We’ll how do you like it? Sound and feel? Like other Shorties?
Itching to get one. who has them in stock?
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Hofner-(not just Beatle Basses)-Group Part 2
- Thread starter Bryan R. Tyler
- Start date
Itching to get one. who has them in stock?
I like it for sure. I like the tone. The neck is a bit too big for me, but I am very happy with the purchase. I got mine from Thomann. It took about 2 weeks to get to my home in Canada and I live in a remote place.
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I saw those listed on the Thomann site, IIRC sometime last year, before they got any in, and they have since been in the back of my mind.
Thanks to YOU, they are now in the front !
OK, I did not know that you live in Canada [or forgot].
Please share with us how things went regarding money, shipping, etc.
Did you pay for the order with a Canadian bank or credit card or PayPal ?
Who delivered it, and were there any further charges at the receiving end ?
Thanks.
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Glad the tone is there. Disappointing that the neck is too big. Guess I'll need to try before I buy. Thanks
If you get a chance to play one of the normal Story basses that will indicate for you whether it is a good fit. The neck is the same.
Ignition Club Prol in all it's blemished glory!
Sorry about the truss rod cover being off- I was still busy trying to get it set up. Ditto for the protective plastic still being on everything. I won't take it off until I'm sure I'm keeping it...
The "scratch and dent sale" factor on this one, is a crack in the finish, coming off the screw holes at opposite ends of the control plate. The box looked almost un-molested. I'm guessing it took a hit during shipping in cold weather. The damage doesn't go through to the wood.
I felt that $100 off was pretty reasonable under the circumstances. Takes the fear factor out of when I'll put the first scratch of my own on it.
It's almost invisible in some light:
...and hard to miss in others:
I was surprised to see book-matched veneers on an instrument at this price point. Hofner's violin traditions kicking in?
Pardon the reflections, these pics were hurried. Doesn't seem to be photo-flame:
I don't know what finish they're using, but although it's evidently prone to checking, it's nice and clear- doesn't mask the wood grain underneath.
My OCD is doing cartwheels looking at the misalignment on the tuners. Not as gross as my Epiphone Casino Coupe- it looked fine until I took the tuners off to swap them, and discovered that a drunken pre-school student had made the peg holes using a blunt penknife.
Still, makes it obvious that these are made by hand in China, as opposed to CNC in Indonesia...
Gotta figure out where I left the lighter fluid- the sticker residue on the headstock needs to go...
More string info:
The DR SFL-245 Legend stainless flats arrived today.
They wouldn't work with a vintage Hofner tailpiece, because they have normal size ball ends, instead of the smaller ones on the factory strings. They fit the nut just fine, despite the bump up from the factory 40/60/75/95 gauges to 45/65/85/105.
Being a round-core DR string, they are very flexible.
Of course, that's not an accurate measure of tension. I did tweak the truss rod slightly (two flats on the Allen key) to maintain the relief the way I wanted it. The adjuster is still barely engaged and turning very smoothly.
It doesn't feel like the strings are too much for the instrument, except perhaps the tuners- but they felt just as bad with the factory flats!
Just for reference, this particular production run of Ignition Violins and Clubs measures exactly 32" from the front face of the tailpiece to the leading edge of the nut.
As you can see, there's no problem with interference at the bridge, nut or tuners:
The first time I tried a German Hofner, I was impressed by the amount of low end bloom it produced when I cranked up the amp (a Mesa Walkabout combo).
With the stock strings, this little guy did NOT have that bloom- The E string sounded like it was resonating against a cardboard box.
Now that it has proper strings and the setup is finally correct, the difference in tone, sustain, intonation and pitch definition is HUGE:
This string and setup combo make the bass feel fast and nimble, and it definitely has the Hofner feel. I really like the way the Club feels sitting or standing, compared to the Violin. A 2.5" suede strap is more than enough to fix the neck dive, and the forces involved are so low that I can't imagine it ever affecting my neck or back.
Things that still don't impress me:
The DR SFL-245 Legend stainless flats arrived today.
They wouldn't work with a vintage Hofner tailpiece, because they have normal size ball ends, instead of the smaller ones on the factory strings. They fit the nut just fine, despite the bump up from the factory 40/60/75/95 gauges to 45/65/85/105.
Being a round-core DR string, they are very flexible.
Of course, that's not an accurate measure of tension. I did tweak the truss rod slightly (two flats on the Allen key) to maintain the relief the way I wanted it. The adjuster is still barely engaged and turning very smoothly.
It doesn't feel like the strings are too much for the instrument, except perhaps the tuners- but they felt just as bad with the factory flats!
Just for reference, this particular production run of Ignition Violins and Clubs measures exactly 32" from the front face of the tailpiece to the leading edge of the nut.
As you can see, there's no problem with interference at the bridge, nut or tuners:
The first time I tried a German Hofner, I was impressed by the amount of low end bloom it produced when I cranked up the amp (a Mesa Walkabout combo).
With the stock strings, this little guy did NOT have that bloom- The E string sounded like it was resonating against a cardboard box.
Now that it has proper strings and the setup is finally correct, the difference in tone, sustain, intonation and pitch definition is HUGE:
- My tuner doesn't struggle to lock anymore.
- It's holding pitch.
- It still has the Hofner thump, but there's enough sustain to make double stops and licks ring out a little- much closer to what I hear on Beatles and Reggae records.
- With Bass and Solo engaged, it finally has that big, pillowy low end.
This string and setup combo make the bass feel fast and nimble, and it definitely has the Hofner feel. I really like the way the Club feels sitting or standing, compared to the Violin. A 2.5" suede strap is more than enough to fix the neck dive, and the forces involved are so low that I can't imagine it ever affecting my neck or back.
Things that still don't impress me:
- The nut is cut a little low on the G string.
- Combine that with a poorly finished first fret that slopes off under the G string and the second fret being a little high, and I have to run the action higher than it needs to be. Without that and a bit of extra relief, the open G and especially the Ab rattle when I pluck the string. If it wasn't for that issue, I could easily run the action down to 1.5 and 1.75mm, maybe lower.
- The tuners are crap. They work, but the "bearings" are so loose that the gear mesh is affected. Tuning is unnecessarily stiff, and it's a constant game of overshoot and correct when trying to get spot-on. A bit of lubriplate helped, but that sloppy, grinds feel still detracts from what is otherwise a cheerful little puppy of a bass.
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First, it's pretty enough to make me want one
, even though I already have one in another colour [silver sparkle - see my TB media collection for pics].I'm confused by your comment about the string balls.
Are you saying that the larger balls will not fit the tailpiece of a German-built Hofner, but they do fit THIS bass ?
As mentioned earlier, my Ignition Club came with DR short scale rounds on it, and I switched to LaBella LT Flats, the balls of both fitting my tailpiece fine - unless the previous owner did some mods and did not say so - depending upon your answer to the above question.
Also, about that 32" measurement - how much further is it from the front face of the tailpiece all the way to the balls ?
Thanks.
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According to Backbeat Vintage, the original German tailpieces had a narrow slot to anchor the strings, instead of the large round openings in the Ignition tailpiece.~
First, it's pretty enough to make me want one
I'm confused by your comment about the string balls.
Are you saying that the larger balls will not fit the tailpiece of a German-built Hofner, but they DO fit this one ?
As mentioned earlier, my Ignition Club came with DR short scale rounds on it, and I switched to LaBella LT Flats, the balls of both fitting my tailpiece fine - unless the previous owner did some mods and did not say so - depending upon your answer to the above question.
Also, about that 32" measurement - how much further is it from the front face of the tailpiece all the way to the balls ?
Thanks.
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I’m new to Hofner, and don’t know much about the intricacies of hardware differences between the various lines.
Don’t forget to remove the foam that’s under the bridge.~
First, it's pretty enough to make me want one
I'm confused by your comment about the string balls.
Are you saying that the larger balls will not fit the tailpiece of a German-built Hofner, but they do fit THIS bass ?
As mentioned earlier, my Ignition Club came with DR short scale rounds on it, and I switched to LaBella LT Flats, the balls of both fitting my tailpiece fine - unless the previous owner did some mods and did not say so - depending upon your answer to the above question.
Also, about that 32" measurement - how much further is it from the front face of the tailpiece all the way to the balls ?
Thanks.
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Other than my one Ignition Club, I've mostly learned by reading about these, mainly on TB, and it looks like our budget Hofners were built for industry standard strings, fortunately, other than the wrap length needing to be longer than some short scale strings have.
There have also been accounts of strings which are too heavy of a gauge not fitting in the E position of the tailpiece of some Hofner basses, mayhaps in the same scenario as you mentioned.
In all likelihood, I will never own a German one, though possibly a Contemporary series, if the stars align at some point.
I could spare the funds if I really wanted to, but there are other priorities.
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Did you look at my photos ?
Indeed it is still there.
I wonder how much difference that removing it would make to the sound ?
It seemed fine already.
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It should be removed. The bridge needs to contact the top of the bass.
It’s only there to protect the finish during shipping. You’ll never find a picture of Macca or Grant Green with white, whispy stuff peeking out from under the bridges of their archtops.
Another reason to remove it, is because with the foam in place, the @&$! bridge slides all over if you so much as blink at it, making intonation adjustments maddeningly elusive.
Also, it looks like heck.
I’m still on the fence about upgrading mine to a Contemporary, which is why I put it back after sanding the base of the bridge to fit the top…
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I was lazy about mine, as was its last owner, even though each of us changed the strings at least once.
Of course it looks poor [then again, you have not seen my much-modded 1974 Franken-Ric 4001 with most of its pickguard missing since 1985 or longer], but I have never had my bridge slide around, and after I tweaked the intonation once for the new strings, it has not needed to be adjusted again.
However, the question which I was raising is "Has anyone removed the foam and experienced an definitive improvement in their sound ?"
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I've had several Hofners and other similar basses. I removed the underbridge foam from all of them. I didn't notice any change in tone when I removed the foam but the bridge no longer slips around so easily which helps maintain intonation. Without the foam the bridge can still be knocked out of place but not as easily.
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Your wish is my command.
I adjusted the pickup heights last night, finished dressing and polishing the frets, lightly oiled the fingerboard and gave it a gentle rub with 1000 grit sandpaper, gave the truss rod another minor tweak, gave it a thorough cleanup, and set it aside.
This morning I gave the bridge base a few more passes to perfect the bridge-to-top contact, put it all back together, optimized the action a final time, intonated it again and removed the foam (it actually seems to be some sort of expanded paper product).
The bass looks, sounds and feels a lot better.
Clearly, none of this would have worked without that final step!
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One Yay and one Nay.
My thanks to you both !
Looks like I'm still torn between whether or not to do it to mine.
My take on the composition of that foam was thin porous polyethylene [which if true could be stickier than a paper product], but I could be wrong, or they could have changed what they use for this purpose, as my Ignition Club bass is at least several years old, and Steve's bass is new.
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I suspect some improvement in tone may have been due to making a better bridge to body contact by sanding the bottom of the base of the bridge. I've never done that but I'll put it on my "Things T'Do" list.
Here's a YMMV...The biggest improvement in tone I've heard with my Hofner Ignition Club (other than using nylon tapewound strings) was when I ditched the Hofner controls and converted it to VVT. The tone opened up quite a bit and it sounds more alive. Plus, I find the controls are now much more intuitive.
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I have thought about doing that too, though in the meantime have found some switch and control settings which seem to cover my needs, still using the stock wiring.
I also have participated in one or more TB threads where folks were specifically discussing wiring mods for Hofner Beatle and Club basses, and posting schematics, which fortunately I do understand.
VVT was considered, among other ideas.
I would also like to try VBT, on the Hofner, and on other basses, such as my Ric 4001, which has had active EMGs on it since 1985.
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