Hofner 500/4

[Denis]

This weekend I took my girlfriend to the NC Aquarium out at Manteo and visited a high school buddy of mine. He played bass even as a kid so I blame him for getting me interested in this stuff.
He showed me a bass he has had for a long time, a Hofner 500/4. It's a strange one though, in that it has two tone and two volume knobs, which is unlike the pics I've found with only three knobs in a linear pattern. He did find one old pic from a catalog with the four knobs like his but the bass in the looks like a different neck (more frets) but it's hard to tell.
Anyone know anything about the 500/4s?

[bassvirtuoso]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=636163

[chromium]

Neat bass! 

I wonder if the old Ovation "storm series" models shared those bodies too (?)  They were German made, and certainly look similar:



http://www.ovationgallery.com/pagestorm.htm

[Denis]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=636163

Interesting indeed! The one in this thread has 22 frets though and "Hofner" is in block letters on the front of the headstock but my buddy's has "Hofner" in script on the front and fewer frets. Pups and knobs are the same though.

[bassvirtuoso]

Sorry I don't know anything, but I was posting my Blackbird over there for sale and noticed that, thought it might shed some light.

[Chris P.]

I know Framus made some (hollow)bodies for Ovation. There also is a pic of Entwistle playing one. The historic people at Framus think they also made necks (so whole basses) because there are some Framuses with the hammerhead-Ovation headstock and 'Framus' on it.

[chromium]

Thanks, Chris - always wondered about that.

Denis if you haven't already seen it, there's a good site here with more info, pics, schematics, etc.. of all the bass models - 500/4  included:

   http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/gallery2/bass.html

[daan]

OK this is weird, I've been lurking here for a while but never had anything constructive to post. I also have a 500-4 that I've had for 20 years, and never seen another one, on line or in person then 2 different posts about them in the same day...strange.
http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/74-basses.html has some good info
"In the 1960's and early 1970's, Carvin bought necks from Höfner, and used them on their own guitars and basses.  Höfner was founded in Schönbach, Germany in 1887 by master luthier Karl Höfner, and was the largest manufacturer of stringed and fretted instruments in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His two sons, Josef and Walter, joined their father's company in 1919 and 1921, and they successfully expanded Höfner's worldwide market, enabling them to survive the years of recovery following World War II.
Carvin's relationship with Höfner began in the mid-1960's, and would last until the late 1980's.  Carvin guitars and basses from 1964 until 1978 had bolt on Höfner necks, and the SH225 was made by Höfner and sold under the Carvin name. The Höfner 500/4 bass above is remarkably similar to the Carvin AB45.   Obviously, Carvin got the body as well as the neck from Höfner, as the body shape, F holes , binding and finish are identical.  Note that the headstock logos are also the same.  The significant difference is that Carvin used their own electronics and pickups in the AB45."

my bass. When I got it, the PO had cut it up to put active Bartolini "J-bass" pickups in it, and of course screwed it all up. It's better now, but only slightly original, none of the electronics were there when I got mine so all that's been replaced now. I searched for years for any info about it, and only found anything in the last couple, like the Carvin connection. As far as Ovation having similar stuff, I know Teisco, Kawai and Aria all made a nearly-identical bass, the O's might just be re-branded ones since Matsumoku/Kawai made dozens of brands in the same factory. http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/hollow/sem/semi.html

[chromium]

Welcome!  Beautiful bass you got there   

[Thornton Davis]

It appears there were two versions of the 500/4. Version 1 had a 3 knob config (2 vol & 1 tone) script Hofner headstock logo (as pictured below from my 1969 Hofner catalog). Version 2 had a 4 knob config (2 vol & 2 tone) with block Hofner headstock logo.



These were introduced in 1969 and discontinued in 1988. Don't think they made very many of them during that time.

TD

[Denis]

My buddy's has 4 knobs, script Hofner on the headstock and fewer frets (only 3 dot inlays near the body). I'll try and get him to email some pics because I completely and unforgivably forgot to get some myself.

[Pilgrim]

Daan, are you suggesting that the Ovations are essentially the same as the Matsumoku products such as Aria, Univox and Epiphone?  Tell us more...I'm always interested in the connections that went through Matsu.

Here's my Univox - made in that same factory, and identical to the Epi and Lyle basses of the early 70's (I need to get the pickguard back on it...).  This is a beautiful, well-made bass, but the pickups are nothing great.  I'm starting to look for replacements that will fit into the original mounts:

[Lightyear]

Wouldn't Hofner pickups fit?  They look like pretty close copies to start with.  I'm sure they don't sound the same though.

[Pilgrim]

Sounding different might be good.  These are nothing special...at all.

Interesting thought about the Hofner style pickups.  Allparts sells them in that style at $30 each, and there are some Hofner Icon pickups on Ebay.  I've emailed both and asked for measurements.

[daan]

Well I'm not saying for sure that Matsu. made Ovations, but seeing as how other O's (those solid body ones that the guy from "Queens of the Stone age" that I can't for the life of me remember what they're called) were Korean, that and how many many other brands came out of the Matsu and Kawai factories,  it wouldn't suprise me if they were related. Of course weren't there ES-3XX/EB-2 copies in the 60's/70's like there are Strat copies now though? It also could be complete coincidence.

That Univox looks really nice, I love seeing those older hollowbodies. I haven't really seen any in the flesh other than mine. Oh yeah I needed pickups for mine, and ended up putting ones from a recent "Gretsch Electromatic"    that I had. (The neck warped so badly within the first year I had it that it wasn't playable. Stupid Guitar Center wouldn't honor a warranty either because "You must not have stored it properly for it to warp that bad."
They didn't fit exactly, so all I needed to do was make PU surrounds out of thick pickguard material. If I remember correctly, the "TV Jones Thundertron" PU's would have fit, too, I just couldn't afford them at the time.