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

[Joe Nerve]

Did you look at banjo de-tuners as a possibility?

I’ll wait till someone else tries or finds one that fits . Took a shipping hit on the last one, and think the chances of one fitting perfectly are slim to none.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[mongo2]

I’ll wait till someone else tries or finds one that fits . Took a shipping hit on the last one, and think the chances of one fitting perfectly are slim to none.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

You're the only person I've ever heard of asking about a D-Tuner on a Hofner so it may be a long wait for another.

 

[ICM]

I don't know man...I mean, it works, but... Although it does have sort of a '60s Gibson vibe (check out Dylan's double-pickguard J-200).
Disclaimer: I'm a pickguard skeptic. Why cover pretty instruments with sheets of plastic?

I go from loving it to hating it, but I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum, a huge pickguard fan.

 

[SJLee]

I go from loving it to hating it, but I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum, a huge pickguard fan.

I don’t see anything wrong with it as it accentuates the symmetry. As long as it doesn’t introduce any unwanted vibration. I’m a wood guy and prefer seeing more of the body of the bass.

 

[fermata]

I don’t see anything wrong with it as it accentuates the symmetry. As long as it doesn’t introduce any unwanted vibration. I’m a wood guy and prefer seeing more of the body of the bass.

View attachment 2913371 View attachment 2913372

When you walked out the front door with this, did the heavens part and a light shine down? What a beautiful instrument! (Have you posted this before? Have I commented when you did? If it's deja vu all over again, it's because I seem to have a pavlovian response to photos of this bass. drool)

 

[ICM]

I don’t see anything wrong with it as it accentuates the symmetry. As long as it doesn’t introduce any unwanted vibration. I’m a wood guy and prefer seeing more of the body of the bass.

View attachment 2913371 View attachment 2913372

With a burst like that, who can blame you?

 

[DavesnothereCA]

When you walked out the front door with this, did the heavens part and a light shine down? What a beautiful instrument! (Have you posted this before? Have I commented when you did? If it's deja vu all over again, it's because I seem to have a pavlovian response to photos of this bass. drool)

~
Either way, that burst is a beauty, and on a Club model to boot ! drool
~

 

[SJLee]

When you walked out the front door with this, did the heavens part and a light shine down? What a beautiful instrument! (Have you posted this before? Have I commented when you did? If it's deja vu all over again, it's because I seem to have a pavlovian response to photos of this bass. drool)

Thanks so much. If the heavens parted, I must have missed it as I was probably too focused on the bass. It's been posted here before, possibly before you entered the thread.

With a burst like that, who can blame you?

Thank you! I love guards too, but this one just felt better to me without it.

~
Either way, that burst is a beauty, and on a Club model to boot ! drool
~

Thanks so much! It's been a pleasure having it.

 

[Darr61]

My new Ignition Club just back from the Luther.
Got rid of the cheap plastic nut.
I removed the pick guard and added the vintage knobs.
Number please.

 

[ICM]

View attachment 2920402 View attachment 2920403 View attachment 2920404

My new Ignition Club just back from the Luther.
Got rid of the cheap plastic nut.
I removed the pick guard and added the vintage knobs.
Number please.

Nice upgrades, I see you've got an all black TRC as well!

 

[Darr61]

Nice upgrades, I see you've got an all black TRC as well!

That was on it when I got it.
Along with a serious bow in the neck.
Had to take a full turn off of the rod to make it close to playable before I took it to the shop.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

View attachment 2920402 View attachment 2920403 View attachment 2920404

My new Ignition Club just back from the Luther.
Got rid of the cheap plastic nut.
I removed the pick guard and added the vintage knobs.
Number please.

~
Davesnothere > reaches for the TUMS (GAS attack) drool
~

 

[DavesnothereCA]

View attachment 2920402 View attachment 2920403 View attachment 2920404

My new Ignition Club just back from the Luther.
Got rid of the cheap plastic nut.
I removed the pick guard and added the vintage knobs.
Number please.

~
Dot's nice !

Davesnothere > breaks 10th commandment - AGAIN ! (Thou shalt not Covet...)
~

 

[mongo2]

I picked up a Hofner Icon Beatle bass that had a damaged body several years ago. I always wanted a solidbody with an Icon/Ignition sized neck (more narrow than the Contemporary and German versions) so last weekend, as a proof of concept exercise, I bandsawed the violin body and mounting block off of the neck, cleaned up the heel and did a quick install of the neck on an Epiphone Les Paul Special II bolt on guitar body I use as a test mule.

The neck pocket is 7/64" too wide on each side of the neck but it doesn't seem to hurt anything. I used an old Wilkinson 5 string 3D bridge with just 4 of the bridges to handle the narrow string spacing. I kept the stock humbucking guitar pickups and controls of the Epiphone. The neck is just as comfortable as before and I was surprised how good it sounds.

I've used it at several rehearsals and a gig. So far so good.

Crappy phone pic:

 

[mongo2]

Got rid of the cheap plastic nut.

Did the new nut make a difference in the tone of the open strings?

 

[Darr61]

Did the new nut make a difference in the tone of the open strings?

I couldn’t really tell you. I only played it through my practice amp for a few minutes before it went to the Luther. Plus it had the factory round wound strings. Put on LaBella flats when they did the nut.
Sounds really good now. Even when I’m digging in hard.

 

[ICM]

I put rounds on my V62 just for a change of scenery and to see the flaws in my technique (they're less forgiving).

That lasted all of about a week...half way through a jam sesh with my friend, I stopped took off those godawful monstrosities and put some flats on again; much better!
Currently I'm using pyramids, because the TI's were at my house when I changed them. I much prefer the TI's. Mine are so old and fragile now that I pretty much never take them off, I did to clean them and treated them like an antiquity. I cleaned them very gently with 3 different rags, going up in 'grits', so rough -> smooth.

On that topic, has anyone noticed that the low E string of Hofner pyramids has a nasty overtone? I stretched the string and made sure to set a solid witness point but no matter what I do, I still get an overtone that is just as loud as the note itself. Did I just get a dud of an E string or is the common with pyramids?
I really want to like pyramids, but I'm a TI man at heart.

 

[WannaBeatle]

Many have complained about the E string being dead sounding. Luckily, it hasn't happened to me yet.

But, pyramid customer service is great. They'll gladly replace your string for you. I've been using Pyramid since the early '90s and I love them.

 

[Goteky45]

Has anyone ever tried to tune either a beatle bass or a club bass BEAD? I would love to own one of the these, but I really need a low-B

 

[fermata]

Has anyone ever tried to tune either a beatle bass or a club bass BEAD? I would love to own one of the these, but I really need a low-B

The major issue I anticipate would be fitting the B string through the tailpiece. There's a chance it won't fit.