On most of the Violin copies the little bits or "fret wire" the strings rest on can be moved into any of the slots on the bridge so you intonate the E and the G in their pieces in the middle slot and then you can adjust roughly the a and d by moving them forward or back. It ain't 100% but these basses aren't for 20th fret soloing and they are reasonably undefined so a cent or two off will never be noticed.
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Hofner Beatle Bass
- Thread starter wattsman
- Start date
I just acquired an Icon model. My feeling is that it is a nice voice to have in the toolbox if that is what the music calls for. It probably wouldn't do a great job on some types of gigs- but the investment is such that you can afford to have one in the stable when needed. In my case the Icon served to make me REALLY want a vintage German model (but that's not likely to happen anytime soon).
Picked up a used Ignition BB, from a guitar player who had paid for it to be set up, hofner flats (maybe d’adario?) strings, experimented for few months, but had not ‘vibed’ with it. Fine, more bass for me!
Overall, good shape, I just had to touch up the bridge location, it had slipped.
but a couple questions as a new Hof owner:
1. I find the E string kind unclear/indistinct for tuning. Looks like the nut is fine, and the bridge was sanded to seat on the top.
I think I saw someone mention this before, but can’t find the post. Is this fuzzy E something others have encountered? Did upgrading the nut or bridge make a difference for this specifically?
2. I find for jazz, I mustn’t dig in on the fingers. Gets the rubbery thin sound, eek. I’m used to Fender P and such, and it seems the Hof likes to be played with a very light touch to get the boom and woodiness. I solo the bass or blend both. And let the amp do the work. That sound about right from your experience?
I am mainly finger style, but I find I do enjoy pic and palm muting on a short scale. Played a gig of jazz with a couple carribean and reggae numbers. Wasnt sure how it was coming across, but recorded it and in the room, I got some of the Hof bass-y boom, fun sound on that.
A couple shots from the sale:
Overall, good shape, I just had to touch up the bridge location, it had slipped.
but a couple questions as a new Hof owner:
1. I find the E string kind unclear/indistinct for tuning. Looks like the nut is fine, and the bridge was sanded to seat on the top.
I think I saw someone mention this before, but can’t find the post. Is this fuzzy E something others have encountered? Did upgrading the nut or bridge make a difference for this specifically?
2. I find for jazz, I mustn’t dig in on the fingers. Gets the rubbery thin sound, eek. I’m used to Fender P and such, and it seems the Hof likes to be played with a very light touch to get the boom and woodiness. I solo the bass or blend both. And let the amp do the work. That sound about right from your experience?
I am mainly finger style, but I find I do enjoy pic and palm muting on a short scale. Played a gig of jazz with a couple carribean and reggae numbers. Wasnt sure how it was coming across, but recorded it and in the room, I got some of the Hof bass-y boom, fun sound on that.
A couple shots from the sale:
Personally, i've found this to be an issue with short scale flats. I went through a couple of boxes of Rotosound flats and also found all of them to be fine, apart from, the E string which was much deader than the rest (v noticeable when playing)
Didn't have that issue with the Roto 88 tapes, but they are much thicker gauge than other brands.
Strangely I don't seem to have had this issue with rounds (or maybe just not yet?)
My bass experience is limited, however I have found as you have, the E strings being deader using flats on short scales. With the Hofner brand flats, I have always have not only the dead E but tuning problem as well. I actually have one of my Hofner clubs strung with an old set of rounds and don't have these issues.
Thanks all for the good comments. So sounds like upgrading the strings should help.
part of what I’m asking is the indicator of the issue, that the tuner is jumping about not centering on the pitch. Which could be related to the quality of the string, bad windings can do that, and the loss of volume, core, etc. (I use a Yamaha tuner with physical needle and a digital tuner that work on on all my basses.)
Any of you Hof folks have a chance to tune on a strobe tuner, I’d be interested if you see a stability/clarity of overtones difference on the E versus other pitches and other basses. And what string.
BrassedOn here, with an update on my new used Hof
I’m certainly no Luthier or expert, but I work on all but my number 1 bass. So I did some work on my Hofner HI series to address the issues I mentions above with the tone, pitch stability.
1. Changed strings to La Bella Hofner "Beatle":LAB_760FHBB, which are flat 50-100. Heavier than original and what was on when I bought the used bass, which were Hofs I believe. A little oil on the fretboard while the strings were off.
Well, no good deed goes unpunished. I had mishap installing the new D string. And coming up to pitch it snapped. I thought maybe I had an issue with the post, and despite widening the slots and graphite for the new gauge. So got a new set, took some time to file and sand the tuning posts. I opened up the nut slots a bit more and graphite. and….it happened again! I think I blame the deep slots in the factory bridge and the angle coming off the saddles to the posts.
2. So….Changed the nut to bone. I had a new Musiclily Gibson style blank for another guitar project, and it was just right for the Hofner bass nut size. Less than 1mm in any direction to sand or file off. As bone goes, the nut blank was a little softer, relatively, which meant easy sanding, maybe not as hard (less vibration transfer?) compared to bone nuts I have on my other basses.
3. Sanded the bottom of bridge a bit to remove very slight gap on the E side. Found a small crack where the bridge post screw enters the bottom bridge. Maybe it was over tightened. I filled with some CA and backed off the screw and closed that crack.
4. Re-did setup. I’m usually on the perhaps low side of standard specs, on the E side….
shy of .030” at first fret (capo on 3rd).
.013” relief (capo at 1 and 17)
2.4mm (~6/64) at 12th (I think Hofner spec is 3mm)
I also had to move the bridge saddles (which are frets) on the E and G strings, and maybe slight tilt of E side of bridge toward pickups. I’ll see if this checks in a few weeks as Texas is getting a bit humid.
Finished! Sorry no A-B recording. Cuz I changed several elements at the same time.
Definitely less floppy string tension!
Clearer tone, more stable on the tuner. Less of that rubber band sound.
My take away is: if you’re not happy with the stock made in China sound of your Hof Ignition, try some simple improvement and updates. I still think I’ll upgrade the tunes but for now okay. And good return on investment.
Bottom of factory nut. Plenty-o-Glue! Yeah, hollow. Hmm.
New nut blank next to factory.
First shaping of nut. I think the angle exaggerates the distance for G to D. I sanded the bottom a bit more and installed. Then filed the E and A a bit deeper and wider to optimize 1st fret height. Less than 50% of string in the slot now. I might go a little further on the D in the future.
New saddle positions for E and G.
You can see the string D and A are at a bit of an angle coming off the saddle toward the tuners.
A bit of string rise coming off the saddle but settled down flatter when I filed to depth.
Finished nut. Okay maybe another touch up…
I’m certainly no Luthier or expert, but I work on all but my number 1 bass. So I did some work on my Hofner HI series to address the issues I mentions above with the tone, pitch stability.
1. Changed strings to La Bella Hofner "Beatle":LAB_760FHBB, which are flat 50-100. Heavier than original and what was on when I bought the used bass, which were Hofs I believe. A little oil on the fretboard while the strings were off.
Well, no good deed goes unpunished. I had mishap installing the new D string. And coming up to pitch it snapped. I thought maybe I had an issue with the post, and despite widening the slots and graphite for the new gauge. So got a new set, took some time to file and sand the tuning posts. I opened up the nut slots a bit more and graphite. and….it happened again! I think I blame the deep slots in the factory bridge and the angle coming off the saddles to the posts.
2. So….Changed the nut to bone. I had a new Musiclily Gibson style blank for another guitar project, and it was just right for the Hofner bass nut size. Less than 1mm in any direction to sand or file off. As bone goes, the nut blank was a little softer, relatively, which meant easy sanding, maybe not as hard (less vibration transfer?) compared to bone nuts I have on my other basses.
3. Sanded the bottom of bridge a bit to remove very slight gap on the E side. Found a small crack where the bridge post screw enters the bottom bridge. Maybe it was over tightened. I filled with some CA and backed off the screw and closed that crack.
4. Re-did setup. I’m usually on the perhaps low side of standard specs, on the E side….
shy of .030” at first fret (capo on 3rd).
.013” relief (capo at 1 and 17)
2.4mm (~6/64) at 12th (I think Hofner spec is 3mm)
I also had to move the bridge saddles (which are frets) on the E and G strings, and maybe slight tilt of E side of bridge toward pickups. I’ll see if this checks in a few weeks as Texas is getting a bit humid.
Finished! Sorry no A-B recording. Cuz I changed several elements at the same time.
Definitely less floppy string tension!
Clearer tone, more stable on the tuner. Less of that rubber band sound.
My take away is: if you’re not happy with the stock made in China sound of your Hof Ignition, try some simple improvement and updates. I still think I’ll upgrade the tunes but for now okay. And good return on investment.
Bottom of factory nut. Plenty-o-Glue! Yeah, hollow. Hmm.
New nut blank next to factory.
First shaping of nut. I think the angle exaggerates the distance for G to D. I sanded the bottom a bit more and installed. Then filed the E and A a bit deeper and wider to optimize 1st fret height. Less than 50% of string in the slot now. I might go a little further on the D in the future.
New saddle positions for E and G.
You can see the string D and A are at a bit of an angle coming off the saddle toward the tuners.
A bit of string rise coming off the saddle but settled down flatter when I filed to depth.
Finished nut. Okay maybe another touch up…
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While there are still some players that use Hofners live, the sad fact is that musical styles - and the basses needed to play them - have passed this kind of bass by. The "sit in the pocket - and stay there" bass has a... somewhat.. limited use, now; and the fact that other basses - that can do all the other things that players want them to do - can do that as well, has meant that these basses (and others like them) don't spend much time on stage, any more. However... if you want/need a bass that does what they do? Yes, they are perfectly capable of doing it on stage - as long as you take reasonable care of them. As has been said; Sir Paul's 500/1 is still going strong, after, what; almost 60 years? That said, though, Hofners - and all the other basses with floating bridges and floating tailpieces - do have more than a few... idiocycrasies, let's say... that can make them hard to live with. I know; I have several of the little darlings... IME, most of their "problems" have to do with the bridge and tuning/intonation.
- Bridge Physically? Yes, it's kind of a pain in the ass. Doesn't have much in the way of intonation adjustment; it's hard to change strings on; and, boy, does it hate people who play hard. So... skipping intonation/tuning for the moment? Because the bridge will move - or fall off - and, because the tailpiece becomes a floppy PITA if you don't -some people change strings one at a time on these basses. Which might keep the bridge from moving - or might not. I prefer to just mark where the bridge is with a couple of pieces of tape - and change all the strings at once. And stick a pink rubber eraser under the tailpiece while I do... As for the bridge's tendency to wander? Sanding the bridge's base to match the body where it's meant to sit, will help keep it in place. The old Gretsch guitar player's trick of using chalk - or bow resin - on the base, will help a whole lot more. Not playing so hard will help a whole bunch. Best bet is to just adjust your playing style...
- Tuning/Intonation First of all; basses with floating bridges/trapeze tailpieces are, as I said, leftovers from a time when Rock/Pop music was much simpler. From when I learned to play bass, in fact. While tuning was important, of course, spot-on intonation was... not. Most Rock/Pop (and C&W, too, for that matter) songs almost never required a bass player to get anywhere near the 12th fret - much less up past it. No bass player I ever knew, back then, worried about their bass being perfectly intonated; I certainly didn't. If your bass was in tune with the guitar player(s), and was kinda, sorta intonated? Then you were good to go... The need for "perfect" intonation - and basses that would do it with no problem - came later. And these basses... well, they can come up short - unless you're willing to spend a lot of time and $$ trying to get it - or just get really lucky...
Which is not to say that Hofners - and the other basses in this class - won't intonate. But, IME? These basses are picky - very picky - about the strings they like, and that they'll intonate with. Just because my Hofner loves La Bella light Beatle Bass strings, that doesn't mean yours will. My old Korean Rogue VB-100, for example, just loves Roto TruBass88 Tapes. Never had to angle the bridge, or move a saddle; just tuned it up, and it intonated perfectly. Needless to say, it will never wear anything else... My Starfire, OTOH, has hated every string I've ever tried on it. It does tune up with the La Bella 760FL's it wears now, but only with the bridge at about a 40 degree angle to the tailpiece. As for intonation? E and G string? Sorta... A and D strings? Don't make me cry...
So... bottom line? Yes, a Hofner is perfectly suitable for the stage. Providing you take reasonable care of it, and you are willing to acknowledge and live with it's many foibles, that is. I certainly like all of mine (well, most of them, anyhow), but I play the kind of music they're easily capable of playing, and I never ask more of them than that...
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