HONDO???

[rayzak]

I started learning on the Hondo short scale P-bass clone. About a year later when I realized that I love playing bass, I bought a Fender MIM J....... I thought I died and went to heaven.
Not speaking for anyone else's Hondo here, but until I played something else, I never realized what a POS that thing was
In its defense, it was pretty beat up by the previous owner.... my then brother-in-law.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by rayzak

I started learning on the Hondo short scale P-bass clone. About a year later when I realized that I love playing bass, I bought a Fender MIM J....... I thought I died and went to heaven.
Not speaking for anyone else's Hondo here, but until I played something else, I never realized what a POS that thing was
In its defense, it was pretty beat up by the previous owner.... my then brother-in-law.

That sounds exactly like the Hondo I bought to pull the P pickup out of I bought it for 25 bucks at a local pawn shop. I tossed the rest in the burn pile. The 80s Hondo P pups are KILLER dimarzio clones.

[lunarpollen]

My first bass was a Hondo Rickenbacker copy. I still have it, still love it, and plan to keep it forever.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by lunarpollen

My first bass was a Hondo Rickenbacker copy. I still have it, still love it, and plan to keep it forever.

I remember those back in the day!

[bluerimedeyes]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

That sounds exactly like the Hondo I bought to pull the P pickup out of I bought it for 25 bucks at a local pawn shop. I tossed the rest in the burn pile. The 80s Hondo P pups are KILLER dimarzio clones.

I believe they were real dimarzio's- all those 80's hondo ads screamed about it, lol. I know the guitars at least had them, and I believe the basses did too. I'm no expert though.

[FCB]

you have the hondo 2?

[lover'o'lowend]

So I went to guitar center and played a sweet hondo bass called a zebra bass. It was a p/j style bass and there were two bridge pickups right next to each other. I currently own it because I got it pretty cheap. But it plays great and sounds great! Really funky tone and when you turn one of the knobs it becomes completely mellow. I don't know if it's a higher end one or what..I don't even know the year. Anyone know anything about it??

[maxgrant]

I have a Hondo P-Bass clone I bought in 1985. I think it was $140.

It was a decent enough bass, though it is a little clunky to play. I don't think it was ever properly setup, since "setting up" a bass is something 15-year-old Max had no idea about. I did all of the modifications to it myself. Sold it after I got a real Ricky 4001, bought it back about a year later for $90.

I recently went and reclaimed it from my stepson and used it to cut a track on my band's CD because I wanted that boomy P-bass sound on a particular song. I had to take it apart, re-shim the neck, re-tape the lower pickup into its plastic housing again (I play really hard and I had knocked it out of the housing 25 years ago because I set my hand right over the pickups at the time), and re-do the bridge setup to get things to work right. Once I did that I had an almost-playable instrument. The neck is a bit more bowed than it needs to be but the song I was playing was all below the 5th fret so it was of no importance to me. I like my action high.

I am now thinking of re-building the electronics and working on getting the neck relief to be a little more appropriate. I think if I do those things it will actually play pretty nicely and with new electronics I could actually enjoy playing it. The wonder of wonders is, it's not even that badly scratched up after all these years. My kids knocked it over a couple of years back and broke the G tuner off, but I just bought some replacements.

Unfortunately, I was a silly kid and at one point sanded off the headstock emblem because I didn't want to be seen playing a toy bass. I therefore am not sure exactly which model it is, although it sounds like it's the 820.

As far as the track I cut with it? It sounds PERFECT for that song. I absolutely love it. Thunky, chunky, and deep.

[TRichardsbass]

My first bass was a Hondo Longhorn in copperburst. Came with brass nut and brass bridge, the pickups I believe were actually Dimarzios. Speed knobs. It was solid rock maple. I got it in 1982 for $375 (new). I recorded two albums with it. It had a great sound but my hand never quite took to the neck shape and the painted neck sometimes got really sticky and hard to move around.

I thought I was a genius and traded it for a Roland G-77 synth bass without the synth unit.

I wound up also buying a MIJ Fender Jazz bass, modding it with a Badass Bridge, added a tort pickguard. Sounded like crap (should have replaced the pickups). Sold the Jazz for a Hohner B2AFL Steinberger copy. Got over my Sting phase and then started on my GAS journey.

Long story, but the Hondo I had was actually a very high quality bass construction wise and sound wise. If I had only known....

[Bassdude404]

Originally Posted by Psycho

Huh, i've got an 880 Deluxe and don't know squat about it either. It's got an Explorer shaped body, but I wouldn't know if it's any good.

Got one of those myself....Got it for Christmas back in the early 1980's..Have held onto it for all these years..Didn't have a case for it, and the original neck warped VERY badly, and I let somebody work on it that said he knew what he was doing...Well this moron managed to ruin the truss rod...I still hung onto it, just because it was my first real bass, and my dad who passed away in '89 bought it for me...So a few years back I rebuilt it...Now has an Allparts "J" neck, new Fender pots, replaced the black speed knobs with gold ones, and installed a Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounder pickup...Plays and sounds a million times better tha it used to, but this thing weighs a ton, and has SEVERE neck dive...If I could solve the neck dive issue, I'd probably play it more...

This is before the rebuild...



And now....






BTW...I realize this thread is really old..Was just searching the archives, because I've never seen another one (Hondo H880) like it....

[themacinator]

Now you have.

[Dredmahawkus]

I have a hondo strat I bought in the early 80s my first electric guitar.....I will never sell it! not worth anything just sentimental.

[omie]

Kustom and Hondo's... like peas and carrots.

[iriegnome]

Yours looks familiar

[lug]

Originally Posted by TRichardsbass

My first bass was a Hondo Longhorn in copperburst. Came with brass nut and brass bridge, the pickups I believe were actually Dimarzios. Speed knobs. It was solid rock maple. I got it in 1982 for $375 (new). I recorded two albums with it. It had a great sound but my hand never quite took to the neck shape and the painted neck sometimes got really sticky and hard to move around.

I thought I was a genius and traded it for a Roland G-77 synth bass without the synth unit.

I wound up also buying a MIJ Fender Jazz bass, modding it with a Badass Bridge, added a tort pickguard. Sounded like crap (should have replaced the pickups). Sold the Jazz for a Hohner B2AFL Steinberger copy. Got over my Sting phase and then started on my GAS journey.

Long story, but the Hondo I had was actually a very high quality bass construction wise and sound wise. If I had only known....

I had a copper too. Only bass I ever sold because a friend at work bugged me for months to sell it to him. I finally sold it for about what I paid for it and I still miss it, wish I had never sold it.

[Boompow]

Does anyone else have a Hondo 2 double cutaway with dual p's ? Seems I'm the only one online.