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Hofner Icon Club bass!!

#201
for my taste, the GHS short flats do sound pretty good, for the most part... if you use some foam muting or palm muting they sound really great (and then deadness of the E is not as big a factor), but if you don't favor those styles you might be really annoyed by the GHS E. some players will find it totally "in character" for these instruments, some will not abide it...

i have tried long scale Fender black tapes and Roto black tapes, very different, the Rotos being a thicker string and thicker sound, very much preferred (by me) as tapes go.... in the end, i just don't have enough basses to keep one strung up w/ them, though, as i keep finding my way back to cold hard steel :)

another reason i'm looking beyond the GHS flats, i notice my hands prefer a set of strings that is evenly gauged.. as in, 45-65-85-105, same interval between each string... i've seen some tension charts that suggest this might not be "perfectly" balanced, but it's what i know and love... a 45-95 (or 100) set or something like that just doesn't satisfy...

and on that point, i'm really loving 49-109 La Bella long scale flats on my P Bass... that set, in short scale (or medium?), will be my next trial on my Club bass.
 
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#202
BackToTheGroove said:
Hi folks,
Here's my Icon Club.
Full description and several more photos here:
Hofner Icon Club - a set on Flickr
6160411877_30eab15e33_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Beautiful!

I have this same bass and you have inspired me to remove the pick guard.

Congrats!
 
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#203
The Roto RS88S are great strings - its that upright feel and sound, and they are far better (IMHO) than the Fender tape wounds I'd tried in the past (on a different bass) which were clakkity and plastic feeling. The Rotos have a sinewy feel. Really nice.

Bit of a job getting intonation right with the floating bridge. Tips? The truss rod is nice n' light and adjusts easily. I've got it very playable now, except the 12th fret up being a wee sharp.

Question: would it be a good or bad idea to put a thin piece of craft store type foam rubber mat (2mm approx) under the bridge to keep it from scuffing the body?
 
#204
BackToTheGroove said:
The Roto RS88S are great strings - its that upright feel and sound (scaled down of course by the pipsqueek sized l'il Club), and they are far better (IMHO) than the Fender tape wounds I'd tried in the past, which were clakkity and plastic feeling. The Rotos have a sinewy feel. Nice- but they're also big and fat! So the nut grooves needed a wee dremelling. Seated well.

Bit of a pain to get intonation right, with that floating bridge. Tips? The truss rod is super light and turns easily. I've got it very playable now, except the 12th fret tone being a bit sharp - a little push trial and error on the floatie bridge and all will be well.

Question: would it be a good or bad idea to put a thin piece of craft store type foam rubber mat (2mm approx) under the bridge to keep it from scuffing the body?
Click to expand...

Not sure if that would change the tone, putting something between the bridge and body. I also wonder if it might only add to the problem you are already having.

One of the "things" about the old Hofners is that their intonation was a bit off the higher up the neck you went.
 
#205
Newbie on the forum here, so please pardon any redundancy.

I've kinda gotten myself tricked into bidding on an Icon Club Bass (thought it was the CT Series, as I didn't know there even ~was~ an Icon model of the Club), so I'd appreciate some help from some Icon owners.

The price, even for an Icon, is dirt cheap - I could still actually get outbid, making this whole discussion moot - but having played the Icon 500/1 vs the CT 500/1, I'm more than a bit worried about the drastic difference in quality between the two. Has the Icon series improved over the past couple of years, or is the CT still the way to go given the choice.

Thanks in advance --

Jamie
 
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#207
doctorwholittle said:
having played the Icon 500/1 vs the CT 500/1, I'm more than a bit worried about the drastic difference in quality between the two. Has the Icon series improved over the past couple of years, or is the CT still the way to go given the choice.
Click to expand...

I did the same comparison between the CT and the Icon and much preferred the Icon for both tone and playability.
 
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#208
derin38 said:
Hi!

Where could you find the Black Cherry and the Black versions of this bass? I can only find the sunburst. Were those basses only a limited edition? Because I really like the Black Cherry.
Click to expand...

Keep looking on ebay. I am not sure what the status of the Icon Club bass, as it does not seem to be offered in as widespread a way as the Icon violin bass. The 'Burst is a killer looking club bass, and they sound the same. I saw only one on ebay the last time I checked.
 
#209
doctorwholittle said:
Newbie on the forum here, so please pardon any redundancy.

I've kinda gotten myself tricked into bidding on an Icon Club Bass (thought it was the CT Series, as I didn't know there even ~was~ an Icon model of the Club), so I'd appreciate some help from some Icon owners.

The price, even for an Icon, is dirt cheap - I could still actually get outbid, making this whole discussion moot - but having played the Icon 500/1 vs the CT 500/1, I'm more than a bit worried about the drastic difference in quality between the two. Has the Icon series improved over the past couple of years, or is the CT still the way to go given the choice.

Thanks in advance --

Jamie
Click to expand...

My Icon Club basses are fine instruments, especially for $300. A CT will cost over twice as much. The biggest difference is the sustain block that runs through the body of the CT. Also, I believe the CT has the German made PUs. If that is important to you, get the CT. If you want an authentic hollow body, get an Icon. Or pay about $1900 for a German made one.
 
#211
i have an icon club bass strung with Labella's .95-.39
and it also has a dead spot E string 5th fret.
it's noticable enough but i could live with it HOWEVER,
it has a dead rattle at the A string 12th fret and the best i can tell it's rattling at the bridge. i've spent many hours and many experiments trying to isolate the vibration in the bridge, saddle, body, fret etc. but cannot squelch it no matter what i try.
Unfortunately, i find that "unlistenable" and if i can't get rid of the rattle, the bass might have to go. sad because the D and G strings just SING up and down the neck.
 
#213
Anyone tried the new D;Addario ETB92S nylon tapewound strings? I put some .50 - .105 on my Landing shortscale and thinking of putting some on my copy Beatle Bass.....I've been toying with the idea of getting an Icon Club but I want a dark cherry one and can't find any anywhere right now.....
 
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#215
I'm looking for a lightweight short scale bass and all the enthusiasm for the Icon bass is encouraging. My only concern at this point is how these basses balance. It seems they'd neckdive badly since the neck joins at the 16th fret. I'd love to hear from those of you who own and play them. How does the Icon bass balance on a strap?
 
#218
One of the previous messages said that the intonation on the early Club basses was not so good higher up the neck. Is intonation a problem on the Icons?

Also, I'd still like to hear what other Icon players have to say about how the bass balances on a strap. Any neck dive?
 
#220
dougness said:
One of the previous messages said that the intonation on the early Club basses was not so good higher up the neck. Is intonation a problem on the Icons?
Click to expand...

The bridge floats so intonation adjustments can be made. Also the saddle "frets" can be moved to another slot if necessary. That combination of adjustments has worked well enough for me so far.
 

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