Now at 6 Höfners

[ilan]

Updated group pic. L-R:
1960 500/3 #203 (toaster top)
1964 182E2 (staple tops)
1965 Senator Bass Brunette #2019
1962 182E2 red vinyl (diamond tops)
1964 Senator Bass Blonde #1651
1964 Senator E1 Thinline Brunette #1500

[gearHed289]

That brunette bass is beautiful. Do you have an overall favorite?

[morrow]

Those arch tops are indeed gorgeous !

[Chris P.]

Great collection! I have six to. But all modern.

[amptech]

Ooo, really like the single cutaway naturals!

[Dave W]

Which is the newest?

[ilan]

Do you have an overall favorite?

The '60 Blonde 500/3 on the left, hands down. I can't even begin to describe how fantastic this bass is. All the Senators pale in comparison.

Which is the newest?

The '62 red vinyl 182E2 has arrived on Tuesday. It didn't require much work, I just need to replace the nut. It even came strung with a nice set of correct length (i.e. medium scale) Pyramid flats.

Ooo, really like the single cutaway naturals!

It's the closest I'll ever get to Uwe's Super 400 fretless which is the nicest looking bass in the observable universe :-)

[uwe]

"It's the closest I'll ever get to Uwe's Super 400 fretless which is the nicest looking bass in the observable universe :-)"

Now you're really putting on the shemen with both hands, Ilan! 


That is one hell of a Höfner Kibbuz you have there. Yet no violin shape model, their most famous one, any specific reason for that? Let me guess, you're still saving yourself for the right one to come along? 

[Dave W]

That is one hell of a Höfner Kibbuz you have there. Yet no violin shape model, their most famous one, any specific reason for that? Let me guess, you're still saving yourself for the right one to come along? 

He's held and played Sir Paul's. No other one could measure up.

[ilan]

Yet no violin shape model, their most famous one, any specific reason for that? Let me guess, you're still saving yourself for the right one to come along? 

For my hollow body Höfner needs, I really prefer the 500/3 over any 500/1 I have ever played.

My first bass was a 500/1. My dad bought it for me in 1975, and it had blade pickups, short tailpiece, bound fretboard, wide control panel with teacups and cream slider switches, silk screened logo and rounded heel - all indicating a 1967 model. It was just a cheap used bass at the time, considered suitable for beginners. If I ever get a violin bass again, it will have to be a '67. Actually I would really like to buy back my old bass - I sold it to my tutor in 1976 (to get a Klira, that's how stupid I was) and 45 years later he still owns it. He's in the US, and a couple of years ago we exchanged emails and I have first dibs on the bass if he ever sells.

He's held and played Sir Paul's. No other one could measure up.

Held but did not play. It's left handed.

Now after a few days with the two new (to me) 182's, as much as I like the sunburst '64 in her fantastic almost unplayed condition, the red vinyl '62 sounds better to me, even with its heavy plywood body (the '64 is solid poplar and feather weight). Must be the diamond-top pickups.

[uwe]

Of course, Ilan's "Burning Bush Experience" with Paul's instrument from the Hamburg streets of sin was a celebration of faith and a curse ...

What's with that noteworthy obsession with German instruments, did one of your ancestors come from that historic German instrument building area that now covers parts of Saxony, Northern Bavaria und the Czech Republic?

I vividly remember how back in the 70ies, German brands were the uncoolest thing to play - in Germany! Höfner, Hoyer, Framus, Klira ..., they were the epitome of unfashionable; any Korean or Japanese knock-off was held in higher regard. The fact that with Macca und Bill Wyman the bassists of the two most famous bands in the world had played German build instruments did not matter, quality did not matter. Those instruments were strictly regarded as flea market ware - that really only gradually changed in the 90ies.

When I eschewed buying a Ric 4001 in 1979 and went home with a (high quality, neck-thru, all maho, DiMarzio Model 1-equipped) Hoyer Eagle for the same price, everyone thought I was mad. In fact, after a while (the Hoyer sounded great, but didn't look the part with its Alembic'ish design) I agreed with them and regretted not buying the Ric (pick player, hard rock + Ric were much more of a mission statement).

I still have the Hoyer though! It's been through a lot, two neck breaks: one of them following a temper tantrum in the rehearsal room when I threw it to the floor enraged (the poor instrument hat nothing to do with it, I should have hit the singer), the other when a toddler (not one of my own!) toppled it from its stand.

[ilan]

What's with that noteworthy obsession with German instruments (...) I vividly remember how back in the 70ies, German brands were the uncoolest thing to play

It was the same in Israel through the 70s and 80s - Hofners were $100 beginner basses. I did however always have a soft spot for large hollow bodied basses (preferably blonde), as you know for sure, since I first saw a blonde Hofner Committee (or Golden Hofner) on the cover of a Tommy Steele biography in the mid 70s. I mean, just look at that beauty in my avatar. The 182 is a different story though - a guy at school had one with the red vinyl facings and I wanted it soooo bad. So 45 years later I got myself one from my birth year (and another one just because it was the right price and in near mint condition). Hey, I will turn 60 next year and it's a lot cheaper than a red BMW Z4 roadster!

And I still have considerably more US-made vintage basses than German-made...

[uwe]

My hunch is that it had to do with your service years in the Merkava!  All that head bumping and the fuel fumes.

[ilan]

My hunch is that it had to do with your service years in the Merkava!  All that head bumping and the fuel fumes.

Did my service in a desk job, drank gallons of coffee and smoked 4 packets a day out of boredom, went home every day at 5pm. What a waste of time it was. Then I went to a psychiatrist and got my discharge. I'm not sure I would know a Merkava if it fell on my head.

[westen44]

In general, I can't ever remember Hofner being considered low status in the U.S.  But brands like Silvertone and, of course, Teisco were definitely considered low status when I was growing up.  But I never heard anyone say, that's just a Hofner, that's what Paul McCartney plays.