The OFFICIAL (kinda) HONDO THREAD!!

[mexicanjesus]

I pulled a picture off the internet of a standard fender nut blank, this way you can see what I’m talking about.

View attachment 3919436

The one on your bass isn’t a simple flat piece, and quite a bit thicker.

Another option would be to have a luthier build up the slots using a mixture of superglue and filings from a nut blank to raise the strings back up in the nut. If you haven’t done this, it can be tricky, and the glue can make a mess.

Making a new nut isn’t hard, but it’s time consuming, and therefore won’t be cheap. The other route would probably be cheaper, but I can’t say for certain.

thanks man. i’ll probably take it to the shop and see what he says. he wouldn’t touch it with the truss rod frozen but since i got it loose, added a new bridge and guts, he should. man, he’s a prick though.

i’ll probably end up selling my BC since it sits in the case in the closet but my wife likes it so i doubt i’ll sell it. got the Peavey for 50$ and it came with a Peavey Minx amp bahaha

 

[JGbassman]

thanks man. i’ll probably take it to the shop and see what he says. he wouldn’t touch it with the truss rod frozen but since i got it loose, added a new bridge and guts, he should. man, he’s a prick though.

i’ll probably end up selling my BC since it sits in the case in the closet but my wife likes it so i doubt i’ll sell it. got the Peavey for 50$ and it came with a Peavey Minx amp bahaha

I wouldn’t sell the other basses, they are paid off and not costing you anything. You probably wouldn’t get the money out of them either.

Sorry to hear about the luthier. I do most of my own work, but if I need something done, I drive well over an hour to take my stuff to a guy I trust and respect. I have two luthier business literally within 5 minutes from where I live, but I don’t trust them with my gear, so I don’t mind the drive.

Respect goes a long way with me. If that guy in your town was a prick as you pointed out, I’d gladly drive a lot farther to give someone more appreciative of my business. You say you are in Illinois? If so, I have a place in the Dubuque area that is really good. My brother lives north side in Chicago, takes his stuff to a guy in Wisconsin. He says finding and getting work to a good guy in the city is next to impossible.

Edit to say I see you are in OKC. Love the river walk area down town. Seems to be a cool music scene in the area from what I remember touring through the area. I know of a good guy in Joplin Mo., but that’s way up 44. Nothing in Tulsa? Man I had a blast playing there years ago on the road. Those folk like to kick up their heels! Last time I was in OKC it was right after those F-5’s that took out the grade school and most of the area. I went down to help with the relief effort. What amazed me was how many houses didn’t have basements or storm cellars. Such a tragedy.

 

[mexicanjesus]

I wouldn’t sell the other basses, they are paid off and not costing you anything. You probably wouldn’t get the money out of them either.

Sorry to hear about the luthier. I do most of my own work, but if I need something done, I drive well over an hour to take my stuff to a guy I trust and respect. I have two luthier business literally within 5 minutes from where I live, but I don’t trust them with my gear, so I don’t mind the drive.

Respect goes a long way with me. If that guy in your town was a prick as you pointed out, I’d gladly drive a lot farther to give someone more appreciative of my business. You say you are in Illinois? If so, I have a place in the Dubuque area that is really good. My brother lives north side in Chicago, takes his stuff to a guy in Wisconsin. He says finding and getting work to a good guy in the city is next to impossible.

Edit to say I see you are in OKC. Love the river walk area down town. Seems to be a cool music scene in the area from what I remember touring through the area. I know of a good guy in Joplin Mo., but that’s way up 44. Nothing in Tulsa? Man I had a blast playing there years ago on the road. Those folk like to kick up their heels! Last time I was in OKC it was right after those F-5’s that took out the grade school and most of the area. I went down to help with the relief effort. What amazed me was how many houses didn’t have basements or storm cellars. Such a tragedy.

i’m actually in arkansas. when i started playing bass a couple years ago i was living in okc with my brother. he’s played since he was 6 and he’s now 30. he got me playing stringed instruments.

i play drums originally, then trumpet all through school.

the guy doesn’t want to do any work. wants to sell you his over priced stuff and then talk bad to ya about how crappy of a string job you did. he’s always rubbed me the wrong way and i’m not the only one.

Harrison arkansas has a shop i believe but i’m not familiar with them at all. i’m a few hours away from Joplin.

i honestly doubt i sell any of my bass, honestly. i do like playing them, even though they don’t get played much. plus, they look good imho lol

about okc, there’s loads of good guys in the metro area but my brother did everything and we didn’t have to do anything more than restring any instruments. i got my 3 bass while living back here. i had a Squier Standard Jazz Bass i never should of sold but it is what it is bahahah

 

[JGbassman]

i’m actually in arkansas. when i started playing bass a couple years ago i was living in okc with my brother. he’s played since he was 6 and he’s now 30. he got me playing stringed instruments.

i play drums originally, then trumpet all through school.

the guy doesn’t want to do any work. wants to sell you his over priced stuff and then talk bad to ya about how crappy of a string job you did. he’s always rubbed me the wrong way and i’m not the only one.

Harrison arkansas has a shop i believe but i’m not familiar with them at all. i’m a few hours away from Joplin.

i honestly doubt i sell any of my bass, honestly. i do like playing them, even though they don’t get played much. plus, they look good imho lol

about okc, there’s loads of good guys in the metro area but my brother did everything and we didn’t have to do anything more than restring any instruments. i got my 3 bass while living back here. i had a Squier Standard Jazz Bass i never should of sold but it is what it is bahahah

Harrison huh. I lived in the Springfield area for years. Lived in Clever, Galena, Kimberling City.

Used to turn around in Blue Eye around the square. Lol yea know the area well. Eureka Springs, used to hike around Horseshoe Falls. Beautiful country down there. I would have never moved back North but was married at the time and she wanted to move. Man I miss Lambert’s off 65 in Nixa. Good food.

Unfortunately I don’t know anyone in that area, I was taking a break from music at the time and wasn’t in the scene there.

If I remember Little Rock has some good places, it’s just been a long time.

Lol good, don’t sell the basses, but then again I have 18 or so around the house.

 

[iriegnome]

The walnut is the sunrise logo, serial starts with 1 so, from what I understand, it's an '81, made after they transitioned to that logo. Comes with OHSC.

It's 34" with the DiMarzio P (cream covers).

They all had cream covers. Any of them that do not, are not original. The sunrise logo is the early ones and more harder to find. They are becoming rare, but there are still a lot of them around. Walnut Fretless is the gem to find, but I have only seen one ever. Anyway, then the Bronze and cream burst are about equal. The 81's were made less than the 82's and the 83's are around the same as the 81's, but are not as expensive due to lowered production costs.

 

[TerriblePeril]

They all had cream covers. Any of them that do not, are not original. The sunrise logo is the early ones and more harder to find. They are becoming rare, but there are still a lot of them around. Walnut Fretless is the gem to find, but I have only seen one ever. Anyway, then the Bronze and cream burst are about equal. The 81's were made less than the 82's and the 83's are around the same as the 81's, but are not as expensive due to lowered production costs.

Neat, thanks for the tips. I spent a good bit of last night and this morning digging in hard to the info side on the net. I feel good about my purchase. If it plays as nicely as I'm hoping, it'll be a keeper (although I was really wanting to do a crazy refinish, it may be too nice to muck with at least for a while).

 

[iriegnome]

Pics when you get it!!!

 

[TerriblePeril]

Pics when you get it!!!

Definitely.

 

[TerriblePeril]

Doing a bit of setup fact-finding. So far, I'm actually way more impressed than I expected to be!

It needs a lot of cleaning mostly. A bit of a "rode hard, put away wet," vibe going on.

Neck is straight with a bit of relief (woot!), the pickup is HUGE sounding. The series/parallel switch may not be for everyone, but I like the bit of variation on a toggle.

Anyway, I'll be cleaning it up and getting some new strings on it throughout the day as I do some other tasks.

A pox on the UPS driver who didn't ring the bell, didn't get any signature, and left the box standing upside down, outside, resting against a low railing. The moment I touched the box it almost went right over the railing.

 

[iriegnome]

View attachment 3926477

Doing a bit of setup fact-finding. So far, I'm actually way more impressed than I expected to be!

It needs a lot of cleaning mostly. A bit of a "rode hard, put away wet," vibe going on.

Neck is straight with a bit of relief (woot!), the pickup is HUGE sounding. The series/parallel switch may not be for everyone, but I like the bit of variation on a toggle.

Anyway, I'll be cleaning it up and getting some new strings on it throughout the day as I do some other tasks.

A pox on the UPS driver who didn't ring the bell, didn't get any signature, and left the box standing upside down, outside, resting against a low railing. The moment I touched the box it almost went right over the railing.

Looks great. Knobs are not correct. But it looks fine. It looks from the one pic that it is refinished. Case? Can’t wait to see more pics

 

[TerriblePeril]

Looks great. Knobs are not correct. But it looks fine. It looks from the one pic that it is refinished. Case? Can’t wait to see more pics

Does have the OHSC, but it's grubby. Like, I don't like touching it. It's currently sunning in another location sorry haha. I may reupholster the interior. I knew the knobs weren't original. I don't put 100% stock correctness as a high priority.

I gave it a once over, frets have some munch but the thing's older than me. I didn't dress the frets as of yet. Letting it ride. Similarly, I didn't take the pickups out and replace the foam, didn't take the bridge apart to clean it (but deburred and scrubbed the saddles contact points). I wanted to play it. Strung it up with a few different sets of strings, landing on DR hibeams 45-105 set.

I'm doing some family stuff but I'll make a NBD post in the near future!

 

[iriegnome]

I bought mine in 1982. I still dig it out to jam on it. Killer feel and tone. I absolutely love them

 

[Bugeyed Earl]

Doing a bit of setup fact-finding. So far, I'm actually way more impressed than I expected to be!

It needs a lot of cleaning mostly. A bit of a "rode hard, put away wet," vibe going on.

Neck is straight with a bit of relief (woot!), the pickup is HUGE sounding. The series/parallel switch may not be for everyone, but I like the bit of variation on a toggle.

Anyway, I'll be cleaning it up and getting some new strings on it throughout the day as I do some other tasks.

A pox on the UPS driver who didn't ring the bell, didn't get any signature, and left the box standing upside down, outside, resting against a low railing. The moment I touched the box it almost went right over the railing.

Very cool, congrats on the new bass, I love that walnut finish!! I wish I hadn't traded my longhorn away, I miss it.

 

[TerriblePeril]

Very cool, congrats on the new bass, I love that walnut finish!! I wish I hadn't traded my longhorn away, I miss it.

(heh, when I say, “nbd post near future” it’s sort of a relative thing with me and my situation...)

yeah the finish is actually quite nice. The weird look in the image I posted is the reflection of the hideous ceiling in my apartment. Kinda sucks that the finish is so nice because I was initially looking to get one of these to go a bit crazy with that aspect of it, but I’m happy to have it in my small and growing collection. It’s got that lovely pbsss on steroids vibe with the roundwounds. Action is stellar, neck is probably still just a tiny bit too straight but I can get down with some rattle.

SO much lighter than I expected! My Kent jazz copy is a boat anchor compared to the Hondo!

 

[Sarakisof]

Posted also on independent thread, think it would be interesting here too, 'kinda' Hondo thread food. Found this bass locally a while ago. Pretty rare under this brand name. Trying to identify with TB guys here:
Identify Old (?) Bass

Alabama H 380-S J B Bass.

Probably Samick H 830 series, common bridge etc.
Do you think those pups could be DiMarzio's?

* If it's over posting tell to delete this post. I thought it could be nice find for this thread and TB's records.

 

[ADHD librarian]

Not sure if I get to join the Hondo club with this one, but if it doesn't make me a member I must at least be an associate?

Can't find anything about the badge on this bass, it says it's a 'LaGrange Bronco from Texas Guitars'. I've found a few old ads from Australian newspapers of the 80s with the LaGrange brand mentioned, but no real detail. It's got a Samick baseball style sticker on it and the serial number tells me it's from 1986. Based on the specs I think it's a re-badged H-830 fame?

• Laminated nato body - check, you can see the laminate on the side.
• "Tiger Tail" flame Maple veneer - check (although the photo lighting doesn't show it well)
  
• Bolt-on Rock Maple neck with skunk stripe & matched headstock - check
• Grover Titan tuning machines - check
• Individually adjustable bridge with high-mass Brass saddles - check
• string through body - check
• 20 frets - check
• 34" scale - check

It doesn't have the 3 ply guard, not sure what type of pickups and the cavity wasn't shielded. I thought the headstock was different too, until I saw Marc DLarosa's post (#549 in this thread). It seems to match the body of one of his and the headstock of the other.

I picked it up 2nd hand in 90 or 91, it was my first bass and came with a Crate practice amp and a hard case (both of which I still have).

There is a bit of wear on the back and top-side of the body, some on the back of the neck. The gold hardware is polished down to steel in some places and to brass in others. There are a couple of chips on the edge of the headstock, some dings and chips in the body and rust on the pole pieces. But, while the frets have been filed down, they still have a lot of life in them and the fretboard is flawless. The neck is dead straight, there is still movement in the truss rod and the laminate body doesn't worry me at all.

So, do I have a Hondo?

 

[ADHD librarian]

Here are a couple more photos, showing the patina on the metalwork, the flamed 'tigertail' veneer and the body laminate.

 

[jcdlc72]

It looks awesome! And that bridge says "Hondo" to me....

 

[TerriblePeril]

Here are a couple more photos, showing the patina on the metalwork, the flamed 'tigertail' veneer and the body laminate.View attachment 4374740
View attachment 4374739

View attachment 4374738

I dig this one a lot. Looks like it needs a shim with those saddles bottomed out, i had to do the same to mine.

 

[daws0n]

Cheers for starting this thread way back OP - I started learning bass guitar last year and have really enjoyed it so far... Found this in a local pawn shop last week and decided to give her a new home.

HONDO Fame Series 830 - judging by the broadway style logo and lack of truss rod cover I think it's a 1985 model. The strings were tonally dead when I tried it out, but the neck was nice to play and had a feeling it had potential.

Cleaned up the scratchy pots, added a little tension on the truss rod and lowered the action a little. Strung on a set of Earnie Ball regular slinky's (50-70-85-105) yesterday and it sounds so much better than expected! Should of gone for a lighter gauge with hindsight but well pleased with my new purchase