Got a Hofner Club coming in

[drbassman]

Just proves nothing is impossible in the business world.

[Thornton Davis]

Hello to all,

FYI, here's the difference between the Icon B-Bass and the Contemporary HCT500/1 Violin bass.

Icon B-Bass is 100% made in China. Available in Trans Black, Sunburst and new custom colours. The Icon is also available in as the Club bass and Club guitar.

HCT500/1 is also made in China, but has German made reissue type 511 Staple pickups and surrounds installed in it. Everything else is Chinese made. This bass is very similar to a German made 500/1. There is NO Contemporary Club Bass! There is a CT guitar, but no bass. Available in sold black and brownburst.

As mentioned by Chris P in a presious posting, the HCT500/1 does have a solid block of wood mounted in the body of the bass positioned between the top and back of the instrument. The block eliminates the "hollowness" that's always associated with semi-acoustic basses, makng the bass sound more like a solid body bass.

I personally own a HCT500/1 (pictured below), and have been very impressed with it and i'm an good ole boy when it comes to Hofners.

TD

[Chris P.]

Thanks!

But I have the 2008 brochure with a brand new Contemporary Series Club bass! And I saw it at the Messe! (It isn't on the site though...)

Price in euros is the same as the violin: 650 euros. Available in black and sunburst. Modell numers: HCT-CB-SB or HCT-CB-BK.

The Icon series isn't in this brochure. Didn't knew it had a Club too!

I can scan the brochure if you like?

[Thornton Davis]

Chris, you must have seen a prototype. But there is currently no production Contemporary Series Club Bass available.

Here's a statement from Nate Lemy of Hofner Canada regarding this topic that i've copied off the Hofner Hounds website. This was posted just a couple of days ago by Nate.

"There is no Contemporary Club bass on the price list - perhaps one day it will be added. The thing to remember is that even though Hofner is a "big" brand (lots of history, cool gear, love, fans, etc) it's a small company, so it's really hard to respond immediately to every inquiry or qualify every comment regarding delivery times."

TD

[Chris P.]

Hi there! I totally believe your story. But I talked to a Höfner CEO about it. I'll mail him again for an explanation. Could it be it's Europe only for a whil? The Custom Shop is US-only, so it could be?

In the meanwhile: Here are some bad pictures from the 2008 Messe-brochure with model numbers, prices, pics, ..

[Dave W]

Interesting. Looks like the home office has neglected to tell the Canadian division.

The corporate communication channels must be clogged up.

[OldManC]

The block eliminates the "hollowness" that's always associated with semi-acoustic basses, making the bass sound more like a solid body bass.

TD

Thornton, having played all three basses (Icon, Cont. and German), can you give a description of how the two lower priced models compare to the German 500/1? Does the Contemporary sound so different that it wouldn't 'work' for someone who wanted that Beatle Bass sound? I'm drawn to the supposed better quality of the Contemporary, but it would be less attractive if it didn't sound like a Beatle Bass to me.

[Chris P.]

I compared the Contemporary Series violin to a real one. Not a 60s model, but a German 80s model with both pick ups near the neck.

The CS is very Beatle-ish. Instantly recognizable. Slightly heavier than the real deal, but I hardly can't use the word 'heavier'. Less light? It still weighs like nothing.
The same with sustain. It has a bit more sustain, but that could be due to the newer strings to.
It's well made, it sounds good and for that price tag its great!

[Thornton Davis]

Thornton, having played all three basses (Icon, Cont. and German), can you give a description of how the two lower priced models compare to the German 500/1? Does the Contemporary sound so different that it wouldn't 'work' for someone who wanted that Beatle Bass sound? I'm drawn to the supposed better quality of the Contemporary, but it would be less attractive if it didn't sound like a Beatle Bass to me.

OldManC, fyi both Icon and Contemporary Series of basses come with cheaply made poor quality Chinese made ROUNDWOUND strings on them from the factory. The first thing that I did with my HCT500/1 was to replace them with another set of roundwounds. I had a new set of short scale D'Addario's XL-160S that I was keeping for a rainy day and decided to put them on. They work well on this bass.

As I mentioned above, the HCT500/1 has a block of wood sandwiched between the top and the back of the bass that runs the full length of the body. The result is that it does three things in my opinion;

- adds structural strength to the instrument
- adds sustain to the instrument (giving it more of a solid body sound)
- eliminates the hollow body sound associated with semi-acoustic ibasses

I have to mention to you that I don't gig with my HCT500/1. It's what I call a recreational bass for me. I don't take it to the studio or anywhere else for that matter. I bought it because I wanted to have a new well made Hofner violin bass that I didn't have to invest $2000 + in, only just to have it sit around the house. I've been there and done that a couple of times before. I gig and record with Musicman Stringray 5's only.  The Icon B-Bass was not a bass that I wanted to own, so I bought the CT.

I'm running out of time right now, but l'll come back later on today and give you my feelings on the 3 versions Hofner is offering.

TD

[nate_lamy]

Interesting. Looks like the home office has neglected to tell the Canadian division.
The corporate communication channels must be clogged up.

Perhaps I can help a bit, since I am "the Canadian Division".
- Hofner in Europe has a catalogue, a pricelist, a website, a plant and so forth.
- Hofner in North America is distributed by CMI. CMI has a SEPARATE pricelist, NO website, a distribution centre, a custom shop as mentioned above, and so forth.

Not everything in the European catalogue is available in North America.
The CT Club bass is not on the CMI pricelist. Yet.

I guess there is a bit of confusion about this because the interweb doesn't differentiate between posts from Europe, the US, or elsewhere.

[Chris P.]

Okay! Thanks for explaining. I guess it's just a question of time then. before you'll have it at the other side of the ocean!

[nate_lamy]

Sure thing. Also,
Contemporary = CT not CS

[Dave W]

Thanks for the clarification, Nate.

[Thornton Davis]

FYI, Nate and I have been friends for a number of years, we live in the same city and chat many times every year. This morning I asked him to take a look at this page and comment back to me on the CT Club bass being included in the Hofner product catalog. I didn't expect that he would join the board and post the information that he did, but i'm glad that he did. So Nate, as i've said many times to you in the past, thanks.

TD

[Chris P.]

Thornton and nate: And please stay with us to share info, rock 'n roll stories and more!