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

[Shawn Luckman]

Not sure if I have posted a picture of my '64 500/1 here. The S.N is 687 and when the order was placed by Selmer's for 1000 500/1 basses, in April 1964 mine was one of those basses. Hofner so it has been said started the serial numbers at 100, so mine was the 587th 500/1 in that order of basses.
I got this bass on the 13th November 1988 & even though I haven't played it much in the last 17 years, I still love this bass dearly & it's still my favorite possession that I own.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

Another picture with the swing tag.

 

[Wiremessiah]

Greetings, fans of the venerable Hofner bass! I'm running into a potential thing here, and tbought I'd venture in to inquire... a friend of mine has a pretty old Hofner Club Bass. Unfortunately it's been stripped of the original finish, but he's been asking me what I think it's worth. I told him the un-finishing of it will probably make it considerably less valuable to a buyer, but it's a good question anyway, I think...

Here are a couple photos- it's not for sale by the way, you won't see it up here on the TB classies... I want him to sell it to me!View attachment 1088641 View attachment 1088643 View attachment 1088645 View attachment 1088646 View attachment 1088647 View attachment 1088648 View attachment 1088649 View attachment 1088650

Depends highly on the neck, if its twisted and if it needs a reset. I bought one in better condition seemingly, but it needed refretting a neck reset, and som400, other stuff. Id be happy that there is no finish though, because you can put a really nice varnish or french polish or something on there, and make it unique.without knowing the condition of the neck or if it needs electronics, i wouldnt pay more than $300 or so. My repairs cost about $400. It is a 60s model, probably mid to late 60s from the raised logo on the headstock.

 

[lukatch]

a friend of mine has a pretty old Hofner Club Bass. Unfortunately it's been stripped of the original finish, but he's been asking me what I think it's worth

Refin it in Blonde and it will look fantastic.

 

[Count Bassie]

Maybe low resale value but VERY high Mojo factor.

That's good in this case! Lol, terrible of me, but...

Depends highly on the neck, if its twisted and if it needs a reset. I bought one in better condition seemingly, but it needed refretting a neck reset, and som400, other stuff. Id be happy that there is no finish though, because you can put a really nice varnish or french polish or something on there, and make it unique.without knowing the condition of the neck or if it needs electronics, i wouldnt pay more than $300 or so. My repairs cost about $400. It is a 60s model, probably mid to late 60s from the raised logo on the headstock.

My friend told me it was a mid-60s model, so there is good background info coming with it... cool, thanks for the confirmation there.

Refin it in Blonde and it will look fantastic.

Sweet.

Thanks you guys!

 

[Skydog6653]

I have a thread in the repair forum, and a member suggested I look for some help here. Here's the link to that post. I'm leaning toward retaining my control plate and replacing just the electronics, but am sure open for suggestions. 'Vintage' Hofner bass help needed!

 

[KellanEmSoftly]

Picked up this Cavern Club back in November, and realized I haven't shared it with TB! I've never had a bass that felt more like it was tailor fit to me and my playing style, but here it is. I'm thinking it will sound even sweeter when I slap some Pyramid Golds on it - I've been waiting on a set that has taken 3+ weeks to ship, from a certain vendor that seems to be very popular here...tsk tsk. Smh. Anywho, happy to finally have a Hofner of my own!!

 

[Boristhespyder]

Picked up this Cavern Club back in November, and realized I haven't shared it with TB! I've never had a bass that felt more like it was tailor fit to me and my playing style, but here it is. I'm thinking it will sound even sweeter when I slap some Pyramid Golds on it - I've been waiting on a set that has taken 3+ weeks to ship, from a certain vendor that seems to be very popular here...tsk tsk. Smh. Anywho, happy to finally have a Hofner of my own!!

Nice! I wonder how different The sound is from the violin bass. Then again, I may not want the temptation!

 

[Wiremessiah]

Nice! I wonder how different The sound is from the violin bass. Then again, I may not want the temptation!

No difference. Theres more of a difference between vintage and ct. I like this badboy though:

 

[Count Bassie]

View attachment 1088641 View attachment 1088643 View attachment 1088645 View attachment 1088646 View attachment 1088647 View attachment 1088648 View attachment 1088649 View attachment 1088650

Just doing a blog-bump on this one: Looking at making a deal for this funky old piece. I know a guy who can execute a cool custom finish for me, esp if I bring it to him stripped and ready to shoot. Pretty psyched, I'm hoping it'll be a nice player with that beautiful tone- it's all original. Very hopeful...

 

[Wiremessiah]

Just doing a blog-bump on this one: Looking at making a deal for this funky old piece. I know a guy who can execute a cool custom finish for me, esp if I bring it to him stripped and ready to shoot. Pretty psyched, I'm hoping it'll be a nice player with that beautiful tone- it's all original. Very hopeful...

What are you trying to get? Or are you buying it?

 

[Count Bassie]

What are you trying to get? Or are you buying it?

Buying it. The original post here was part of my seeking of a loose assessment of it.

 

[ICM]

I have a little Hofner related project coming in the mail from Israel. Hint: it's going on my V62, 3x as old as me, and I'll be using the highest quality components to bring out the best in my bass. I can't wait for it to arrive and I'll definitely post some progress pics either in this thread or a new one!

 

[Thornton Davis]

I've been missing my HCT500-1CV that I sold about 18 months ago so it's time to get another one. It's going to be identical to this one finished in Dark Brown with Black p/g and control panel.

TD

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

I've been missing my HCT500-1CV that I sold about 18 months ago so it's time to get another one. It's going to be identical to this one finished in Dark Brown with Black p/g and control panel.

TD

Could be nicest looking finish I've seen on a Hofner. Is it possible to have a finish like that applied after?

 

[Thornton Davis]

Could be nicest looking finish I've seen on a Hofner. Is it possible to have a finish like that applied after?

Probably, if you know of a really good luthier or refinisher.

TD

 

[ICM]

I've been missing my HCT500-1CV that I sold about 18 months ago so it's time to get another one. It's going to be identical to this one finished in Dark Brown with Black p/g and control panel.

TD

That is so classy, and the strings even match the guard and panel. What a beautiful burst.

 

[fermata]

I've been missing my HCT500-1CV that I sold about 18 months ago so it's time to get another one. It's going to be identical to this one finished in Dark Brown with Black p/g and control panel.

TD

That's a stunner! Is that a stock finish? It looks different from the dark brown Contemporary on the Hofner website.

 

[fermata]

In case anyone else thinks the standard Hofner control panel is a bit limited, here's one way you can rewire it to open up a new sound palette. After quite a bit of experimentation, I've reached what I consider an ideal wiring scheme for my Hofner. Basically, it's wired like a Jazz Bass: V-V-T (using the existing switches), plus a special variation for the bridge pickup.

The Rhythm/Solo and Bass On switches work together to offer four positions that affect both pickups. After quite a bit of experimentation, I've settled on no cap, .0068uF, .03uF, and .062uF (one could leave the stock .1uF cap and resistor in that position and thus preserve all the stock settings while adding the others). The .0068uF cap imparts a really woody sound with a hint of that hollow grunt a P-bass has; this and the .03uF cap (warm and full but not lacking mids) are my standard settings. The .062uF cap (actually a .047 and a .015 in parallel) is my dub tone.

The Treble On switch affects only the neck pickup: a .01uF cap wired in series can be switched in and out of the circuit. Stock wiring does this, too, but when switching in the cap, the neck pickup gets switched off, which negates the real benefit of the inline capacitor: it dramatically improves the pickup blending. I can run both pickups full up, without any weird interactions--just rich full tone with excellent articulation. But if I want to solo or favor the neck pickup (especially with one of the treble cut caps engaged), the sound is much better without the inline cap.

This diagram shows the basic idea, although it differs a bit from my final wiring. I think the pickups sound best when they share the same tone caps, so my wiring no longer has the 22nF cap connected to the Treble On switch. (That allows me to simply switch the .01uF cap in or out. Also, there's no need for the yellow wire running from input bridge PU to the switch.) The other two switches are now wired in parallel to the output, like a Jazz Bass (the red wire connects to the yellow and green wires), which makes the tone capacitors affect both pickups. Also, the capacitor values are the ones listed above, not the ones shown.

In the end, it still sounds like a Hofner, just with an expanded tonal palette.

 

[Thornton Davis]

That's a stunner! Is that a stock finish? It looks different from the dark brown Contemporary on the Hofner website.

Yes it's a factory finish. The Dark Brown HCT500/1CV's were a very limited production run. Remember these are made in China and not Germany.

TD