Hofner-(not just Beatle Basses)-Group Part 2

[Mosthigh]

Even though it's in otherwise decent shape, I guess it's condition would be considered 'fair' if it has neck issues and is pretty much unplayable.

 

[RomanS]

I'm new to this group - here's my Club Bass:

It's a weirdo - it's completely hollow, no block, like an Ignition, but other than "Made In China", there's no info on there, not even a serial number, and the neck feels completely different from currently made Ignition models - it has a 38mm nut width, not 42mm, like current ones, with a more rounded profile - the proverbial broomstick...

Anyway, got a question for anyone here who ones a Höfner with "cavern" pickup spacing - since the bridge pickup is completely useless in it's current location, I want to move it to cavern location in the middle of the body (yes, there will be a hole at the old location, going to cover it with a decorative plate). Can someone give me a measurement for the middle pickup? Maybe 12th fret to front edge of pickup?
Thanks in advance!

 

[DrSteve]

Nice bass. Maybe an Icon?

As for pickup spacing, I had a 3rd pickup added to my HCT in the CV position, and the luthier did not measure anything.
He smacked the strings with a finger and found where the harmonics lied. That's where he put the pickup. Under the harmonic location.

Hope this helps.

I could measure for you, but mine is a 500/1 so distance may be different.

Good luck.

 

[RomanS]

Nice bass. Maybe an Icon?

As for pickup spacing, I had a 3rd pickup added to my HCT in the CV position, and the luthier did not measure anything.
He smacked the strings with a finger and found where the harmonics lied. That's where he put the pickup. Under the harmonic location.

Hope this helps.

I could measure for you, but mine is a 500/1 so distance may be different.

Good luck.

I'll try to see whether I can find a harmonic somewhere around there...

Locations between 500/1 and Club should be the same, as they have the same scale length; I believe, the body shape is the only difference.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

neck reset is 300-500 depending on where you live. value of the bass go look on reverb. it's not a 65 because it doesn't have the small pickup surrounds, it has the large ones, 66 or 67 for me.

Remember from '67 Hofner had introduced,the blade pickup.

 

[markjazzbassist]

Remember from '67 Hofner had introduced,the blade pickup.

Yeah but it wasn’t in January, I’ve seen some sites and stuff where there are 67 with staples. There is a UK fellow that runs a site with lots of photos and good info.

 

[DrSteve]

Like this one: Hofner Guitars - Steve Russell's Vintage Hofner Website - Index Page

@RomanS:

As for pickup spacing:
My CV pickup is 10 inches for the center of the 12th fret to the center of the screw in the pickup.
Neck pickup screw to CV pickup screw is 2 5/16 inches.

However, please consider the HCT pickups are not the same as the Ignition pickups. So this info may not be correct for you bass.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Remember from '67 Hofner had introduced,the blade pickup.

Shawn, when it comes to Hofner manufacturing ,things are never quite strict as to when they phased-in or phased-out the components that they had lying around the shop. They were a bit like English carmakers of those times. We get a general sense when something happened but then you'd find this or that older thing later on. My old Morris Minor 1000 was like that. All part of the rich tapestry of life.
I miss my old 500/1 with blades. I wish they had them as an option.
The real shocker was when Nick Wass (the expert himself) got his hands on McCartney's stolen orignial "Cavern" bass, and he saw that they made it with a round back! Nick then said that they had been making the reissues all wrong all these years!

 

[RomanS]

Like this one: Hofner Guitars - Steve Russell's Vintage Hofner Website - Index Page

@RomanS:

As for pickup spacing:
My CV pickup is 10 inches for the center of the 12th fret to the center of the screw in the pickup.
Neck pickup screw to CV pickup screw is 2 5/16 inches.

However, please consider the HCT pickups are not the same as the Ignition pickups. So this info may not be correct for you bass.

Thank you!

 

[Shawn Luckman]

Shawn, when it comes to Hofner manufacturing ,things are never quite strict as to when they phased-in or phased-out the components that they had lying around the shop. They were a bit like English carmakers of those times. We get a general sense when something happened but then you'd find this or that older thing later on. My old Morris Minor 1000 was like that. All part of the rich tapestry of life.
I miss my old 500/1 with blades. I wish they had them as an option.
The real shocker was when Nick Wass (the expert himself) got his hands on McCartney's stolen orignial "Cavern" bass, and he saw that they made it with a round back! Nick then said that they had been making the reissues all wrong all these years!

Very true I guess they like a lot of guitar companies used up their old stockpile of parts, before they started with their new & improved parts.
I've never seen or played a blade pickup 500/1 but apparently the blade pickup, was an improvement over the staple version. I hope we all get to see more pictures of McCartney's original bass soon.
I remember in the 80's people customizing Moggy's into pickup truck like this .

 

[Thornton Davis]

A Hoffie photo for a cold Sunday afternoon.

TD

 

[markjazzbassist]

Very true I guess they like a lot of guitar companies used up their old stockpile of parts, before they started with their new & improved parts.
I've never seen or played a blade pickup 500/1 but apparently the blade pickup, was an improvement over the staple version. I hope we all get to see more pictures of McCartney's original bass soon.
I remember in the 80's people customizing Moggy's into pickup truck like this .
View attachment 7128101

I owned a blade pickup 1967 500/1. It has a lot more treble content than the staple pickup. Also it’s a single coil, not a humbucker. I prefer the staples.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I just came across this photo of my old '07 500/1V63.

 

[Stempelloos]

This is only partial about a Höfner bass. I received a 513b blade pickup that I bought on a second hand site to replace the Crucianelli toaster at the neck. To get a more balanced sound.

When I took the Dynacord bass out of it's cover to make the photo, the strings were quite loose.
So I started tuning up. The the tale broke off. It must have been partially torn already.

Which is a disappointment, because those bridges are practically unavailable.

The solution might be to use a Crucianelli tailpiece and Höfner bridge that I had adjusted to fit on an EB3 copy.

The Dynacord will need long scale strings then, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Or I'll have to find a President tailpiece, H62/30-S tailpieces are shorter.
But will leave the top intact.

I'll think it over.

 

[shoulderpet]

Does anyone know what strings are stock on the Hofner contemporary shorty bass, I thought it was Hofner contemporary rounds but the silk on the strings on my bass is red and last time I brought a set of the Hofner contemporary rounds the silk was green.

The setup on this bass out of the box is spot on so I would like to try and keep the string tension in the same ballpark when I change out the strings.

 

[DrSteve]

According to the Hofner Site, they come with Hofner HCT Roundwound. I have no idea about the color coding. Perhaps they vary by year or thickness???
Last HCT I bought had Rounds, which I switched immediately for TI Flats and paid for the setup. I do not remember the color of the silk. Sorry.
The first HCT I bought, about a million years ago, came with flats. But I think that was done at the shop before I made the purchase.

 

[Stempelloos]

Tested the 513b pickup I received a while ago.

It's very much alive.

My thoughts are to place the blade pickups on an ignition bass.
And assemble the Allparts mini humbucker, that was taken off the Ibanez 2354B to test the 513b,
on the Dynacord hollowbody with the Crucianelli toaster humbucker.

 

[dlmarquez]

Greetings all! I have been looking at Hofner basses for years, specifically the Violin body models. Several years ago I almost pulled the trigger on a 5000/1 Fretless. I definitely missed the boat by not purchasing that bass. Currently as far as I know Hofner does not offer any fretless models.
I have been totally unable to find the physical dimensions of the Hofner Violin basses. Specifically the overall length, width, and thickness. The reason I am looking for the dimenions is that I have a couple very nice guitar cases, and I am wondering if the Hofner would fit? The longest one I have is 41.5 inches maximum inner length. Will the Hofner Violin basses fit into that length of case?
Thanks

 

[Stempelloos]

Received an Ignition Club bass last night.

First impressions after a tune up.
-Set up is a bit high, octaves are in tune.
-Fretboard and bridge can be oiled since they are dry.
-Pots are not great, they react mostly on their last bit of turning.
-Switch panel seems to sound a bit muffled compared to the one on the Cavern.
(Maybe some pickup height adjustment will improve that.)
Overall build quality is fine for the money.
Acoustic sound is okay.
It will get a change of strings, the roundwounds will be replaced with Thomastik Infeld THJF-324 short scale Jazz flatwounds.

Plans are to fit the Club with 513b pickups.

I haven't made up my mind about buying a German control panel or creating a V-V-T panel with 2 on/off switches.

 

[SouthPaul71]

Received an Ignition Club bass last night.

First impressions after a tune up.
-Set up is a bit high, octaves are in tune.
-Fretboard and bridge can be oiled since they are dry.
-Pots are not great, they react mostly on their last bit of turning.
-Switch panel seems to sound a bit muffled compared to the one on the Cavern.
(Maybe some pickup height adjustment will improve that.)
Overall build quality is fine for the money.
Acoustic sound is okay.
It will get a change of strings, the roundwounds will be replaced with Thomastik Infeld THJF-324 short scale Jazz flatwounds.

Plans are to fit the Club with 513b pickups.

I haven't made up my mind about buying a German control panel or creating a V-V-T panel with 2 on/off switches.

Beautiful. Could the muffled sound be partly related to the foam still under the bridge (at least in the pic)?