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HOHNER P-BASS CLONE: Vintage?

49sfine

49sfine

Apr 20, 2008
2,220
65
Austin, Texas
#1
I recently acquired a gutted and haggard Hohner bass in the P-bass family. Ash body, maple on maple neck with an "Abalone-esque" logo on the headstock. I got it for next to nothing ($25), and am interested in getting it up and running again, just because, well, I can ... Does anyone have any idea how old it might be or know of any others like it? I would love to see a photo of an original to see what everything looked like. I know it's a cheapie, but I think it would be kool quasi-restored and made playable again. Any thoughts, ideas? Thanks!
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#3
bassteban said:
That actually looks promising. The 6-bolt neck is something I'd only seen on more recent (than the 70's era I'm guessing on this one) Yamahas & G&Ls. How many different pieces of ash are in that body? Tuners & headstock look nice.
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I thought circa '70s too, but perhaps that's me wishing. The body appears to have 6 pieces total - 3 in front and 3 in back, but staggered. Tuners are in good shape as is the bridge; they just all need cleaning and oiling. One thing you can't see too well in the photo is the 4 missing frets @ the pickup end of the neck. Replacing those will put me into some unchartered waters, but I'm up for it as my supply of luthier tools is increasing. The bass is heavy, at 10 pounds currently, but in sitting position I like the heft of it. The neck looks to have a 12" or 16" radius and looks really good to me. I did pull the neck off and there are no numbers of any kind inside the neck-body joint or on the back of the chrome neck plate. Oh well ....
 
#5
GeneralElectric said:
Its from the 70s. I think its a Matsumoko. I had several basses with the same headstock logo style (albiet different names) and truss rod access.
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GE: Thanks for the input - the drummer I bought it from (Craigslist) thought it was a '70s beast. It's actually going to clean up well and the neck is very comfy. I don't have anything in the P-bass or bolt-on neck realm, so I am hoping to keep this one if it reacts to restoration in a positive way.
 
#6
Forget about putting a P-Bass pickup in there. Most of those basses had humbuckers.

If you're looking for an original soapbar for it, let me know, as I've got one lying around for a project thats most likely never going to take off.
 
#10
Hey,
I just found this Hohner... It was in such good shape I couldn't pass it up! It has a serial # starting with 73 so I imagine that could be it's age? Body is a 2 piece with scabs glued in a few spots, and the headstock is like 3 pieces. trussrod adjust at the bottom, and a 4 bolt neck with a "made in Japan plate. It sounds decent, and it's maybe 2 pounds heavier than my real '70 P bass!
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#11
lxmetal said:
Hey,
I just found this Hohner... It was in such good shape I couldn't pass it up! It has a serial # starting with 73 so I imagine that could be it's age? Body is a 2 piece with scabs glued in a few spots, and the headstock is like 3 pieces. trussrod adjust at the bottom, and a 4 bolt neck with a "made in Japan plate. It sounds decent, and it's maybe 2 pounds heavier than my real '70 P bass!
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Click to expand...

lxmetal; Wow, nice looking axe! Thanks for posting. My headstock appears to be one piece and the truss rod is accessed from the nut end, as you can see. I also think the original pup on mine was a humbucker shaped affair - from the lack of mounting holes in the body it had to be pup guard mounted. Anyway, enjoy your new bass ...
 
#14
Yep, the first Hohner P bass in this thread is likely Matsumoko.
Probably made late 70's to early 80's.
Nice score.
And those lows frets were probably pulled by somebody who wanted a "fretted/fretless" bass.... I.E. so they could lay down the low end on the open/first five frets, and then, ideally, solo on the lower, "fretless" part of the neck.
Good concept in theory... in practice.. not always so much.
Keep us updated! :bassist:
 
#15
That first one isn't a Matsumoku. They weren't making accurate copies for their really early basses and the later ones had 3 piece necks (the whole neck, not just the headstock). The outer two pieces were quarter sawn, which made for very stable necks.

The 6 bolt neck might suggest it was made by Moridaira, but I'd actually guess it was made by whichever Taiwanese factory was making Kays in the late 70s/early 80's. They had 6 bolt necks, the same 6 piece body and headstock truss adjustment, though used a cheaper and uglier body wood.

The second one is quite different though, and probably wasn't made in the same factory.
 
#16
Here are shot's of my daughters Hohner P Bass copy. From what I can tell it is from 1988 (the serial # starts with 88) We picked it up last week for $150.00 (early X mas gift). It has the holes for the bridge and pick up covers but she doesn't know if we should get them or not. I am very impressed with the quality of it and it was as steal!

She is 12 and has had her fretted Ibanez for a few years but loves the fretless feel from her electric upright. So far she has been doing great on the fretless and hasn't touched the Ibanez since her concert last Sat.

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#17
d0nut said:
Here are shot's of my daughters Hohner P Bass copy. From what I can tell it is from 1988 (the serial # starts with 88) We picked it up last week for $150.00 (early X mas gift). It has the holes for the bridge and pick up covers but she doesn't know if we should get them or not. I am very impressed with the quality of it and it was as steal!

She is 12 and has had her fretted Ibanez for a few years but loves the fretless feel from her electric upright. So far she has been doing great on the fretless and hasn't touched the Ibanez since her concert
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Wow, thanks for the photos! Very nice! What an inspiration your daughter is too. You might think about picking up a bridge and pickup cover off Ebay - it would really lend a vintage vibe to the bass and since it's fretless, should not get in the way of her technique too much.

On mine, more and more I am thinking about retrofitting a P-bass pickup instead of the original humbucker type.

All the best ...
 
#18
"Wow, thanks for the photos! Very nice! What an inspiration your daughter is too. You might think about picking up a bridge and pickup cover off Ebay - it would really lend a vintage vibe to the bass and since it's fretless, should not get in the way of her technique too much.

On mine, more and more I am thinking about retrofitting a P-bass pickup instead of the original humbucker type.

All the best ..."

There is a good chance that Santa is bringing the covers this year......

Since I already started talking about her playing...Here are a couple videos from last Sat. She is way too ow in the mix but still did ok:



She is a huge Tal Wilkenfeld fan (Got to meet her at the Jeff Beck show here in April) but lately she's been into Jaco. She is kind of an odd 12 year old it seems....
 
#19
lxmetal said:
Hey,
I just found this Hohner... It was in such good shape I couldn't pass it up! It has a serial # starting with 73 so I imagine that could be it's age? Body is a 2 piece with scabs glued in a few spots, and the headstock is like 3 pieces. trussrod adjust at the bottom, and a 4 bolt neck with a "made in Japan plate. It sounds decent, and it's maybe 2 pounds heavier than my real '70 P bass!
pbass009.jpg
pbass010.jpg
Click to expand...


I was wondering what year this bass was made. I knew someone who had the exact same one, except he had a humbucker pup and truss rod access through the head stock. I thought his was from the early 70s due to the pup he had on it. What year did they switch from the truss rod access from the head stock, to the rod access at the bottom?
 
#20
d0nut said:
Here are shot's of my daughters Hohner P Bass copy. From what I can tell it is from 1988 (the serial # starts with 88) We picked it up last week for $150.00 (early X mas gift). It has the holes for the bridge and pick up covers but she doesn't know if we should get them or not. I am very impressed with the quality of it and it was as steal!

She is 12 and has had her fretted Ibanez for a few years but loves the fretless feel from her electric upright. So far she has been doing great on the fretless and hasn't touched the Ibanez since her concert last Sat.

DSCF2021.jpg

DSCF2025.jpg

DSCF2028-1.jpg

DSCF2029-1.jpg

DSCF2031-1.jpg

DSCF2033-1.jpg

DSCF2034-1.jpg

DSCF2035-1.jpg

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hello/...i have almost the exact bass, but fretted....have the bridge cover and pup cover....same finish burst,black pickgaurd....serial # 89013....do you know more about the serial....bass is definitely older than 89' ,i believe !

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