All the Contemporary Series comes with a substantial center block, about 4" wide, running all the way from the neck pocket to the bottom end. The wings are hollow.
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Hofner-(not just Beatle Basses)-Group Part 2
- Thread starter Bryan R. Tyler
- Start date
You are correct.
HCTs have the center block. German made and the Ignition (previously Icon) are both hollow.
I do like the center block. You get quite a bit more sustain than with the hollow bodies. Although the German mades do sound marvelous.
HCTs have the center block. German made and the Ignition (previously Icon) are both hollow.
I do like the center block. You get quite a bit more sustain than with the hollow bodies. Although the German mades do sound marvelous.
- Feb 26, 2011
- 143
- 112
- 51
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Pyramid Strings
The Germans and Ignitions are completely hollow. The Contemporary models have a center block
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Wow that explains a lot I thought, it was just one block running down.
Yes, thanks for posting this. The center block is much more sophisticated than what I was expecting. German engineering!
D
The Contemporary series President Bass is a true hollowbody but it looks like it might be discontinued? It seems to be out of stock everywhere. I got one a couple of years ago (I've also got an amazing German made Violin) and it's a fantastic instrument for the money. It can be a bit susceptible to feedback on a loud stage and the huge body isn't always convenient but the TONE is absolutely superb. Pyramid Golds of course!
Maybe we should rename the "Center block" to something more descriptive.
Center coffin? Center canoe? Center Coke bottle?
Any suggestions?
Center coffin? Center canoe? Center Coke bottle?
Any suggestions?
I had a Contemporary President in my hands at a guitar show last month. I would guesstimate that it was probably 5 to 10 years old based on condition, but the owner is an old rocker from way back, so maybe not.The Contemporary series President Bass is a true hollowbody but it looks like it might be discontinued? It seems to be out of stock everywhere. I got one a couple of years ago (I've also got an amazing German made Violin) and it's a fantastic instrument for the money. It can be a bit susceptible to feedback on a loud stage and the huge body isn't always convenient but the TONE is absolutely superb. Pyramid Golds of course!
Deep body, not slim like a number of other large single-cut basses that Hofner made over the years.
A casual glance into the soundhole would suggest that it was fully hollow, but on closer examination it had a tongue extending under the top. I was feeling through the F-hole, so couldn't be sure if it extended all the way to the bridge area, but I would expect so.
I call it a tongue rather than a block because it was far from full body depth. Maybe an inch or so thick, and seemed to be glued flush to the underside of the top.
In that particular instrument, it seemed like a pretty logical choice. It didn't sound nearly as compressed and "solid-body like" as a late-model CT violin bass, but it still had a touch of extra sustain compared to a normal, fully hollow archtop guitar.
I call that logical because had it been fully hollow, it would have been a feedback monster at stage levels, like my dad's old full-size archtop jazz guitars.
D
It's definitely a full hollowbody.
I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say "tongue". The only thing I can feel through the soundholes is the bracing, just inside the soundholes on each side. This is comparable to the bracing you would find on acoustic guitars. Without this bracing the huge top could probably collapse. It has absolutely nothing in common with a centre-block. The bracing on the Contemporary President is in a kind of ladder pattern, with two rather robust braces going lenghtwise (which I suspect is what you felt just inside the soundholes) and several smaller braces going sideways. There is no bracing or block down the centre of the body.
There is also a small "block" of wood that extends from the end of the neck, inside the body. It only protrudes approximately as long as the end of the fretboard (just slightly past the cutaway). German made, hollowbody violin basses also have a block of wood in this area but it doesn't protrude as far into the body as on the President. There is no way you can reach this through the soundholes though, so I'm assuming this isn't the "tongue" you are referring to. You would need an inspection mirror to even see it. This "block" is the full depth of the body and more or less the width of the neck (but slightly fluted/curved top to bottom). It's definitely not what I would call a centre-block (and neither does Höfner, they refer to these basses as full hollowbodies). It just a part of the neck joint.
There is no air gap beneath the end of the fretboard on President basses (like there is on Violin basses) and the neck is also tilted a lot more backwards than on Violin basses. A bit of extra wood here for added stability makes sense. If it dampens the top slightly that's probably just a good thing with regards to feedback but the difference vs less wood at the neck joint is probably marginal. The top is FAR too thick to get any kind of decent unplugged acoustic tone anyway and it still has a tendency to feedback on loud stages if you're not careful.
They're excellent basses, highly recommended for any Höfner fans who are willing to deal with the size and tendency to feedback. The pickups are also different from the Violin/Club basses btw (same quirky control panel though
)..
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D
Y'all know more than I do about my own bass. Really good info.
I couldn't cut back to using a Hofner alone as my primary bass, but in the right circumstances, nothing beats the vibe of a short-scale hollowbody- Hofner or otherwise...
Hofner has switched their import lines quite a bit over the years, and I've seen interesting variations (like flat vs arched-back CT violin basses).
I didn't have an endoscope or an inspection mirror with me, so we'll never know for sure.
However, I have large hands, and I don't think that what I was feeling was a conventional bass bar, like on an upright.
I was able to get the tip of my middle finger onto the side and back faces of it, and it felt like a flat, rectangular piece of wood, not very thick and wider than it was high...
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D
Definitely nothing like that inside mine. But like you said, Höfners can vary a bit. I'm pretty sure I've seen German made Höfner Violin basses both with bracing inside and no bracing whatsoever when opening them up at the workshop (but I might be wrong, this is not something I have to do very often and it's at least a couple of years since the last time I was inside a Höfner bass).
does anyone have experience using GHS Brite Flats (Short Scale set) or Pyramid Nickel Roundwounds or Optima Gold Pure 24K Gold Roundwounds on their hofner? those are next on string journey for me. i'm still trying to find the right strings for my Club Bass.
The hofner inherently has a woody upper register and tubby/flubby/bassy low end. i'm trying to find a string that doesn't accentuate that flub/bassy tone (it's too much) and has a nice midrange to punch through that flub. I'm thinking flatwounds might not be right. I've gone through TI, Pyramid, Optima (my favorite of the bunch), for Flats. Tried Roto Tapes (way too bassy for me), and then for round tried Gabe Tenorio Pure Nickel, GHS Pressurewounds, with the bass currently strung up with the PW. Too much grind and trebly bite but i love the punch and tight low end.
so i'm thinking a warmer round to bridge the gap between the Pressurewounds and the Optima Flats, hence the Brite Flats or Pure Nickel Pyramids or the Gold 24k Optimas.
on a slab fender it's easy, they are already punchy so Pyramid flats give that low end and warmth i needed, sounds like every 60's Soul record. The Hofner has more nuance.
The hofner inherently has a woody upper register and tubby/flubby/bassy low end. i'm trying to find a string that doesn't accentuate that flub/bassy tone (it's too much) and has a nice midrange to punch through that flub. I'm thinking flatwounds might not be right. I've gone through TI, Pyramid, Optima (my favorite of the bunch), for Flats. Tried Roto Tapes (way too bassy for me), and then for round tried Gabe Tenorio Pure Nickel, GHS Pressurewounds, with the bass currently strung up with the PW. Too much grind and trebly bite but i love the punch and tight low end.
so i'm thinking a warmer round to bridge the gap between the Pressurewounds and the Optima Flats, hence the Brite Flats or Pure Nickel Pyramids or the Gold 24k Optimas.
on a slab fender it's easy, they are already punchy so Pyramid flats give that low end and warmth i needed, sounds like every 60's Soul record. The Hofner has more nuance.
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Was going to recommend TI's but then I read the rest of your post.
Sounds to me like you need some strings that are roundwound but pure nickel, either that or some dead roundwounds.
if the TI were HEx Core i would love them, but the roundcore they are too bouncy/springy and i like a more taut string so i can dig in on fast runs/riffs. the TI i had a tough time with. I think it's gotta be hex cores for me.
