NBD: Hofner Ignition Club LTD

[ZenGuitarist]

Can't wait to hear your assessment

My assessment is that I like it - a lot. I blame/thank you for starting this thread and triggering an attack of GAS which has now been satisfied.

 

[mongo2]

The controls are completely bananas though.

The controls on my Club went wonky today. It keeps cutting out and I suspect it's the Treble switch gone bad. I don't have a switch or the time to fix it since I want to use it at a gig this weekend so I bypassed the controls and hot-wired the neck pickup directly to the output jack (I never use the bridge pickup). I may leave it since it sounds better.

 

[shoulderpet]

I finally received the Maroon one that I ordered from MF weeks ago and I love it! Mine weighs in at exactly 5 lbs. and is a blast to play. I really like the colour - the red looks great and there's a subtle amount of metallic paint in the finish, not enough to make it really obvious but just enough to make the guitar sparkle. The controls are completely bananas though. I'll have to go back and read the thread started a few weeks ago about the controls to help me understand how to use them effectively.

Here's a pic of it beside my recently acquired JMJ Mustang bass (which is awesome by the way):

View attachment 2906625

I have the Hofner Contemporary series version of that bass, is a great bass, would like to get an Ignition series Hofner so that I can have a fully hollow bass (CT Series is semi hollow, cant afford the german Hofners for a while yet)

 

[Joe Nerve]

Heads up for anyone considering a D-tuner for one of these. Not sure if it was recommended in this thread or another, but a Hipshot GT2 DOES NOT fit. The hole on the bass would have have to be re-drilled, as the Hipshot is a lot thicker. I wasn't willing to take the risk of such an action. I'll re-post this in the other thread.

 

[Old Blastard]

Quick update: Took the Hoffie to my Americana band's usual 3 hour rehearsal where we did a lot of different stuff from Dylan to Son Volt to The Eskimo Brothers and Corb Lund.

I raised the front pick up some and that increased the dark on this baby enough to cop a solid deep bass tone that works where a P bass would work - doesn't sound like one, but it works - and it proved very flexible with and without pick. It's a solid little instrument and after 3 hours you don't realize it was on your neck.

I'm digging it.

 

[Old Blastard]

A week ago, the Hofie had its first gig, a 3-hour honky tonking Americana/rockfish/folk band that's got great folks and musicians.

I was nervous as Hofie didn't really wow me in The practice room but seemed ok at rehearsal. But man did it come through in the gig. Deep tones like a hollowbody, snarly with a pick, I figured out the tone controls finally and 5 pounds for three hours made my 7 pound Drakes feel like anvils.

OK, Hofie ain't no Drake. It it played pretty easy and had all the tone I needed. I'd play it anywhere and plan and taking it to my grungy rock band gig next Friday.

Great in cramped quarters. Didn't hit the crash symbol or bam the drummer all night. Worth the $250 I paid on sale and maybe another $100.

And I have a shirt and tie that matches it!

 

[mongo2]

As it came, I couldn't get any really articulate dark sounds but I was thinking a bit about tapewounds. I have them on my fretless basses and love the sounds. Been thinking about putting them on my big hollow Ibanez, though. Does it get muddy with the tapes?Do you compensate with pickups?

Amp eq prevents any unwanted muddiness. I only use the neck pickup.

Since I last posted here I replaced the wonky controls on my Club with a V/V/T setup, much better for me.

I've also changed my rig bringing my SABDDI out of a couple of years in retirement and I've switched to D'Addario Chromes flatwounds. I had to enlarge the tuner holes on the E and A tuners to accommodate the fatter windings and razor off some of the silk to clear the nut. With the SABDDI and the brighter sounding flats I can get pretty much any tone I want including a very credible P bass tone.

For a while I had been considering adding a third pickup in the "Cavern" position but with the SABDDI I don't think it will be necessary.

Last week I tried to buy another Ignition Club used at GC but the two they had were sold by the time I contacted them.

 

[Old Blastard]

I've been pleased with the sound out of the Hofie. It was worth the price. The wonky tone controls are ok once you fool with it enough.

 

[mongo2]

I've been pleased with the sound out of the Hofie. It was worth the price. The wonky tone controls are ok once you fool with it enough.

My "wonky" was due to a bad Treble On switch. I originally bypassed the controls to get through several gigs and then decided to make it V/V/T. Otherwise the OEM controls are usable but limiting. I prefer to control the amount of treble cut rather than just have it on or off. Plus the V/V/T setup resulted in slightly higher output and a punchier yet more open tone.

 

[Old Blastard]

My "wonky" was due to a bad Treble On switch. I originally bypassed the controls to get through several gigs and then decided to make it V/V/T. Otherwise the OEM controls are usable but limiting. I prefer to control the amount of treble cut rather than just have it on or off. Plus the V/V/T setup resulted in slightly higher output and a punchier yet more open tone.

I have the vvt on my Epi viola and it works great. I think the wonk is the price for Hofie admission. At least Ingot a helladeal

 

[mongo2]

At least Ingot a helladeal

So did I which is why I'm not shy about modding it. Since I've decided for now not to add a middle pickup I may just taper the neck to narrow the nut width to my preferred 1-3/8 to 1-7/16 inches.

 

[Old Blastard]

So did I which is why I'm not shy about modding it. Since I've decided for not not to add a middle pickup I may just taper the neck to narrow the nut width to my preferred 1-3/8 to 1-7/16 inches.

I can't modify a verb without ruining it!

 

[mongo2]

I can't modify a verb without ruining it!

I've never heard of a "Verb" bass.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I love the sound and playability of my Hofner Club Ignition bass.....but at the time I got it all I could pick up was black, which I hate, and brown sunburst, which I hated only a little less.

I had payments on other gear and was going to snag a blue one as soon as I could free up some $$ and now I can't find one ANYWHERE which really sucks. I'm all about colors on my basses, and brown, black and green don't count!

 

[Old Blastard]

They do have a pretty awesome green one. Musicians Friend. Will come in later. I like bright, green bursty colors

 

[WI Short Scaler]

They do have a pretty awesome green one. Musicians Friend. Will come in later. I like bright, green bursty colors

I see that if you look up the colors, green/red/blue, that there is a projected date of Dec 2018 that they'll be available again so I'm holding out hope that I can get a blue one than. If I really can't get a blue one I might settle for red but not so sure about the green, never been a fan of green as a color.