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Hofner bass Japan

B

BenDMD

Jan 15, 2019
7
1
#1
Hey guys,

I am having trouble dating this Japanese Hofner 500/1 Bass. I believe the serial # is 06916 but I could not find any results with that. The pickguard doesn't look original and the headstock logo appears to be missing.

I am not an expert so I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me

Thank you,
Ben
 

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#6
Two things, mainly:
1. The neck plate says "Japan"; Hofners are made in Germany (or, in the case of their less expensive models, in their factory in China).
2. The neck plate itself. Hofners are set neck instruments - like a violin. They don't have neck plates...
And, just about everything else screams "Knock 0ff!" The head stock; the tuners; the controls; the tailpiece ; and especially that bizarre bridge. It might be a well made, nicely playing bass, but - it's not a Hofner...;)
 
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#8
GIBrat51 said:
Two things, mainly:
1. The neck plate says "Japan"; Hofners are made in Germany (or, in the case of their less expensive models, in their factory in China).
2. The neck plate itself. Hofners are set neck instruments - like a violin. They don't have neck plates...
And, just about everything else screams "Knock 0ff!" The head stock; the tuners; the controls; the tailpiece ; and especially that bizarre bridge. It might be a well made, nicely playing bass, but - it's not a Hofner...;)
Click to expand...
Thank you for your help
 
#11
I just about fell off my chair I was laughing so hard at the bridge on this bass. Clever bit of DIY, but rather humorous.

I had a Japanese knock-off very much like that one. The brand was Pyramid. It had the same triangular truss rod cover, bolt-on neck,. same weird looking tuners. In this case someone has added Hofner to the headstock and 500/1 to the trussed cover. The person who made the bridge is probably the one who added the washers around the tuner posts too.
 
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#12
GIBrat51 said:
Two things, mainly:
1. The neck plate says "Japan"; Hofners are made in Germany (or, in the case of their less expensive models, in their factory in China).
2. The neck plate itself. Hofners are set neck instruments - like a violin. They don't have neck plates...
And, just about everything else screams "Knock 0ff!" The head stock; the tuners; the controls; the tailpiece ; and especially that bizarre bridge. It might be a well made, nicely playing bass, but - it's not a Hofner...;)
Click to expand...

Also, there was briefly a line of Hofners made in Spain in the 1960's.

This is clearly not a Hofner. Just about everything on it is wrong.
 
#13
There were maybe dozens of Japanese knockoffs, some with brand names, some without. I had one with no name. It worked fine but was extremely neck heavy. Real German Höfners are light as a feather (OK, less than 5 pounds anyway) and have distinctive branding and hardware that are not present on copies. Of course, branding and hardware are easy to change and apply to a knockoff, but not here. There's a terrific coffee table book on the Höfner "Beatle Bass" that will help you identify the real thing:

https://www.amazon.com/Hofner-Compl...F8&qid=1547652481&sr=1-1&keywords=Hofner+bass
 
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#16
rtslinger said:
Though it is not a Hofner bass some 60's made in Japan knockoffs are collectable to some folks and if it is rare it maybe worth something. You should try to find out as much as you can about it before completely dismissing it imo as mention the intonation system isn't like anything I have ever seen.
Click to expand...
Yea it still looks like a nice guitar. How can you date a knock-off? I don't have any information on the guitar besides what you can see in the pictures
 
#17
BenDMD said:
Yea it still looks like a nice guitar. How can you date a knock-off? I don't have any information on the guitar besides what you can see in the pictures
Click to expand...
this is my best guess judging by the tuners and the screws used and the neck plate stamping
the location for the name plate missing from that one also looks to be on the correct angle
bridge mods are after market diy stuff this one I found is going for 250.00 US compared to the seller you are looking at and yes I located it :)

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#20
rtslinger said:
this is my best guess judging by the tuners and the screws used and the neck plate stamping
the location for the name plate missing from that one also looks to be on the correct angle
bridge mods are after market diy stuff this one I found is going for 250.00 US compared to the seller you are looking at and yes I located it :)

View attachment 3285428 View attachment 3285430View attachment 3285432View attachment 3285435
Click to expand...
Yep that's gotta be it. $250 aint bad, the guy on ebay wants 650
 

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