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hofner 500/4 and general hollowbody qualities

markoSirec

markoSirec

Mar 1, 2009
51
19
#1
Hello Justin,

I have been looking for a good hollowbody bass for some time now, searching the local ads here in my country. recently, a 1977 hofner 500/4 (they were also called model 333) came up for a nice price. all stock and beautiful (with the hofner blade pickups). but i can't find a lot of info on these as they seem somewhat rare. i know you've played tons and tons of instruments, have you ever played this bass and if so, what did you think of it?

and second question since i have never tried a hollowbody bass before, what qualities should i look for in the sound and feel? for example, what qualities do you like in your guild starfires that won over other contenders?

thank you for your input. much appreciated :)

cheers from Europe
 
#2
That bass doesn't sound familiar. But, you should probably grab it. What you look for is a basic tone that jumps off the instrument. An acoustic resonance, before you plug it in. That's job #1.
 
#3
thanks for the fast reply!

i know Stu Sutcliffe played one, other than that, no real info on the interwebs. if anyone is interested, here is the picture of the actual bass:
 

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#9
aaaaallright. i'm meeting the guy on monday/tuesday. will post pictures and a nice review if i buy it. and if i don't i'm gonna try to hook up Dan with the seller. (FYI the price is about 980$ and it's been online since february)

thx for the input guys!
 
#11
so i met the guy and played the bass, i was sure i would buy it before going into the store. spent half an hour playing and deciding going back and forth but at the end i didn't get it. it just didn't have the tone quality i was expecting and even acoustically it didn't sound as good as it should. i was looking for a warm sound with lot's of character and "woodiness" but all i could hear was kind of thin with no depth. i even tested it on three different amps... the bass was set up by a local tech so that was not the problem (+ it already had flats). maybe it's a lemon or my expectations were wrong.

Dan i will PM you with the info in case you are interested :)

thx to everyone who pitched in.
 
#13
back in the 90s one night I played a white fender Coronado thru an SWR redhead. maybe it was because I was sitting on the amp, but DAmN that thing was super tight and thumpy!!!! amazing. the lakland HB does that thump thing really well.
 

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