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OK to remove pickguard/scratchplate off Hofner HCT500/7 Verythin Bass?


Thundr
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Hi all,

Newbie question: I don’t know why, but I find scratchplates or pickguards spoil the look of otherwise beautiful basses. Should I just get over it, seeing as they fulfil an important function? Or should I steer clear if they put me off so much (other options do exist after all, eg Yamaha’s TRBX series)? Or - third way - is it OK to remove the pickguard/scratchplate off the yummy Hofner HCT500/7 Verythin Bass, for example? 

Thanks & safe thumpin’,

T

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I took the pickguard off my violin bass - as it read “The Cavern”

If there’s no electronics mounted to it. Go for it.

Shove it in a ziplock bag and shove in a draw, or case. The lad who I sold the violin to kept it as it was and still has the pickguard in the case where I left it.

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26 minutes ago, Thundr said:

Thanks, Andy. Safe to conclude that neither the Violin Bass nor your playing of it suffered for the removal of the scratchplate?

Haha. My playing wouldn’t suffer if I lost all my fingers in a terrible woodworking accident.

The Bass was fine.

weirdly held into the neck with a nail. Classy.

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I made a new scratchplate for my Hofner Club as I really didn't like the anemic looking white pearl one it came with. When it was off I was very tempted to leave it off. The only problem I had with was that the control panel stood out as even more odd with no scratchplate. The bass was black though it probably would've worked better on sunburst. 

I've just had a google and you're right, the Verythins do look better without the scratchplate. 

Get it off! 😁

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😊 I know what you mean ref anaemic look. (I think Hofner calls it “pearloid”.) What did you do about the control-panel surround?

Protection can be elegant. Beats me why many manufacturers pay designers to come up with beautiful guitar and bass bodies, and then slap on unsympathetic, jarring pickguards in the name of “protection“. The most important feature of a fast car is not its engine - but its brakes. Next time you see a Ferrari, look through the wheel spokes at the brakes: protection made elegant.

Elegant, sympathetic scratchplates should be a no-brainer. (Says a non-Ferrari-owning cybersecurity product designer 😉...)

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