For sale OPEN TO OFFERS: Vintage 1968 Hofner 5000/1 Bass -- Deluxe Edition W/Original Case

Price reduced....Selling my 1968 all original (minus the pickguard) Hofner 5000/1 bass. This is the luxury model of the legendary Beatle bass.

Date code on pots are "208" which translates to 20th week of 1968 which is the first year of this model. I recently had a luthier reset the neck, check the electronics, polish the frets, and put on a new set of Thomastik-Infeld Hofner Violin Bass flatwound strings. The action is very good (plays like a dream), and the sound is simply amazing. ALL the electronics work!

There is what I would consider a normal amount of finish checking for a bass that is 58 years old, a couple of minor dings in the finish, and some minor dings in the back of the neck which does not affect playing, but they can be felt a little. I tried to take pix of most parts of the bass and can take more specific ones if you are interested. All in all, the bass is in good to very good condition!

"The Höfner 5000/1 Deluxe features premium appointments, including highly flamed or bird's-eye maple back/sides, an ebony fretboard, gold-plated hardware, and specialized pickups, offering a lightweight design with a warm, resonant, 1960s-style tone.

While it shares the classic hollow-body violin shape and 30-inch short scale of the 500/1, the 5000/1 features several "Deluxe" upgrades:

• Premium Tonewoods: Typically features a select German spruce top with highly flamed or bird's-eye maple back and sides.
• Ebony Fretboard: Unlike the rosewood found on standard models, the 5000/1 uses a multi-bound ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl double dot inlays.
• Hardware: Features gold-plated hardware, including the bridge, tailpiece, and tuners.
• 2x Höfner 152 “Bar-blade” pickups.
• 2 x volume, bass-treble switch.
• Hofner active Bassboost electronics: The "Soundmix" system was an active 9-volt circuit that could be used in tandem with the unique "Solo" and "Bass" settings of the era. This system is considered quite rare and is highly sought after by collectors of 1960s German vintage guitars and basses."

Comes with the original case which has seen many, many better days. Note the Pan Am stickers!

Price (Paypal) includes CONUS shipping, fully insured.