NBD. Höfner 500/1 V62 aka Mersey

[Chris P.]

A few days ago I got this bass in. It's a V62, which is now called Mersey. It's a factory 2nd, with some minor cracks in the lacquering, which you only see in very bright light. 2nd? Mojo!

The one-off orange one I already had is based on the '64. Differences are the three piece neck (two for '62), strip tuners for the V62, no bindings on the neck on the V62, a lower pickup ring on the V62. And of course the orange one has some special features like the black control panel and no pickguard. I like it a lot. The only 'issue' for me is the lack of side dots. Have to adjust to that.

The new case is much prettier, btw. Tweed instead of tweed-ish plastic. And locks you can use with one hand, like on Rickenbacker cases.

[Chris P.]

BTW: The burst looks much darker on these pics. It's more amber-ish IRL.

[ilan]

Congrats - great looking bass.

The only 'issue' for me is the lack of side dots. Have to adjust to that.

I could not adjust to it. So finally I had side dots installed in my Höfners - the '64 Senator bass and the '60 500/3. Much better now.

[Dave W]

Is this made in Germany?

[Chris P.]

As long as I don't think, I play the right positions. As soon as I start worrying about the lack of side dots, it goes wrong 

Yes, Dave. If we talk violin basses only Höfner offers:

Asia:
Ignition's are cheap. In Holland under 300 euros. Great for starters or someone who wants the Höfner sound cheap. I like the cheap Club Bass.

- Iginition/Icon Violin
- Ignition/Icon Violin with close Cavern spacing pickups.
Nice basses, good sounding, but not right looking. Wrong pickups, no zero fret, neck lowered into the body (feels more modern)

- HCT Violin (more like the '64) with staple pickups
- HCT Vioin with Diamond pickups in Cavern spacing and vertical headstock logo
If you change the black controls too teacups I won't see difference. They have a small center block, but they're still very light and the sound doesn't change that much. A bit tighter maybe. HCT also have a Club, Verythin and President.

In Germany they make the:
- '61 (now Cavern) with Diamond pickups in close spacing and the vertical logo.
- '62 (Now Mersey). The one I have based on Macca's '63 with '62 specs, to make things easy;)
- '64 (Now just Violin Bass), based on the bass everybody bought when The Beatles went sky high. Same as '62 but three piece neck, neck bindings.

Mine is a German. A factory second (which you hardly see) and a present:)

[Dave W]

Thanks for the explanation, Chris.

When you said you got it in, I first thought you meant it was for a review.  Now it sounds to me like you bought it. If so, congratulations.

[Thornton Davis]

Dave,

Here's a couple of photos of my two HCT500/1 basses that were made in China. The bass on the left (2007) has German made hardware on it that I installed 5 or 6 yrs ago. The HCT500/1CV on the right (2013) has stock Chinese made hardware on it and as you can see has a much darker finish with a lot of orange in it. I have new German made hardware on order that I'll be installing shortly on this bass.

Both basses have a solid centered Spruce block running the length of the body. My theory as to why they manufacture these with the center block is to help prevent the HCT from ever being passed off as being German made. As you can see, the bass on the left is almost identical to its German made counterpart. It plays, sounds and looks just like the German made 500/1v64.



You can clearly see the difference in the pickups in the photos. On the left are Hofner's 511B "staple" p/u's and on the right Hofner's type 511 "diamond" p/u's as Chris P. described in his post above. The pickups are the only German made components that are standard and factory installed during manufacturing.

TD

[Dave W]

Thanks, TD. Your theory about the center block makes sense.

I imagine putting German hardware on the Chinese bass saves you a lot over buying a German made bass. Especially since the German pickups are already standard on these.

[Chris P.]

I have a HCT verythin and I love it. The HCT Violins and Clubs come very close to the Germans and personally I would buy the HCT 500/1 especially because it will never be my main gigging bass. But I had a great deal on the factory 2nd. I examined both close, and besides the nitro lacquering there still is something special about the Germans. The unexplainable mojo. The fact the guy who made the neck does that since 1958 (!), the smell, the great case....

[Chris P.]

And today I scored tickets to see Macca in Amsterdam in June

[gearHed289]

And today I scored tickets to see Macca in Amsterdam in June

Aweome! There will be a lot of my flight cases on that tour with the lighting company. I just talked to their guy yesterday.