Wonky2

I use these, 100-45. They’re great strings.

I use Ernie ball cobalt flats, have done for a very long time now, first set 9 years, current set been on about 5 years. 
cant fault them at all.

better tension than chromes, better feel than labellas …… 

My 76 jazz is pretty much my #1.

my first car was a dyane too !

Tame Impala - inner speaker

live from the wave house 

fantastic bass lines with classic hofner tone, drumming is epic too.

Love  this album ❤️ 

4 hours ago, gary mac said:

Well done on persevering with it

It’s such a nice bass, plays and sounds great but that pursuit of that last few % has just shown up all the aspect that a Chinese attempt on a proven classic fails on.

im sure this is where the German models differ but honestly, the build  quality is questionable. 
it’s right now, and probably had the same amount of “luthery” that a German made one would see …

maybe that’s to be expected at half the cost of a German one , but at double the cost of the ignition bass it certainly isn’t twice as good 👍 

I’ve done a proper fret levelling, recrown and polish, and I also purchased a new bridge.  The original bridge was poorly seated and the bass lost tone  because of poor contact through the top/deck.

bybthe time I had corrected it by sanding there wasn’t much meat left and it kind of lost some mass. So a new bridge to fit tomorrow….. will take

a

while but this bass will be very right when finished.

will

pribably put some upgrade tuners on too because these are crap Wilkinson….

as I say,  paid extra for the Contemporary over the base ignition model, and honestly, it’s still Chinese , requires a lot of attention to get that last 5% of quality into the bass

To move it over, it was off by about 4mm. I glued and dowel plugged the original screw hole to put strength back in and then moved the tail

piece over . 
the steel string retaining block (the bit that sits horizontal to the bridge pup, now measures equal distance on both sides (e&g) to the bridge pup.

I’ve strung it up and normal intonation is now restored rather than the backwards inverted saddle positions I had to have to counter the wonky tail piece! 

tomorrw I’ll be fitting a new ebony bridge. 
 

illnake this bass right and I’m sure it will be lively when finished but it just goes to show, it’s still a Chinese made thing and you get what you pay for ! 

Did the work tonight ti out this bass right….. here is a pic of the tailpiece showing where it was fitted in the factory when made , you can see the centre line is of centre with the centre grain line in the top /deck

Ok…,, so if anyone is reading this , here’s what I found. 
 

the tail piece was on the wonk.

the centre rail in the metal tail piece SHOULD line up with :

1) the centre line in the deck/top where the two halfs of top wood are bonded. My centre line was about 4-5mm obef to the right from the centre line in the wood on the top/deck.

2) the centre of the neck, using fret markers  ,it didnt

3) the steel block on the tail piece, which the string ball ends locate into, the left (e) side was 4mm closer to the bridge pup the the right (g) side, confirming the tail piece was on the wonk. 
 

When I take into account , this bass played 95 % ok. But to a good player, that last 4% is crucial, and that final 1% is the difference between a nice bass and a special bass. 
 

i specifically  paid more for a ct series than an ignition. 
im glad I did because when I’ve put it right it should be terrific. 
whereas their a a few things on the ign which simply have limitations. 
 

that said, I did expect the ct to be much better. 
it has required:

fret levelling

fret crowning

fret polishing

nut slot refinement

zero fret refinement

pick up surround emplacement (split)

bridge seating

bridge saddle adjtstment

bridge contouring

tail piece repositioningTrue alignment

teplacment machine heads

Teacup nob replacement 

string replacement (labella)

i mighty still dull the laquer finish, I just hate the finger prints….

i appreciate it’s this level of luthery is what makes German models cost what they do….. well that and much better quality parts. 
 

Ah well,it should be good in the end….

Having owned mostly Fender bassses my entire playing life, I now TRULY understand why Leo Femder named the P bass the “precision” bass, and from where I’m sat it’s got

little to do with frets, markers or lined fret boards …..

nope, it’s the fact those things can actually be agjusted with At least SOME degree of “precision”.

Other manufacturers, Hofner being one, clearly didn’t think Intonation to be a “thing”🤣

anyhoo…….

I’ve wasted 3 days of my life trying to get this CT bass set up well, I’d say I’m at 98% but like always I chase that final 2% because to be frank , that’s the difference between a nice bass and a special bass……

the bridge on this thing is a dog, very poorly seated and in trying to correct its seating in not satisfied I’ve got any better a result, mostly because previous owner has sanded the heck out of the lower bridge so I’ve ordered a new one, I’ll start again. 
 

BUT….. my issue is with the intonation on this bass. 
i appreciate that with a floating bridge it’s near impossible to get perfection but I’m almost close enough now ti be happy.

BUT here my thing…….

EVERY other hofner I see has the string saddles on the bridge sat in this order:

e string bridge slot 1 nearest tail piece.

a string bridge slot 2

d string bridge slot 3

g string bridge slot 4 nearest neck

BUT on my bass, when intonation properly , it’s the other way around:

e string bridge slot 4 nearest neck

a string bridge slot 3

d string bridge slot 2

g string bridge slit 1 nearest tail peice

every bass I’ve ever owned has the d and g string shorter with the saddles pushed forward closer to the neck, ibvuously to account for the thinner Dianeter if the strings than e and a…..

but how can it be on this bass it’s inverted.  Not least since every picture Ive ever seen of a hofner shows bridge saddles as per the stock image below. 
move shown mine as well to show how I have it.

the bridge is a mess now after having saddles in and out a million times, new bridge is in its way.

i also had to make some saddle myself from some brass fret wire. 
(it actually looks better than stock too) 

1 hour ago, Man.about.Tyne said:

HCT has a zero fret.  Ignition only has the nut.

Yep has all the right bits for a ct, zero fret and stripes nut included 👍

Yeah your right,  don’t think there’s any question it’s a proper CT model, I just thought it strange that every other one I’ve seen has this “made in Germany” stamped on the back of headstock…

I’m not sure on what year the bass was made so it may be an early model and released they had the brain wave to at least mention it’s German heritage 😂 

Sorry guys another question…….

I’ve noticed on most pictures of CT series Hofner 500/1’s I’ve seen online, they have the serial number and the words “designed in Germany” written in the back of the head stock? 
 

mine doesn’t have anything ? 
 

im gonna have the electrics out later

today to see if there is a paper data badge inside the cavity , where I’m hoping I’ll find a ct serial number. ? 
 

the bass , which I bought second hand, although it needed a fair amount of “work” to set it up well, it’s is otherwise very well

made.

every part of it that should Be found on a contemporary bass is there and I have no real reason to suspect it’s not a genuine CT  or rather an ignition bass which has been upgraded and sold to me as a CT mistakenly….

di t think that’s the case here….

set up issues where more a case of

my own ocd with fret levelling, crowing, polishing and neck adjustments….. lots of people would have found it fine as it was I guess but I always seem to be able to find just a little room for improvement on most instruments…..

y try he only thing that is of not very good quality on it is the machine heads which from what I read is the norm on a Ct bass and upgrades needed  are not in common.

so…. Why doesn’t mine have writing on back of the headstock? 
im Not sure in it’s age, or how to age it from its sn, maybe they only started

doing the writing after a certain year? 

2 hours ago, luckman67 said:

Glad you managed to sort some strings out for your violin bass. 

43 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

The genuine German basses are MUCH better made and finished, but they are MUCH MUCH more expensive. 🤑

tha ks Jack, more expensive is a given…. But better finish, I assume you mean refind to a much higher standard in terms of attention to detail and set up, ie the neck and frets? 
 

im not concerned much with laquer.paint finish , just actuall quality of the workmanship/build…..(which I’m sure is exactly what you mean)….

the difference in price is whopping, are they THAT much better ? 
or would putting German electrics in a well set up ct achieve any near similar at a fraction of the cost?

6 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Also, it is worth swapping out the tuners on the contemporary Hofners, projectguitarparts sells various Hofner tuners, I replaced mine with a set of the rugby ball shaped tuners

Yep the machine heads are particular crud.

i specifically paid more for the ct model than the basic ignition series but in all honesty the bass needed that much work and still require upgrades such as machine heads etc so I’m left wondering what the difference would have been if I’d have gone with the cheaper option….

dontbget me wrong, I’m happy with it but it does make you think….

I had to do a full fret levelling and recrown/polish before I could get it set up nice….

with all that in mind, I would wonder how much more refund a German model would be ? 

Honestly people, this is a bargain. These amps were stonking good, proper ampeg and not the crap they make today…..

if you were only closer 

I went with the labella beatle bass .96-.38 guage in the end….

wheni opened the packet I immediately thought I crap , I’ve made a boob here because this g sting is bonkers thin….. 

but having spent two nights leveling frets , re crowning and polishing I was keen to get it string up and set up….

I did and it was great. Those labellas are absolutely gorgeous to play. (I’ve use eb cobalts exclusively for the last 12 years)….. I’m a definite convert.

took the bass and played it for the first time with the band last night….

the first 5-10 mins I thought hmmm this isn’t for me…..

but once I’d got used to it ….

MY GOD this bass is just fantastic in every way. 
i absolutley love it.

sommuch so , I may consider selling my 76 jazz and butting a proper German hofner.

Yeah I’ve seen them, 26£ which is great, I just wondered if they’d end up being a false economy and soon replaces with chromes or labellas …. But if the general opinion is that they’re great I may give them a go….they sure look ok ….

how long you had them on, do they intonate well and is the tension feel high/low/med?

I use (and have for the last 10 years) eb cobalt flats, and I love everything about them, they’re perfect.  But don’t do short scale 🤦‍♂️👍 

I think it’s more about tension and consistency  of intonation ….

and I’ve noticed the hofner round which came on the bass don’t intonate fantastically well….. yes, I’ve adjusted the bridge to correct intonation but I just know how the string registers on my tuner that these hof strings are a bit “wobbley”….

Think I might have some used chromes somewhere to try, and an old set of cobalts but the acutual working part of the string would be wound around the machine head peg as those sets are LS (32or 34”)…. 
would that matter ? Prob not I guess

My first ever real/proper bass was a 4 string bass collection , it really was an exceptional instrument which I must have played 1000+ gigs with it. 
i went on to buy a 5 string version of same bass and continued for years with that. 
gotta be one of the most underrated basses out there. 

So after a crap start to the day with the pickup sale saga, I had a change in my positive mental attitude and went ahead and bought a hofner 500:1 contemporary series bass….(second hand) with a case….

I’ve wanted one for ages. My 76 jazz bass is insanely good but as a few of you know my bones are goosed and the weight isn’t ideal. And so the hofner itch has been scratched! 
 

i think I got a great deal

On it, although had to travel a fair trot to get it but what the heck! 

it sounds fantastic but is strung with rounds, I’m a flats man and I use Ernie ball cobalt flats but guess I need short scale for this hofner so I’m not sure eb cb flats come in short scale….?

any suggestions guys for a nice set of flats short scale? Not something I’ve ever looked for before….and as this bass is “lightweight” should I not be using my normal 100-45’s and maybe go a touch lighter? I don’t want to snap the thing in half ! 😝
 

set up isn’t too bad, but could

possibley be squeezed a little

More lower action ….. 

the bridge adjusters are pretty much bottomed out though so I guess it’s a “sand the bottom of bridge feet” job like I’ve done on new double bass bridges in the past…. 
Also, I can’t work out what size truss rod key is? Cant even see down the flippin hole!  Any one know that off hand? 
 

playing, well it’s small… very small….playing with a puck seems the likely solution …. I’m a fingers guy, anyone else play a hof with fingers ? 

Rest up buddy and feel well

soon 👍

Telebass, sorry to hear your situation buddy…. I can relate….

I have a condition called Ankylosing spondylitis which has left me with an awful lot of similarities to you in regard to fusion, surgeries and just general spinal nightmare…

Im sticks all Time and a wheelchair for anything outside of my limited capabilities to stand, walk or like you say , just be upright. 
 

What I’ve come here to say is that for a long time I stopped playing, packed in and accepted it……. But after some time i found a way to make it work. 
that did seem impossible at one time and believe me sometimes I still have major difficulties , but with a band that values my input, they’re willing to help fetch and carry if it means I just sit and play.  
with the right bass , playing sitting (even at gigs) , even if I’m curled up over my bass, I can still pull

it off and be right in the pocket. 

morphine 3 times a day helps with that but joking aside , its kinda become  my thing to be hunched over my bass looking like I’m in the groove…. Know one needs to know that that just the shape

of my spine now ! Hahah

my band rehearsals are once a week for 2 hrs, gigs are no more than 1 or 2 every 2 or 3 months…. It’s enough for me…. We enjoy it…..
 

take some time pal, find a way and don’t let it take away the last thing in your life that makes you you.

I’ll be thinking of you buddy…… take some time….

edit: just re-read and realise this is an age post with a positive update ! Which is great to read. 
 

a note on the DVT, I also have that in my right leg…. and blood thinners for life (apixiban) …..

my legs are absolutley ruined too after a terrible bike crash around 18’years ago i which I shattered both femurs….

seems we have alot in common hahaha

Great thread guys…..

 also hankering for a hofner….

ptob can’t stretch to a German one at this point but interested to understand the difference between the hofner ignition and the epiphone  copy?

ivr not had chance to try an ignition but I have tried the epiphone and honesty, it played great and thumped just like that hofner sound ….

i was surprised at just how much mojo it had to be fair, I could easily have taken it away and used it but for what it cost I think I’d be left wanting hofner written on the headstock.

is there any notable improvement for the extra cash  or is it simply down to just that, the name on the headstock ? 

McCartney, wings…. Back to the egg - reception.

Now here’s a bass line that would give NWRoy a run for his money.