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Winter Build Off 2019- Der Hoffy Schnitzelblaster

#21
Another authentic Hofner detail I will be using is a bolt on neck.
violin guitar neck plate.jpg

I was planning on a bolt on anyway but it's nice to know my mashup will be authentic and period correct. Might not go for the trapezoid plate though since I have plenty of Fender sized plates in the parts box.
 
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#22
GeraldMcG said:
More Hofner research.
Hofner did make six string guitars with vibratos.
View attachment 3262988
It's bad enough that the call their vibratos "vibrators" but this model is the "V2." Great idea, name your vibrato after the Buzz Bombs that flattened London in WW II. Silly Germans.

An article on Reverb about forgotten vibratos had this to say about the Hofner V2-
"They work exceptionally on Spaghetti Western and surf–style guitar lines. If you get can your hands on an old Hofner V2 in good condition, you will not be disappointed."
The six string above also has built in fuzz and treble boost. Hmmmmm?

Bass VI, V2 vibrator, built in fuzz?
Buzz Bomb indeed.
Click to expand...
A Bazz Fuss is simple, fairly small, and works good with just a volume knob. I have a gain only version in one of my p basses.
 
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#23
GeraldMcG said:
More Hofner research.
Hofner did make six string guitars with vibratos.
View attachment 3262988
It's bad enough that the call their vibratos "vibrators" but this model is the "V2." Great idea, name your vibrato after the Buzz Bombs that flattened London in WW II. Silly Germans.

An article on Reverb about forgotten vibratos had this to say about the Hofner V2-
"They work exceptionally on Spaghetti Western and surf–style guitar lines. If you get can your hands on an old Hofner V2 in good condition, you will not be disappointed."
The six string above also has built in fuzz and treble boost. Hmmmmm?

Bass VI, V2 vibrator, built in fuzz?
Buzz Bomb indeed.
Click to expand...
Gives a different connotation to 'dive-bombing' with the whammy bar.
 
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#25
Ran this neck blank through the monster router of death. All ten digits survived. But a little wobble on this one too. I though about making a sled jig to hold it steady after routing this one at the same time as the plywood neck blank.
20190102_164832.jpg

That is the deepest cut where the nlank wobbled. Fortunately that's on the back. At least it became the back when that happened.
After a bit of sanding on the freshly reloaded 80 grit Corian sanding board it smoothed out nicely.
20190102_185031.jpg

Glue joints nice and tight too. Almost looks like a single piece of wood.
20190102_184003.jpg
 
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#26
GeraldMcG said:
A few of the guitars had Hofner "Vibrators" installed at the factory which got me thinking, Leo's Bass VI had a "Tremolo" maybe the Schnitzelblaster needs a "Vibrator."
I never saw the point of a vibrato on a bass but then I have never tried one either. I'm not a big user of guitar vibratos either.
It would look real cool and would be a fun fabrication challenge. Might need a milling machine though...Oh wait I have a milling machine.
View attachment 3262448 View attachment 3262449
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the Invalid Link Removed

I fitted one to a Warmoth Regal (LP clone) body recently. Looks neat and works well, if mainly just in the “down” pitch direction.

Duesenberg is German, hmmmm, I wonder if there might be an ex-Hofner employee lurking there? :cool:
 
#29
A few bits and pieces arrived the other day.
A Gibson style six string tailpiece. I might need to shorten it a little to fit the strings. This is just a backup in case the DIY trem doesn't work.
20190102_211238.jpg

Got strings too. The length of the Hellcat VI stings is closer to the Beatle Bass string length than the Fender VI strings.
20190102_211212.jpg

And some MOTO that I have some ideas for and not the pickguard or control panel either. I already have thicker MOTO for that. This stuff is thin. It was sold as a headstock veneer but I have other plans for it.
A MOTO headstock would look pretty hot on this bass though. May need to order another.
20190102_205809.jpg
 
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#30
There was a reason this body was so cheap.
20190105_113234.jpg

The hole was packed with sawdust and goes all the way through the neck block. I know it goes all the way through because so did the pencil I was using to clear out the hole. Oops.
It's about an inch wide, 1 1/4" from the face, and 1" from the back.
Trying to decide if I should drill it and plug it with a dowel or wait until I route the neck mortise and fill the space if needed.
 
#31
I would think that 1" from the back would still leave enough meat for a bolt-on neck. Might need to build up the neck heel a bit.
 
#34
violin guitar controls.jpg

I am pretty well committed to having a booster and a fuzz onboard so I will need a bigger than standard Hofner control plate. Kind of like this one but I'm thinking pearl instead of black.
Traced the outline of the body.
20190105_151934.jpg

And made a lot of little marks 1/4" and 2" from the body edge then played connect the dots.
20190105_152023.jpg

Looks about right.
20190105_152006.jpg

These knobs are too big. Might go with tea cup knobs or may see if I can do some interesting customization on white Strat knobs which I have an abundance of.
20190105_151954.jpg

Maybe black Strat knobs and do a mini witch hat thing with them.
 
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#35
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#37
GeraldMcG said:
There was a reason this body was so cheap.
View attachment 3272619
The hole was packed with sawdust and goes all the way through the neck block. I know it goes all the way through because so did the pencil I was using to clear out the hole. Oops.
It's about an inch wide, 1 1/4" from the face, and 1" from the back.
Trying to decide if I should drill it and plug it with a dowel or wait until I route the neck mortise and fill the space if needed.
Click to expand...

I would drill it out now, and add a hardwood dowel to it. That way its solid before you start with the neck pocket.
 
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#39
Since I had about four feet of 1" poplar dowel laying around I decided to go for it and fill the plug. The forstner bit wouldn't work by itself in a hand drill with nothing for the center point to bite into so I used my biggest uni-bit to make a 1" starter hole and then went as deep as the forstner bit would go, about 5".
20190106_153724.jpg
20190106_154425.jpg

I think epoxy is overkill for wood working. If a scarf joint can hold with Titebond then I know this plug will be solid using Titebond.
I used an acid brush to cover the inside with glue and covered the plug with a thin layer of glue too.
I needed the help of a rubber mallet to sink the plug but should be a nice tight joint.
20190106_155019.jpg

Then cut it flush with my HF pull saw.
20190106_155145.jpg

Most of the plug will get routed away for the neck mortise but I would rather have a nice solid block to route.
The next step is filling the smaller cracks with water thin CA.
 
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