Modernize and Upgrade Violin Bass?

[iualum]

I always had a hankerin' for a violin bass, but had the same concerns. So I had Bud LeCompte cook one up for me. Mahogany body, birdseye maple top, Macassar ebony fretboard, Aguilar OBP-3 preamp and Nordstrand pickups. It plays and sounds fantastic, like a modern bass should. Right now I have TI Jazz Flats on it.

The bad news: as far as I know, Bud's not building basses any more - at least he's not taking custom orders.

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Ha! Well, you've got my favorite TalkBass bass ... & then you've got this one . If you like/love it, if it makes you happy, super.

 

[El Pelusa]

I was wondering if you could use a EKO 995 bridge on a Hofner 500/1?
The Eko bridge has 4 individual saddles which are adjustable like most modern basses.

No problems with my Hofner bridge but maybe helpful to someone with a problematic Hofner...

 

[Eilif]

Yes. But, I'm going to play short scales exclusively and it's my only short scale right now. It's a Squier Vintage Modified and even though I love it, I have some extra cash and I'm looking to get something a little nicer. I'm thinking about a Hofner CT or a Lakland Skyline 30. I might instead get and Ibanez AGB200 and use the etxra cash to upgrade my amp as well.

If you've got the budget for it, I'd highly recommend the Skyline 30. It's a high quality instrument that's going to be far more versatile than the Hofner. That versatility will be very useful if you're going to be only playing shorties. IMHO, even the nicer Hofner's are still mostly 1 or 2 trick ponies. After you get the skyline, you can grab the cheap Rogue (get's quite favorable reviews here) that will do the "Hofner tone" nearly as well without tying up alot of your money in a comparatively limited instrument.

View attachment 660633 I was wondering if you could use a EKO 995 bridge on a Hofner 500/1?
The Eko bridge has 4 individual saddles which are adjustable like most modern basses.

No problems with my Hofner bridge but maybe helpful to someone with a problematic Hofner...

There shouldn't be any real problem with it aside from very likely needing to have the feet sanded to fit the curvature of your particular instrument. As for parts in general, I've noticed a number of import dealers selling parts (bridges, pickups, tailpieces, etc) that were much harder to get ahold of 10 years ago. Not to say these are going to be the top-quality replacements or even improvements, but it's certainly easier to fix up an old violin/viola bass now that it was in the past.

 

[ii7-V7]

If you've got the budget for it, I'd highly recommend the Skyline 30.

That's exactly what I did. It was a great decision. I'm very happy with it.

 

[Eilif]

Very cool!
I guess I missed that this was an older thread. Do you have a review of it up somewhere? I'd like to hear more about it.

 

[ii7-V7]

Very cool!
I guess I missed that this was an older thread. Do you have a review of it up somewhere? I'd like to hear more about it.

Yep. It's here: NBD - Lakland Skyline Hollowbody 30 | TalkBass.com

 

[Dick Pountain]

Per your original question, some things lend themselves to being upgraded on these kinds of bases. Electronics, yes. It's fairly easy to swap out controls and organize things the way you want them. The pups on the Icon sound fairly good to me. The right strings will go a long way for tone. There have been a few different posts on re-routing the bodies (or cutting a hole in them as it were) and the general consensus is that it'd be a bad idea to try and fit something like a Darkstar as you'd be cutting quite a bit of wood. I'm sure someone's done it with good results but it seems like it'd be a scary mod. I would think the same for upgrading the bridge to something like a tune-o-matic. I don't think there'd be much for it to hold onto or anchor into. As I said in my previous post, the way these bases almost intonate is part of their charm.

Regarding looking for a shortscale, the hofner basses are a lot of fun to play and there are a lot of us here that'd recommend them. I noticed you have a Mustang, isn't that shortscale?

I put a cobbled-together metal bridge onto my Hofner Ignition Violin Bass and it transformed tone, action and sustain. Pix here:

 

[Telemesa]

Intonation: Playing with the floating bridge got it pretty close for me.

Neck Dive: I have one of those large Levy's 4" wide bass straps, and there is absolutely no neck dive with my Hofner Icon B Bass at all.

Tone: I ended up replacing the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers, and that made a HUGE difference in tone for me. The more vintage vibe was there, and there was a fullness that was previously lacking. I have debated replacing the controls myself with either a vol-vol-tone setup or a stacked vol/tone for both pickups. But for right now, the pickup replacement has done enough for me.

Still liking the SDs in your Ignition? Anything else about the mod you can share. I like the look of the staple PUs, but I do chase tone. Thanks

 

[DennisO]

Intonation: Playing with the floating bridge got it pretty close for me.

Neck Dive: I have one of those large Levy's 4" wide bass straps, and there is absolutely no neck dive with my Hofner Icon B Bass at all.

Tone: I ended up replacing the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers, and that made a HUGE difference in tone for me. The more vintage vibe was there, and there was a fullness that was previously lacking. I have debated replacing the controls myself with either a vol-vol-tone setup or a stacked vol/tone for both pickups. But for right now, the pickup replacement has done enough for me.

Nice! Are those SD mini humbuckers 4 conductor wiring? I've got some crazy ideas for my Ignition also. Hence my questions. I'm also thinking about a stacked pot for each pickup. And using the switches for series/parallel, adding different strength caps to change the tones, sorta like a varitone only using Hofner type switches. Look very stock but make lotsa wild and crazy noises lol

 

[Jon Moody]

Nice! Are those SD mini humbuckers 4 conductor wiring? I've got some crazy ideas for my Ignition also. Hence my questions. I'm also thinking about a stacked pot for each pickup. And using the switches for series/parallel, adding different strength caps to change the tones, sorta like a varitone only using Hofner type switches. Look very stock but make lotsa wild and crazy noises lol

Honestly, I have no idea at this point. Perhaps? You could probably check SD's website and look at wiring schematics to find out for sure.

 

[DennisO]

Honestly, I have no idea at this point. Perhaps? You could probably check SD's website and look at wiring schematics to find out for sure.

well the first thing I'd want to do when I get to the point of actually doing it is find a pair of 4 wire humbuckers that will fit in the holes, cuz I'm not gonna cut them bigger. I'm pretty sure the SD website wouldn't have a schematic for what I want to do. Given enough time I could probably figure it out myself, which is half the fun, or find the right creative genius to design it for me, that's not working so well lol. But it's all good, I'm enjoying my bass hobby. I've only been playing the bass 2 years. Some days it's a struggle deciding which bass I'm gonna use for practice, that kind of problem is a good one lol.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I haven't seen any aftermarket parts. I was looking to find a bridge that had a slightly wider spacing, but couldn't find anything out there, and it wasn't worth machining it myself.

 

[NikMuso]

Has anyone here dropped the Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers into a Hofner Contemporary Violin Bass? I can tell they are not the same as the Ignition/Icon...

 

[JimmyM]

I always had a hankerin' for a violin bass, but had the same concerns. So I had Bud LeCompte cook one up for me. Mahogany body, birdseye maple top, Macassar ebony fretboard, Aguilar OBP-3 preamp and Nordstrand pickups. It plays and sounds fantastic, like a modern bass should. Right now I have TI Jazz Flats on it.

The bad news: as far as I know, Bud's not building basses any more - at least he's not taking custom orders.

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As an update, Bud's building basses again.

LeCompte Electric Bass

 

[kevmac]

Intonation: Playing with the floating bridge got it pretty close for me.

Neck Dive: I have one of those large Levy's 4" wide bass straps, and there is absolutely no neck dive with my Hofner Icon B Bass at all.

Tone: I ended up replacing the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers, and that made a HUGE difference in tone for me. The more vintage vibe was there, and there was a fullness that was previously lacking. I have debated replacing the controls myself with either a vol-vol-tone setup or a stacked vol/tone for both pickups. But for right now, the pickup replacement has done enough for me.

I have a Solo kit Beatle bass that seems good quality and I usually replace pickups on kit builds.The Seymour Duncan mini buckers you used also caught my eye.Did you have to make alterations or did they fit directly?My kit bass is pretty much a copy of a Hofner and if I didn't need to cut anything to fit them I'd give them a try.

 

[Jon Moody]

I have a Solo kit Beatle bass that seems good quality and I usually replace pickups on kit builds.The Seymour Duncan mini buckers you used also caught my eye.Did you have to make alterations or did they fit directly?My kit bass is pretty much a copy of a Hofner and if I didn't need to cut anything to fit them I'd give them a try.

Man, it’s been a while since I did that but from what I remember, no. There wasn’t any modifications or cuts I had to do to the Hofner to get the mini humbuckers to fit.

 

[mongo2]

Tone: I ended up replacing the stock pickups with Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers, and that made a HUGE difference in tone for me. The more vintage vibe was there, and there was a fullness that was previously lacking. I have debated replacing the controls myself with either a vol-vol-tone setup or a stacked vol/tone for both pickups. But for right now, the pickup replacement has done enough for me.

Man, it’s been a while since I did that but from what I remember, no. There wasn’t any modifications or cuts I had to do to the Hofner to get the mini humbuckers to fit.

I converted my Hofner Ignition Club Bass to V/V/T controls. Before I did that I was considering changing pickups but after the conversion I found that the OEM pickups sounded a bit less constrained.

Changing to V/V/T let me I put off changing the pickups but I'm thinking of doing it now. I checked the SD site and found an article where the Firebird guitar sized Vintage Mini Humbucker are recommended for the neck pickup and the Seymourized Mini Humbucker recommended for the bridge pickup. Are they the pickups you found to be a drop-in replacement for the Hofmer OEM pickups?

Thanks.

Here's the link to the SD Hofner Pickup Article...

SD Mini-Humbuckers and the Hofner Beatle Bass - Guitar Pickups, Bass Pickups, Pedals

 

[kevmac]

Man, it’s been a while since I did that but from what I remember, no. There wasn’t any modifications or cuts I had to do to the Hofner to get the mini humbuckers to fit.

Thanks man, I have trouble remembering what I had for lunch,so you have me beat!

 

[Dick Pountain]

I've always enjoyed playing Violin basses, but there are a few things about them that bug me; limited tone, intonation, Neck dive, etc. But it crossed my mind that much of this could be fixed. I did a search, but didn't see much of anything about modifying or upgrading these basses to have more modern features, like a tune-o-matic bridge and a traditional tone knob, NS strap horn, etc. Is anyone doing this? And if so what have the results been?

Hofner Ignition series violin bass bridge replacement

 

[Jon Moody]

I checked the SD site and found an article where the Firebird guitar sized Vintage Mini Humbucker are recommended for the neck pickup and the Seymourized Mini Humbucker recommended for the bridge pickup. Are they the pickups you found to be a drop-in replacement for the Hofmer OEM pickups?

Thanks.

Here's the link to the SD Hofner Pickup Article...

SD Mini-Humbuckers and the Hofner Beatle Bass - Guitar Pickups, Bass Pickups, Pedals

It's too bad that they don't list the names of the writers of their articles anymore, because I wrote that. The green bass is also the one I put them in (but recently sold).

Simply put, yep. Those are the exact drop-ins I used.