Happy Jack

Free band name, help yourself. You're welcome.

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1457460444' post='2998831'] I'm 66 and 1/2 - what the heck does OFPFmean? [/quote] But 66 and 1/2 won't do. Oh no ... wait a minute ... http://youtu.be/yhX4liVtuCc

Apparently it's "[color=#6F6F6F][i]one of the most sought after of all vintage Japanese bass guitars[/i]."[/color] So who was soughting after it? Was it you Jon?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35752857

[quote name='72deluxe' timestamp='1457431193' post='2998372'] ... and cannot hear you rubbing your fingers together next to his ears. [/quote] I hesitate to ask.

Buy him a copy of [i][b]Crash Course For Bass[/b][/i] by Stuart Clayton. It's all he'll need. Seriously.

No! No!! And thrice No!!! That is just horrible. Sorry Mike.

[URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/Mike%20Lull%20T5%202014%20CURRENT/Thunderbird%20Body%20-%20front%201_zpseftsoqfd.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20CURRENT/Mike%20Lull%20T5%202014%20CURRENT/Thunderbird%20Body%20-%20front%201_zpseftsoqfd.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/Mike%20Lull%20PT4%202013%20CURRENT/Mike%20Lull%204%20-%20body%201_zpsty0rwv3m.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20CURRENT/Mike%20Lull%20PT4%202013%20CURRENT/Mike%20Lull%204%20-%20body%201_zpsty0rwv3m.jpg[/IMG][/URL] How's the safety now?

Like the gloves? A pair of Scott Devine's finest ...

My T5 in 3TS is simply lush. From the day I bought it (roughly a year ago) it's been my first-choice bass, and that's against some stiff competition. Neck dive? Some. Far less than a Gibson or Epiphone but it is there. On the other hand I always use Comfort Strapps and the neoprene is fairly grippy. A more noticeable issue is tuning the D string where the tuner is a helluva stretch (the G is underneath). My T4 experience actually comes from my PT4 so it's Precision shaped, but the same pickups. And by God are they good. Build quality is superb. I simply can't find anything to whinge about on either bass.

[quote name='howdenspur' timestamp='1457215926' post='2996529'] Never was a thread more aptly named. [/quote] Nonsense! That bass is never Bleugh. It might be Eughrange, or maybe Greughn, but never Bleugh.

This is particularly good advice, especially regarding the Pyracantha and Berberis. Plants like this take years to become really fearsome so it's not a quick fix, but it IS a very cheap fix, it's organic and looks good, and with every passing year it becomes more of a deterrent. Not recommended with toddlers and young children, mind.

Yes, but a lighter bass has more lift.

After 10 years of obsessing about the weight of basses, I have established beyond any shadow of a doubt that heavy basses weigh more than light basses. Weight has nothing to do with quality and [[i]lights blue touchpaper[/i]] precious little to do with tone. It follows that it always makes sense to buy the lightest bass that also sounds good to your ears.

I like the sound of Vibration Mode Analysis. Where can I get me some of that?

The £3250 is just for the photos ...

So ... what's that all about then? Now exists as a sort of parallel mini-forum where people post Items Wanted ads, questions about effects pedals, comments about equipment, etc. I have no interest in being informed of what people had for breakfast or how they're feeling this morning (although I do look forward to the latest update from Les and his curious determination to spell doner kebab with two 'n's) but surely almost all the tosh that turns up in Recent Status Updates is neither related to status nor an update?

Has anyone canvassed John Hall's opinion on all this?

On the "[i][b]does it move when you plug into it[/b][/i]" question, that would be a Yes unless you have a 1/4" jack that has become so worn with use that it is now a 15/64" jack. I also don't like it when the amp moves as I plug in, but seeing as I only do this once at each gig I've learned to live with it.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1456748556' post='2991847'] The Vintage Hofner site has a wealth of information even if it looks like it was built before 2000! Has no-one bothered with a book for Hofner guitars and basses yet? [/quote] Steve Russell's original site was one of the first home-grown enthusiasts' sites and, although it grew out of his love of vintage Hofners, it rapidly expanded to also become one of the best on-line resources for vintage British valve amps and a whole bunch of other stuff. 2000? Yup, sounds about right. Books? Surely you jest? There's loads of stuff about Hofners out there, both books dedicated to the brand (I have half a dozen) and books dedicated to the music of the era (I have at least a dozen) which in turn have to include loads of information about Hofners because almost every rock star of the 60s and 70s started by playing Hofners. If what you're after is a reference book / bible for all vintage Hofners, then the book you want is a rare hardback called [i][b]Hofner: Made In Germany[/b][/i] by Michael Naglav. Next time you're down in London set aside half a day and come round to my studio ...

[quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1456431512' post='2989059'] According to this chart on Hofner's web site, there were 204 500/10s made by Hofner in 1960 and also about 400 Senator basses made in the same year Edit: the notes do suggest that these numbers may well be inaccurate, though [url="http://www.hofner.com/media/wysiwyg/Serial_Numbers/selmer_numbers.pdf"]http://www.hofner.co...mer_numbers.pdf[/url] [/quote] Yup. They surely are. Those numbers are the number imported by Selmer, not the production figures, which were presumably a fair bit higher. There is no real advantage to owning an imported Hofner as against a non-imported, other than the serial number is useful evidence of age. Hofner were, in some ways, most UN-Germanic. Their record-keeping was shocking, they had no interest in serial numbers, they would have laughed at our obsession with consistency in design and components. As if that isn't bad enough, the firm has also been through two major ownership changes plus a complete relocation of the factory. Don't expect to find any definitive numbers about anything! The Senator bass was re-badged by Selmer for import to the UK and Commonwealth - everywhere else it was known as the 500/3. That means that serial numbers are hopelessly underweight as to overall production of this single-pickup, semi-acoustic bass. Hofner made thousands of them. The President bass was both re-badged and re-designed by Selmer from the original 500/5, which was simply a 500/3 but with two pickups. Selmer insisted on reducing the depth of the body by 1/2" to make it less bulky, and they replaced the original simple dot markers with 'triplets'. The Verithin was so distinctive that even where it was marketed as the 500/7 it was still called a Verithin by the locals. The 500/10 was marketed by Selmer as the Bass Guitar 6 and, as Cybertect says, about 200 were imported in 1960. After that, there is no information available. At all! Imported where? Like I said, not just the UK. Selmer dealt with the entire Commonwealth plus British military bases overseas. In 2016 that last is pretty insignificant, but in 1960 it was anything but ... Britain had a military presence right across the world. It seems sensible to assume that at least half of these 200 came to the UK, but the rest could be literally anywhere on the planet. If this stuff interests you, my own personal archive of (almost) all the Hofners I have owned is here: http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/library/Hofner%20vintage%20instruments By far the best resource I've ever found is Steve Russell's excellent and now much expanded website: http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/ You can also spend a hugely rewarding hour looking at this: http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/library/Other%20music%20related/Selmer%20Catalogue%201963

Just reverting to the Hofner 500/10, I used to be a serious collector of vintage Hofner basses. If sheer rarity is your thing, then the 500/10 will certainly tick your box. I spent five years scanning eBay right across Europe on a daily basis, and not one ever turned up. http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/bass/bas4.html Even the best Hofner website (Steve Russell) has only got three photos of this bass - one is owned by the Marketing Director of Hofner, one is in Sweden, and one was snapped in Music Ground in Doncaster some years ago and may well actually be one of the other two!

Yup. I still don't believe that it's a practical substitute for an EUB.