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Hofner Ignition ergonomics... need another bass??

trigg015

trigg015

Sep 26, 2021
33
33
#1
Hi all!

Great to be on TalkBass.com.
I've already read tons of useful information.

I'm an experienced musician, but I recently started playing bass guitar (in which I'm technically still very novice).
I bought a left handed Hofner Ignition bass and I've put on some LaBella flatwounds strings on it cause I like the thump :)

Anyway, the Hofner sounds good, I like the short scale, the light weight... but I have issues with the ergonomics of the instrument. I like to play seated and it hurts my leg (click and see why). Also the body itself has pretty sharp edges, not so comfortable. Too bad Hofner doesn't make their Club Bass, which has better ergonomics, for lefties.

So I was thinking maybe I need to get another bass for daily practicing. I like the sound of a precision bass as well, so I was thinking... a short scale left handed P bass might be an option? However, such a bass doesn't seem to exist, the only one I could find is a Sandberg Lionel (which is kinda expensive, although quite pretty and probably very good sounding)

Any other tips, advice?
 
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#4
I own a 2016 Ignition Club and I absolutely love it, it's lightweight and sits perfectly on my lap with no neck dive.
I put a set of Labella Flatwound Hofner Strings on it (.39 -.96) and had a Zero Glide nut installed on it too.
It plays and sounds like an expensive German model.
I just finished a month long pit gig with mine because they didn't have room in the pit for my upright bass.
I needed something with a fat tone to replicate the upright sound and the Hofner nailed it.
Friends, who are musicians, told me it sounded just like an upright in the house mix.
Across the board, the Hofner Ignition stuff is excellent and well made.
On a lark, I took it with me to a recording session and the producer flipped over the tone, I ended up using it over my '65 P bass and the Ibanez Single Cut with Nordstrands that I'd originally brought to use on the tracks.
 
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#5
Speaking as a fellow lefty;
Yeah, the pickings for short scale left handed basses are pretty thin. I have several of them, but they're not exactly... readily available. Most of mine are no longer made, in fact - and haven't been, for a long time. One of them still is, though - a Danelectro Longhorn. Very light, fairly inexpensive, and well made. While it may look a little odd, it's actually nothing more than a double cutaway, semi-hollow body bass (like an Epi Jack Cassady bass) with the inner portions of the upper bouts removed. In fact, mine lives in an Epi ES-335 guitar case - which might have been made for the thing. I find it a very easy bass to play sitting down... Or, give Eastwood a look; they make several short scale lefty basses. The one I have - a Flying V Bass - is pretty well made, but - they didn't make them for long. Kind of... awkward... to play sitting down, too. Other than that? eBay and the Internet, I'm afraid; that's where I got most of mine. Except for the Warmoth Mini Precision that I had built a few years ago. Scouring the Internet sites of places like Southpaw Guitars; Adirondack Music; Jerry's Lefty Guitars; and the usual online places, is about the only advice I can give you... Oh, and welcome to TalkBass! :cool:
 
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#6
Thanks for the replies!
Interesting that the Danelectro Longhorn is mentioned. It looks kinda ugly (maybe odd sounds a bit friendlier), that's why I didn't give it a chance yet...

The Sire U5 is also an option. I'm not really sure about the PJ-combo, but it's a versatile and affordable bass.

I've also e-mailed Hofner that they should make some more left handed Club Basses!
 
#7
Reply from Hofner:

"I am sorry but we have no plans to produce any left-handed 500/2 Club basses in either the HI or the HCT ranges. We occasionally produce some left-handers that are made in Germany"

No cheap club basses for lefties I'm afraid :(
 
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#8
Try playing it this way.
Between your legs with a strap short enough to get it off your legs.
Sitting 1.jpg
 
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#9
I also play seated and had the same problem with my Hofner Ignition violin bass and my solution was to stretch a few layers of duct tape across the waist but not tight, leaving a bit of flex so it would old around my leg a bit. I put some duct tape on the sticky side where it bridged the gap over the waist so stuff wouldn't collect on the exposed sticky side. I used that for quite a while until I got my Ignition Club bass.
 
#10
Watchootognbout said:
Try playing it this way.
Between your legs with a strap short enough to get it off your legs.
View attachment 4427485
Click to expand...

I tried that but it didn't work for me since it still bit into my thigh and positioned the lower frets too far from my body for me to play comfortably. I tried again after applying the tape I mentioned above. The tape relieved the bite into my thigh but the lower frets were still too far away.
 
#11
mongo2 said:
I also play seated and had the same problem with my Hofner Ignition violin bass and my solution was to stretch a few layers of duct tape across the waist but not tight, leaving a bit of flex so it would old around my leg a bit. I put some duct tape on the sticky side where it bridged the gap over the waist so stuff wouldn't collect on the exposed sticky side. I used that for quite a while until I got my Ignition Club bass.
Click to expand...

mongo2 said:
I tried that but it didn't work for me since it still bit into my thigh and positioned the lower frets too far from my body for me to play comfortably. I tried again after applying the tape I mentioned above. The tape relieved the bite into my thigh but the lower frets were still too far away.
Click to expand...
Suggestion was to the OP.
 

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