Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Hofner-(not just Beatle Basses)-Group Part 2
- Thread starter Bryan R. Tyler
- Start date
Hi.
This is my rare Spanish Hofner D-185-S solid bass, mid 60's.
These basses were made with some components made in Spain and others imported from Germany under a Hofner license. They were cheap basses, but they have the DNA of the Hofners of that era.
This is my rare Spanish Hofner D-185-S solid bass, mid 60's.
These basses were made with some components made in Spain and others imported from Germany under a Hofner license. They were cheap basses, but they have the DNA of the Hofners of that era.
Hi.
This is my rare Spanish Hofner D-185-S solid bass, mid 60's.
These basses were made with some components made in Spain and others imported from Germany under a Hofner license. They were cheap basses, but they have the DNA of the Hofners of that era.
I'm intrigued by the black trim around the edge of the body- is that a fiberglass clamshell over wood, like some of the '60's Italian instruments?
No.
The front body is a cover on wood, it's like some cream color plastic material, the back of the body and the edge are painted black.
That was cool. I also liked what he had to say on a follow-on video to that one:
This is my Hofner in 1965, mistakenly replaced with an Epiphone Rivoli in 1966. Can anyone deduce what model it was, as I don't know. It was a good bass, I should have kept it.
Difficult to tell from that pic. Looks a little thick to be a Club, but it could be. If there are F Holes then it could be a 500/3, 500/4, 500/5...
Lots of Hofner pics at this site: Hofner Guitars - Steve Russell's Vintage Hofner Website - Index Page
Maybe something will ring a bell for you.
Let us know if you find it.
Cheers for the link. Looks like it's a 500/3, probably around 1962-3.
I sold it in 1966 and bought an Epiphone Rivoli for twice the $$ of the Hofner, and remember regretting it almost immediately. Such is life.
i put GHS pressurewounds (short scale) on the CLub and it sounds good! My string quest continues 
Definitely not a Club.
It's hard to tell, but I think I see the corner of a second pickup cutout in the Pickguard. So not a 500/3 Senator, which was a similarly large single-cut archtop, but with a single pickup at the neck.
Did it have a deep body, or a fairly slim thinline (about 2")? Knobs, knobs and switches, or some other variation?
If it had two wide-spaced chrome pickups, then I'm thinking that it might have been a Committee. No idea how those were numbered.
I just saw something similar at a vintage show the weekend before last- Greg Godovitz, the former lead singer and bassist of Toronto 70's and 80's band Goddo, owns it.
Big body- look how long the tailpiece is, and how much space there is between the tailpiece and the bridge!
Greg's is an early Chinese CT Series reissue, not relic'd, but heavy wear, with a deep archtop body, violin-style switchplate, and two pickups in Cavern spacing, like a dot-neck version of a 500-5 President. The sunburst was actually reddish brown, rather than this darker catalog picture:
I'm off work his week & I'm using my '64 Violin Bass more and more now, to the point that I think that it will become my main player again. I had forgotten just how nice it felt in my hands & that wonderful, woody thump sound you get from these little German made basses. And I'm wondering why I bought so many other basses when, I've come back to my favourite bass in the end because of how good it feels to me.
I have also been playing my Black CT Violin Bass & I'm still not bonding with it. Don't get me wrong the CT is made very well "BUT" fore me personally the whole, feel and sound is just not there for me probably due to the fact of owning the '64 for almost 35 years.
I'll keep the CT as a backup but will not be upgrading all the parts over to the German ones, just the control panel plate & teacups and wooden bridge and the machine heads.
I have also been playing my Black CT Violin Bass & I'm still not bonding with it. Don't get me wrong the CT is made very well "BUT" fore me personally the whole, feel and sound is just not there for me probably due to the fact of owning the '64 for almost 35 years.
I'll keep the CT as a backup but will not be upgrading all the parts over to the German ones, just the control panel plate & teacups and wooden bridge and the machine heads.
Very nice basses. I had a newer German Violin & Club (2000 ish) but only kept my HCTs when thinning the heard. Maybe I should have kept one of each. Can you tell me how upgrading the HCT control panel changed the sound? Thinking about doing that, just not surfeit's worth it.
Thanks
