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Hofner Violin Bass Restoration


SpikeBass
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Admittedly it has taken a couple of years to get this all done and finished how I wanted it, but, this is a working musicians axe and as such it has played many gigs during the restoration process, hence, 2 years :)

I bought this bass from this very website from a chap in Germany, it was in a bad way, the P-ups were both dead, the neck had been fitted VERY BADLY and also the 'idiot' that done it had used white resin wood glue and had managed to break the decorative pearl around the neck fitting. Also the body of the bass had suffered from mould, this was a real problem to stop and cure it, it had left the bass looking very flat, dull and a coating of haze across the finish. Very sad indeed. Now I'm not blaming the guy who sold it to me, however, he failed to mention the condition and the fact the neck was glued on with resin (if he knew.... hmmm ) Anyway. Between myself and a very talented Luthier named Terry Chapman we have managed to restore the bass to it's former glory and managed to keep the 'Mojo' of a guitar built in 1964, it's nearly as old as I am and looks better too. The headstock logo was missing a piece of the H and I have ordered a replacement but it was not as nice as I wanted so I left the old one as it was. I know a couple of you guys were keeping an eye out for the finished job, so here she is in all her glory. Enjoy. 

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Nice job. 

I worked on one a few years ago - again a 1964 one - but that one had been seriously abused (including a second hole cut, presumably so someone could go left hand in a Beatles tribute band??).  We got it back to full playing condition and the owner was chuffed to pieces - but the finished result wasn't as nice as this one :)

 

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Andyjr - These photos do it no justice because of the file size limitation, but trust me, it looks bloody amazing, and it's used every day as it is kept in my recording studio. I play in a Ska band and it gets used every gig, even while it was only half done.

 

TheGreek - Terry is brilliant, he matched the trim and remade the neck trim and even made it look like it was done in 1964, he re-fretted it and managed to get that neck separated and then put back without damaging the guitar...Amazing!

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4 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

Thanks for bringing us up to date.

Great to see the result and know that it is still being used.

It was used yesterday for a jam and tomorrow it is in the Studio for a Reggae band. No rest, but she loves it.

Edited by SpikeBass
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...
On 11/04/2018 at 18:35, SpikeBass said:

Andyjr - These photos do it no justice because of the file size limitation, but trust me, it looks bloody amazing, and it's used every day as it is kept in my recording studio. I play in a Ska band and it gets used every gig, even while it was only half done.

 

TheGreek - Terry is brilliant, he matched the trim and remade the neck trim and even made it look like it was done in 1964, he re-fretted it and managed to get that neck separated and then put back without damaging the guitar...Amazing!

when are you having the logo fitted lol???

Ive just finished another Hofner violin bass restoration from a guy on here,he saw yours and sent it to me,thanks.

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