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are Hondo basses any good?

wolfkeller

wolfkeller

Supporting Member
Aug 11, 2013
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detroit
#1
This is just a matter of curiously, this claims to be an early 70s bass for a nothing price. Are these basses any good compared to a fender? With what the cost of a similar era fender is, its hard to believe this is so cheap.
Vintage Bass Guitar

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I have an early 1970's Hondo II bass guitar, with hardshell case. Has a few scratches on it, otherwise in good shape. Call for more info. Thanks for looking. Can also call me at my home phone: three-one-three-two-seven-eight-seven-seven-zero-seven.
 
#2
Some of them are great.
I have a 1980 Hondo II Pro, that I like to call the "King of P's".
Sounds good, looks great without looking like a copy.
IMG_20140612_205554.jpg

I'd probably pay $250 for one, especially one with a fender style bridge.
 
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#3
Some of the older Hondos (not sure if they still use that name) were really decent for the price. Most were knock-offs of tried & true designs, Ps, Js, longhorns, explorers...etc. Many came with Grover keys, Baddass bridges and real wood bodies, instead of plywood. I used to have a mom&pop music store back in the 90s and I always liked to see used Hondos come in. They were not particularly valuable, so I could generally set em up, re-string it and have a nice playable bass that I could offer at a reasonable price ($125-$175 back then). I know a few guy's that still have/use em.
 
#5
Oh man, that thing looks SWEET to me. Buy it myself if I could. Hondos (like other brands such as Lotus and Memphis) kind of run the gamut. Earlier ones were MIJ at either the Matsumoku or Fujigen Gakki factories, and were made pretty dang exactly to Fender specs. Production later moved to the Cort factory in Korea and some people think the quality went down a little, but these are still generally really decent instruments.

By the later 80s, brands like Hondo and Lotus were being made who-knows-where and a lot of them are really cheap and shoddy...even unplayable junk in many instances.

THIS one, to me, looks like a good one! Try before you buy if you can, and see if you can haggle it down a little (maybe start and $150 but try not to break $200)

I love that thing. Great color combo.

Currently my only bass is an old MIJ Lotus brand P copy from the late 70s and it's heavier than all get-out but a good player with nice cmponents. This Lotus I have is completely identical to a Hondo model from the same period, right down to the matching headstock (which is not Fender-shaped like the one in your CL ad is.)

Good luck and report back if you get it. Would love to hear how it is!
 
#9
mbelue said:
Some of them are great.
I have a 1980 Hondo II Pro, that I like to call the "King of P's".
Sounds good, looks great without looking like a copy.
View attachment 562654
I'd probably pay $250 for one, especially one with a fender style bridge.
Click to expand...
Actually, that is a copy, but not of a Fender, that's an SD Curlee ripoff.
 
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#12
"Has a few scratches on it . . . " Yeah, if you look carefully, it looks like someone carved their name or something into the upper horn. Ouch! That would be a deal-breaker for me, unless I was looking for something to refinish.

I'd be curious to see if the pickup underneath the cover is a typical split P or a soapbar like the one on the Japanese Hohner P I found a few months back. Here's my previous post about the Hohner with some pics: How About Blonde & Brunette? My Hohner P Makeover Project | TalkBass.com
 
#13
8guy said:
I Had A Hondo II Long Horn Copy, With a Dimarzio P pickup.Bought It New for 150.00 in 1983. It was a fantastic Bass.View attachment 562657
Click to expand...
Ahh, to be young, skinny, and clueless again! :D (Not that you were clueless then, but I sure was!) Always wanted one of those, and in this case, the Hondo is probably roughly on par, quality-wise, with what they're copying (don't get me wrong, I'm a Dano fan, but...)
 
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#14
Yes if you get a good one. That price may be ok if there aren't major problems. A couple of the other P-clone Hondo's here came looking unplayed but the necks needed some work(setup and/or neck press and Stew Mac truss rod spacer). They are very good workhorses once set up to play properly.

We like Hondo's here with the 2 favs being a FAME Hondo that came with a factory Kahler(stays in tune even when abused) thoroughly dinged up(relic'ed?) but solid as a tank
Orange.JPG


and a Longhorn clone that sounds amazing(brass nut & heavy bridge help). This one can do the Dan LH sound with the switch in one position and a P to almost Ric sound with the switch in the other postion. It gets brought to rooms where a normal bass gets muddy b/c it can cut through any mix when you set the tone on 10 and play towards the bridge.
LH2Fxd.JPG
 
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#20
It's funny how times change. I lived in South Korea (where Hondos were made) in the late 1970s and owned a couple. Mediocre instruments at best. BTW, they sold for about $35 over there and maybe $100 in the USA.

Around 1978, the US importer got the bright idea of replacing the crappy Korean pickups the then new and hip DiMarzio pickups which improved the sound quite a bit but did nothing for the construction or playing feel. These were branded Hondo II with prices about $200.

In the mid 80s Hondo imported "upscale" instruments built in Japan by Tokai under the name Hondo Professional. Those are good instruments.

Sorry if I offend Hondo II fans, but $100 is tops I would pay for a used one.
 
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