the la bella beatle flatwound 50 - 100's...

im also very tempted by the black nylon strings, but my thoughts are it might be a bit too specific a tone.... thoughts???

thanks again for all your help guys...

My Hofner Club reissue has a nitrocellulose finish and came with the high action/bowed neck as you describe. I had to order a Hofner truss rod wrench from North Coast Music and make adjustments over the course of a few weeks. Getting the bridge low enough was a bit trickier and involved sanding the feet of the bridge a bit.

For strings, I elected to keep the stock Hofner flats on. They're made by Pyramid and sound fantastic.

And yes, aren't the pickups fantastic? I've had many laugh at my little Hofner up to the point where I plug in and hit that low E -- THEN they believe!

Peacefrog35 · #10 10-12-2012, 06:00 PM

Congrats on the bass. When I first saw the pics the other day, I thought it was a poly finish. It looked very glossy and thicker than nitro. My first reissue was a 63 from around this time and it also had a poly finish. Contrary to what most think, not all the reissues came in nitro finishes. I think they are all done in nitro currently though.
I hope you enjoy the bass!!!! It's a beaut!

Michael_STL_MO · #11 03-20-2013, 02:28 PM

This is my 1st time on a forum, so I hope this works, I too am a Hofner 500/1L V63 Re-Issue owner, I bought mine (new) in 1999, and recently was looking for my s/n#'s in the cavity and pot codes but none were found found... I do have all the sales receipts and a tag with a 5 digit s/n# .. But why no I.D. in the guitar???

Michael_STL_MO · #12 03-20-2013, 03:52 PM

hi Rob are you in this room

Rob Martinez · #13 03-20-2013, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael_STL_MO

hi Rob are you in this room

Hi Michael, this is not a chat room, but a forum.

But I will try to help! I have a 2007 Hofner V63 bass, I am not sure about serial numbers, some have them inside the control cavity. Mine is on a offical Hofner tag that came with the bass.

Love my V63!!!

Michael_STL_MO · #14 03-20-2013, 04:07 PM

OK i'll figure this forum stuff out hahaha.....Yeah mine came with a tag to but the serial number doesn't jive with their coding system. It's all a German Hofner, no doubt that......

Thornton Davis · #15 03-20-2013, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael_STL_MO

This is my 1st time on a forum, so I hope this works, I too am a Hofner 500/1L V63 Re-Issue owner, I bought mine (new) in 1999, and recently was looking for my s/n#'s in the cavity and pot codes but none were found found... I do have all the sales receipts and a tag with a 5 digit s/n# .. But why no I.D. in the guitar???

Hofner didn't start using their current serial number system until 2000. Any Hofner's made before then won't have a serial number unless specifically specified by the importer.

TD

Michael_STL_MO · #16 03-20-2013, 09:44 PM

Thanks Thorton, I've been trying to find answers to this for a week now, but, without a s/n # ( inside the bass ), how is it dated ?? And how can you register it on one of these hofner sites ?? It came with a very nice Ameritege Case with all these little humidity devices ect.... Ya know, the way I found out about this was, when, I was looking at some receipt I had , when I brought it in to get set-up, and noticed that the receipt had an X in the serial number area ... That's what made me curious... My guitar tech is one of the best here in St. Louis ( Skip Goez ) So Of course I started investigating.... hahaha... That's in my blood..... Iv'e contacted a guy ( Jeff ) in a Chicago Hofner retailer store and he's helped me a lot !! But still it makes identifying this particular bass impossible, except for the fact I have all the paperwork....

Peacefrog35 · #17 03-22-2013, 02:58 PM

There are likely clues on the bass that can help at least give a period of when the bass was made if not an exact date. There are a few of us that should be able to help you if you post some detailed pics of the bass such as neck heel, headstock front and back, control plate ect. We can get you close.

Michael_STL_MO · #18 03-22-2013, 06:01 PM

Thanks Peacefrog, Well, I know for sure it's a 1998-1999 500/1L 63 Re-Issue & I know for sure it's made in Germany during that period, but it was one made while Boosey & Hawkes were running Hofner and evidently they were not putting s/n numbers in the cavities of some particular ones that were being shipped to the U.S. But I have a lot of hope from a "Gentleman" from the vintage hofner site, that this, will be resolved real soon... Is there anyone else out there with no s/n inside their hofner's cavities, that you have talked to ?? Michael