Hi,
Yesterday, I received my first ever Hofner hollowbody. It's one of the cheap-O Ignition Club models. Brand new, with case. Too good a color, and too good a deal, to pass up.
After 10 minutes of screwing with it, I realized what an incredible sonic tool this bass is. Really, really cool stuff can easily be done with it that I've never been able to do with any other bass.
However, the E string has incredibly short sustain and lack of treble compared to the other strings, and a weird, out of tune tone hanging over every note. This "overtone," I'll call it, is much higher in pitch than E. It kind of sounds like a combination of tailpiece vibration, an out of tune tom-tom drum, and "Stratitis."
I've made all sorts of adjustments (pickups, intonation, bridge height, tuning), and checked the nut slots, and while I have actually improved the issues bit (mainly through using more compressed sounding pickup height settings), it's still 90–95 percent there, plugged in or not. I tried damping the tailpiece, and the strings behind the bridge with my palm. Behind the nut too. Nothing. I tried squeezing the body in various places, attempting to damp the source of the tone. Nothing.
Very slightly muting the E string gets rid of the overtone, but does nothing for the other issues. Even when the other strings are muted the same way, they still have much more midrange, treble, and sustain.
The nut slots are way too high, but that's across the board, not just the E string.
Is this just how these basses are – one of their quirks that people just learn to play around? Could it be a screwed up E string? Does the stock string set just plain stink compared to the other offerings out there?
FWIW, I am learning to play around the tonal and sustain difference, and it's kind of cool at times. But that weird "overtone," let's call it, has to go. And I would really like the E string to match the others, in the end.
Another thing I have noticed is that the A through G strings hold up great when tuned down a 5th. Doing this kind of makes the bass even cooler sounding and feeling. The A string tuned down to E sounds much more "normal" than the E string itself. It is a bit slack keyed feeling, but not a ton, which really surprised me.
Another thing I noticed is that the staples are fake. I adjusted the pole pieces expecting them to move...but nope! The pickups sound fine, though. A little hot, but rhythm mode cures that enough for me.
P.S. The control panel and knobs will be changed to black, and if I put the guard back on, that will be changed to black as well.
Yesterday, I received my first ever Hofner hollowbody. It's one of the cheap-O Ignition Club models. Brand new, with case. Too good a color, and too good a deal, to pass up.
After 10 minutes of screwing with it, I realized what an incredible sonic tool this bass is. Really, really cool stuff can easily be done with it that I've never been able to do with any other bass.
However, the E string has incredibly short sustain and lack of treble compared to the other strings, and a weird, out of tune tone hanging over every note. This "overtone," I'll call it, is much higher in pitch than E. It kind of sounds like a combination of tailpiece vibration, an out of tune tom-tom drum, and "Stratitis."
I've made all sorts of adjustments (pickups, intonation, bridge height, tuning), and checked the nut slots, and while I have actually improved the issues bit (mainly through using more compressed sounding pickup height settings), it's still 90–95 percent there, plugged in or not. I tried damping the tailpiece, and the strings behind the bridge with my palm. Behind the nut too. Nothing. I tried squeezing the body in various places, attempting to damp the source of the tone. Nothing.
Very slightly muting the E string gets rid of the overtone, but does nothing for the other issues. Even when the other strings are muted the same way, they still have much more midrange, treble, and sustain.
The nut slots are way too high, but that's across the board, not just the E string.
Is this just how these basses are – one of their quirks that people just learn to play around? Could it be a screwed up E string? Does the stock string set just plain stink compared to the other offerings out there?
FWIW, I am learning to play around the tonal and sustain difference, and it's kind of cool at times. But that weird "overtone," let's call it, has to go. And I would really like the E string to match the others, in the end.
Another thing I have noticed is that the A through G strings hold up great when tuned down a 5th. Doing this kind of makes the bass even cooler sounding and feeling. The A string tuned down to E sounds much more "normal" than the E string itself. It is a bit slack keyed feeling, but not a ton, which really surprised me.
Another thing I noticed is that the staples are fake. I adjusted the pole pieces expecting them to move...but nope! The pickups sound fine, though. A little hot, but rhythm mode cures that enough for me.
P.S. The control panel and knobs will be changed to black, and if I put the guard back on, that will be changed to black as well.
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