Sparky Mark

Not at all. The Hofner staple pickup whether Chinese or German will be of almost identical design, construction and materials. It's an extremely low tech pickup. I was just giving examples of how some pickups (not the Hofner staple) might be more expensive than others. The material content of almost any pickup is pretty low; the big driver of cost is production quantity and whether it's hand wound in an expensive labour location.

Because there are designs that use different magnet types, wire insulation materials, hand scatter winding, wire gauges and number of windings to give very different characters. I doubt very much that Hofner would bother to vary the basic design of the staple pickup between its Chinese models. It makes more economic sense to benefit from the higher production quantities of combining both the Ignition and HCT staple pickups. Chinese production is all about volume; German is all about master craftmanship; whether German pickups are handwound I don't know but I bet the basic materials and design are the same. These are not technically advanced pickups.

I know Hofner need to differentiate between the Ignition and HCT range, and the woods and finish of the HCT are distinctly superior to the Ignition; that's where the additional cost is. But how different a bit of machine wound copper wire and a magnet can be is doubtful. The Ignition pickups are a German design too. It's not as if they are hi fi pickups; most use flats with them which makes way more difference than a tiny variation in construction elsewhere.

This is the 1980s Hofner that the Ignition violin is based on. Black knobs and switches.

If I were ever in a shop without a price on something I was interested in I would use my phone for a few minutes to investigate the best internet price which would be my starting point of any bartering process. Not fair maybe but no advertised price is the shop's choice.

Resurrection of an old thread because I'm not convinced the HCT pickups are German. The transit/storage stickers on HCT pickups merely state they are "Designed in Germany" which as we all know means they are made in China with local materials. I doubt there is any significant difference if any at all between HCT and Ignition pickups.

I think the market for heavy bass heads is so small a company like Behringer that needs high quantity production to make it pay just couldn't. When I compare the guts of a typical £350 300/500 watt class D head with the amount of relatively costly components (nine valves, 2 massive transformers, several highly populated PCBs and wiring looms) and assembly time involved in building a BVV3000I I'm not surprised it looks like only one or two batches were ever made around 2012. I wonder whether Behringer realised the error of its ways and just pushed them out at cost price to clear its stock?

Agreed, but it's actually a few pounds lighter than an Ampeg SVT so could be considered a lighterweight backup to one of those. 😊

I should do the same, but where will I ever find a 300 watt all valve head that sounds easily as good, maybe better (in my opinion of course) than an SVT for £350?

The Ibby EQ with the Nordstrand big singles is an extremely powerful combination and the amount of top end that can be added is huge. If your cabs have tweeters I would recommend you turn them down/off to reduce the very high frequency fretting hand string noise. Once your new strings are played in more they should become smoother (give them a rub with a clean cotton cloth) and lose a bit of that brittle top end. I guess oil from fingers also lubricates them a bit too. Use the SR' onboard EQ to cut the treble whilst the strings are settling down. I know that when we practice alone it's great to have a reaĺly clear full range tone but in a band situation a lot of that top end isn't required. It's interesting to hear the tone used for many of the greatest basslines without the other instrument tracks; rarely do they contain much top end at all.

Thank you, that's very helpful. I'm keen on 3TSB and not sure the extra £280 for the AP is worth it for me. Does the Fender bag offer any level of protection? I.e., how thick would you estimate the padding to be or is it canvas only? Is the Markbass bag for short scale or is it 4" or so too long for the mustang? Thanks again.

I've got post xmas GAS for a Mustang and wonder if you could compare the your two tonally please? I already have a couple of PJ and favouring the Vintera because of its faithfulness to the original Fender design but wondered how the single pup sounds compared to the AP version? Also, a lot of owners complain how crap the supplied Vintera gig bags are; just how thin is the padding please? Cheers, Mark

So what do you think of your SR1820?

I'm not sure that's correct. Bugera Infinium all valve guitar heads and combos are still readily available from many major retailers in the UK. I'm confident the technology works, it's just that the market for big heavy all valve bass heads is already well served for the very few bass players prepared to schlep them. Bugera/Behringer need to manufacture high volumes to have an advantage. The market for guitar all valve amps is massively larger because a lot of guitarists prefer how they sound and they don't need big watts whilst the vast majority of bassists are happy with solid state for 300 watts +.

Richard (rze99) has just bought a bass from me and the deal couldn't have been any more straightforward with clear communications throughout. Richard was good enough to travel across London to collect from me. A great guy (even though he let slip he's a guitarist primarily) who I wouldn't hesitate to trade with again. Welcome to Basschat Richard. Cheers, Mark

Thanks Richard.

Yoiks, I missed it too! (Unfortunately that's an indication of my poor timing all round I'm afraid). The whole BC community is here for you Lozz and hoping you continue to enjoy chatting with us as you step back from major gigging. Wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year mate.

Agreed; although I'd happliy gig it if I had roadies to do the lifting. It is actually a few kg lighter than an Ampeg SVT.

I bought a BVV3000 Infinium a while back to scratch my 300 watt all tube itch and still power it up now and again to remind myself what a fantastic amp it is. I don't gig it due to its weight although it's built extremely well as far as I can see and has the advantage of auto bias of the power tubes. I bought a Hotcovers vinyl cover, spare sextet of 6550B tubes and upgraded the spring type tube retainers with the Birtcher style used inside the Ampeg SVT CL Heritage.

^^ Yoiks!!! Them's sure is soft!

Exactly. £799 isn't half price.