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That's sad, such an iconic brand. I'd love to own a Club Bass one day, but they're too expensive to justify how little I would play it (as there were never any lefty Icon, Ignition or Contemporary Club basses, only Violin basses - but I really don't care for those even if it is arguably THE most iconic lefty bass out there).

Really sad news, big fans of Höfner here! Lets hope they get investment/a new owner and push forward again into the future, the product is too good to let go.

I opened up the back of my fretless bass, to change the battery, and was reminded that the preamp includes some kind of midrange boost-cut device. The diagram: The fretless settings (1 2 and 3 off): The fretted settings (1 2 and 3 on): It appears that nothing is boosted on the fretless. Perhaps that accounts for the thinner sound, compared to my fretted bass (which has the same system, but different switch settings). However, before I start randomly flipping the switches, can anyone tell me how (say) a 270hz 10db boost, or everything on, might sound? Robert

The only violin bass I have ever seen being played at a gig was a Grant copy used by the bassist of Nottingham band "…But Is It Art?" in the early 80s. However I've seen plenty of very nice looking Höfner vintage semi-acoustic guitars at various gigs. Unfortunately while there are plenty of "Beatle Basses" on the current Höfner website, the current range of guitars all appear to be rather bland and boring compared with what was available in the 60s.

I will see how it feels for a while before attempting any mods. Did the finish on the neck change when you rounded it?

Could be the room of course, and your own rig will make almost no difference. IME "acoustic treatment" in rehearsal spaces is mostly cosmetic and makes little contribution to how the room sounds especially in the lower frequencies.

Using a fret end file, and care it is not difficult.

I didn't know half of those, so googling them showed all of them except Max Oleatchik with a different bass (almost all a fender) as the first image. I don't think it is enough to keep a band going that half a list of people quoted as being players of a brand I didn't know and they were playing something else anyway. In fact thinking about it, I have never seen a group who actually play one of those basses, in fact thinking about it, i have never seen one of those basses outside a shop. One shop.

I had a go at that on the Satellite. It was crying out for it, given where the frets end. I’m not sure I have achieved Sire levels of smoothness but it definitely feels nicer.

Amy winehouse?

Except for John Stirratt, Chris Wood, Tame Impala, Tina Weymouth, Robbie Shakespeare, Flabba Holt, Dale Davis, JMJ, Max Oleartchik of Big Thief... Need more?

So, last night we rehearsed in a room about 50m from the room above and it couldn't have been more different. Lovely rehearsal space, very well designed and maintained, but with a Mark Bass head and Ampeg portaflex cab that no matter what I did EQ-wise would not punch through, I had to rely on a nebulous rumble to fill out the bottom end in most songs, bloody glad I had a fretted with me as I simply could not hear the note. Next time we use that room I'm taking my own rig

I've noticed, when I try to film and record separately, I end up with a weird syncing issue: I can get the video to sync with the start of the audio track, but they seem to get more out-of-sync as the video goes on. Am I just two or three frames out when I line them up, and that lag snowballs through the video? Or could it be something to do with sampling rates (my phone camera typically does 25fps; DAW is recording at 44.1 or 48 kHz)? Anyone else found this problem? (If it helps diagnose: I record in Ardour or Audacity; audio and video are edited together in KdenLive.)

Did a quick recording last night. Testing the edge of breakup. I'm using the Modern IsoBlock overdrive channel at low gain. I like some pillowy saturation which cuts nicely in a mix. Tested in song context and played along John Mayer's Vultures and Queen of California. I'm a big PIno and Sean Hurley fan so yeah. The SWE TC650 which is based on the EBS TD650, is an instant slap machine. Great blocks! Yamaha BB434.wav

So I took a slight detour on the way to work yesterday and picked up this rather handsome but weighty unit. I fancied a 4x10 to replace my 2x15 cabs and ended up with a Warwick 4x10 and head. I had a Warwick Sweet 15 combo in the past and was very impressed with it so at the price this was a no brainer. It's been in the freezing cold overnight so I've brought it in to warm up before I test at my lunch break. Depending on how things go this could be... It's the best amp and cab ever, becomes my main rig, Ashdown rig goes on sale; Keep the cab, sell the head. Sell off my Ashdown NEO 15s and run my ABM600 into this cab; It's good but it doesn't beat the Ashdown, so it gets moved on to someone who will give it what it deserves

I revisited this one today. This version has the shout chorus and the ending. It is also counted differently to the previous version I posted on here. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blues-connotation-head-and-end-only-steve-kahn/

You do if you're watching Chris Wood..... 👍

Hohner should buy it... save me typing in the wrong name all of the time!

The speed and rate of these updates is overwhelming, I'm struggling to keep up - I still haven't done the previous update yet. It's a good job I didn't redo all my presets with the Swirl or Tiny Lark, I may have had to do it agin with the TDS!

Similar to Hiscox - it will emerge in a slightly different form. As others have said, you just don't see them on stages anymore. I wonder if they are more frequently used for recording than we are aware of... Definitely a brand that needs a shot in the arm as I am sure they are quality instruments, even if they aren't "cool"

TIs installed. What more can I say? Great bass, sounds wonderful. Debating modding it with new pups, pots, jack etc. but it sounds great as it is. Absolute steal at this price.

Thomann maybe?