Hofner Questions

[OldManC]

I've been wanting to try one of the lower end Hofner Club basses and thought I'd ask in case you guys have any experience with them. I know the Contemporary has a block and the others don't. The cheaper ones on eBay seem to have all sorts of names but besides that, I don't know if one is better than the other or how to tell (Icon, Ignition, B, BC, HI).

I know the Contemporary isn't going to sound exactly like a full hollowbody but I'm leaning toward it anyway just because it seems like that one is pretty good quality. Also, is there a cheap model besides the Contemporary that has neck binding? I ask because I'm seeing some with gold Hofner decals on the back of the headstock and some without (all listed as Contemporary or HCT and at similar price points).





So after all that, my questions are: Are all the Contemporary Clubs the same (other than finish), and, if not, what are those differences and which one would you recommend (or not)?

[Chris P.]

I'm befriended with the guys at Höfner's in Germany, so I can ask some questions to them if you'd like. The main guy is in hospital now, though.... He wrote the Höfner Violin Bass Book. But this is what I know, think and experienced. I played quite a lot. At the moment I have a German Club and a HCT Club. The German one has different pickups and the Cavern spacing, so not east to do a good comparison. But my cup of tea (pun intended):

Ignition/HI/Icon:
Nice basses for the money. Nice basses if you want a Beatles Bass (or Club) for studio, some songs, a back ip. Some purist like them better than the HCT, because they're totally hollow, like you said. Nice sound, but they look and feel a bit cheap (well they are cheap, haha) and the looks are not totally the same as the German ones. Wrong pickups, cheap looking plastics, strange logoscript on the headstock. My local shop have several and I think they're made in different factories. I saw at least three different headstock logo scripts, different tuners, different strings, different controls. All similar, but slightly different.
A big difference is the neck. The fretboard is almost flat on the body, like a 'normal' bass, so the pickups and bridge are quite low. It makes them easier to play if you're used to other basses. On HCT and German basses the neck is set high in the body. Like Gretsch. Macca had his strap in the gap between body and neck, where it 'hangs over' the body. Pickups and bridge are much higher on the body.

Contemporary/HTC:
I like those. Apart from the controls (you can change them to tea cups easily) they look and feel the same as German ones. If you ad tea cups, they would fool me. I can see it's a HCT because of the different colour sunburst (more black to yellow than brown to yellow) and they're better made than German ones, haha! German ones all have their little 'character' things. Little errors and faults. Hardly noticable, but you can see they're made by humans, the old way. (*)
The HCT's have the center block, but they're still very light. The sound is not that different. It still is a small box, put flats on it and they sound really old fashioned Höfner.

(*) I would advice everyone to buy a HCT cos they're really good and beautiful. But still. A real one. The case, the smell, the look, the wood. Different lacquering. Mojo, magic, whatever you call it. I have two German violin basses and they're really something!

Hope this answers your question a bit.

[Chris P.]

BTW: Ignition, Icon, HI (Höfner Icon/Ignition) B-Bass is all the same. But from different factories. I think the Icon name was changed to Ignition.

Dunno about headstock decals, but I think all HCT (Höfner Contemporary Series) are made in the same Chinese factory, build by Höfner.

[OldManC]

Excellent! Thank you, Chris. I appreciate your taking the time to write that out.

[ilan]

Has anyone ever tried to remove the block from an HCT? It totally ruins it for me. A whole different sounding/playing bass imho, and of course heavier.

[Chris P.]

The're not that much heavier and with flats the tone is still very Höfner imho....

[westen44]

A great description.  I'd prefer the Contemporary, but found the Ignition on sale for $100 off.  Although a fragile, cheaply made bass, I do like the idea that it's a true hollow body and also gets a real Hofner sound.  Of course, as usual, this has to be on back order.  So who knows when I'll be able to get it.  Probably not any time soon. 

[westen44]

The Ignition got here a little sooner than expected.  I'm tempted to keep it and it would be a lot cheaper.  But I've about decided to send it back and get a Contemporary violin bass instead.  Maybe some day I can get a German model, too. 

[Chris P.]

Great! Order a set of teacups!

[westen44]

I hadn't even thought about that, although the Ignition I got has teacups.  I've still got to work out the details on what would be involved in getting the Contemporary, but of course everything has been closed for the holiday.