NBD: 1969/70 Höfner 500/8 "Ambassador bass"

[ilan]

Here is my new 1969/70 Höfner 500/8 "Ambassador Bass". Glad I got the passive model, most of them were active with bass boost and/or an equally useless fuzztone. Ideally I'd prefer Blonde but this one will do.

Got her for EUR 600 ($615) on eBay as a "project" from a guy in Italy.  The neck was a ski slope and the bridge pickup was dead. I replaced the heavy gauge 1,000-years-old strings with LaBella Low Tension Flats medium scale. The truss rod functions smoothly and the neck is dead straight now with low action. Having the bridge pickup rewound with correct 44 AWG wire has set me back another $80.

[morrow]

Well that's cool as hell .

Congratulations !

[Dave W]

Nice score!

[4stringer77]

I'm jealous. You have the coolest Hofners and you get to eat the best hummus and falafel. It's around 35 Celsius with high humidity here this week in New Hampshire. What I would give for some good Israeli melon and farmers cheese on the beach. The eye candy on the beach is pretty good this time of year too. Hope the medusas don't get you. Enjoy Habibi.

[gearHed289]

Very cool bass. Love the double cutaway and burst finish.

[Pilgrim]

A classic; very nice.

[Chris P.]

Really cool!

[ilan]

I'm jealous. You have the coolest Hofners and you get to eat the best hummus and falafel. It's around 35 Celsius with high humidity here this week in New Hampshire. What I would give for some good Israeli melon and farmers cheese on the beach. The eye candy on the beach is pretty good this time of year too. Hope the medusas don't get you. Enjoy Habibi.

You definitely know what you're talking about :-)

[ilan]

Updated group pic
L-R:
1965 Höfner Senator E1 Thinline Brunette #1500
1965 Höfner Senator Bass #2019
1960 Höfner 500/3 #203
1969-70 Höfner 500/8 "Ambassador Bass"
1963 Höfner 500/7 Verithin Bass
1964 Höfner 182 bass

The teacup vol knob on the Blonde 500/3 is from my first bass - a 1967 500/1 that my dad bought for me in 1975.

[morrow]

That's a great group!
It really doesn't get much cooler than that.

[Dave W]

Love that 500/3

[ilan]

Love that 500/3

Everybody does  Hands-down the best of the five.

[ilan]

Here is the '63 Verithin at a gig. Little bass solo at 1:43

[morrow]

Nice stuff!

[Dave W]

Sounds good!