Hofner Ignition Club damage assessment

[oka]

Hi all,

 

I recently bought my first bass, a Hofner Ignition Club. It was advertised as undamaged B stock (i.e. someone returned it), but it did arrive slightly damaged. I suspect something happened during transport.

 

I'm trying to figure out if the damage is cosmetic only it's worth keeping the bass for home use at a much reduced price, and would love to hear the opinion of someone more experienced with basses.

 

There are cracks in the lacquer in around where the neck is attached to the body. Not sure if it's cosmetic or something more worrying (neck feels 100% solid, no movement).

Then I'm not sure about the pickups. The neck pickup has a slight angle, i.e. it's not parallel to the strings. Is this normal? It's hard to see in picture I found online. The bridge neck does move very slightly when I push it in, also not sure if this is normal.

 

The bass sounds fine to me, but I don't have much to compare it to.

 

Cheers,

Oliver

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by oka

[Bunion]

B stock or not if it was advertised as Undamaged I’d get in touch with the seller and see what they have to say. 
if it was damaged in transit they should have insurance. 
 

[Reggaebass]

Hi Oliver and welcome 👍, from what I can see that’s quite a split in the body , and the action looks high , possibly because of the damage, I would return it myself 🙂

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The pickup looks like there's nothing to worry about - each is held by the two bolts either side & there's a spring to help set the height. It should be possible to get it to sit neatly with a little adjustment. The cracks look like they could be deeper than just the lacquer and even if there's currently no movement they might open up and cause issues further down the line. Personally I'd send it back.

[EssentialTension]

Send it back.

[PaulThePlug]

If in doubt... back it goes.

It wont get any better.

And you didnt buy a make do.

If it was purely cosmetic then a discount could be negotiated, but this usually only a couple of quid off. so i'd have a new one.

[oka]

Thanks a lot everyone! Seems like a pretty clear situation, I'm sending it back.