Hofner Ignition HI-BB Violin Bass, with genuine fitted Hofner Hard Case. - SOLD
£300

tredders · May 19, 2023

Now sold.

Selling my Hofner Ignition Violin bass in excellent condition. I bought it in Dec last year, when it was 6 months old, so it's still less than a year old now. I bought this to see if I could get on with short scale, and see if I liked it. As it turns out, I love it so much, I've just ordered a German 62-re-issue, which is arriving on Monday, so I'm looking to move this on to help towards the cost of that.

The previous owner had just put a set of LeBella Beatle Bass flats on it, along with upgraded machine heads, and traditional tea-cup knobs (both genuine Hofner, at a cost of £125, I believe). He kindly included the original tuners, knobs and round wound strings, which will all be included in the sale. The bass has also been professionally set-up and plays beautifully. The action is low and intonation spot on up & down the neck.

I did a lot of reading up on the Hofner 500/1 range before buying this (there's a Basschat thread I started somewhere), as I wanted something close to the sound of the early Beatles, and this lead me to this model, which is hollow and without the centre block. Even with my ham-fisted playing, it does a good approximation of that Beatles bass sound.

Looks like these are around £339 now, and the case is £89. Add in the £125 upgrades and I think £300 including delivery is fair. If you're around Warwickshire / Birmingham / Oxford etc, we could probably work out a meet-up. If you can collect I'll knock the £25 delivery off, so it's £275 all in.

I've shamelessly stolen the original seller's photos (hope this is ok Pat?), as it's too dark outside now to take my own. I'll replace with some new pics this weekend, but it's in identical condition as those below. It's only been played at home, and all I've done is remove the pick guard (for that late-Macca look!), but this will obviously be included with the sale. I'll even screw it back on if that's what the new buyer wants.

Trade wise, I really do need to stop spending on basses right now and put cash towards the incoming German Hofner, , but I'm weak-willed and I'm sure I could be tempted by something 4 string and passive. I could also use a decent multi-fx (HX etc). Truth is, I'll be tempted by most things bass-related, so try me with what you've got.