Having owned mostly Fender bassses my entire playing life, I now TRULY understand why Leo Femder named the P bass the “precision” bass, and from where I’m sat it’s got
little to do with frets, markers or lined fret boards …..
nope, it’s the fact those things can actually be agjusted with At least SOME degree of “precision”.
Other manufacturers, Hofner being one, clearly didn’t think Intonation to be a “thing”🤣
anyhoo…….
I’ve wasted 3 days of my life trying to get this CT bass set up well, I’d say I’m at 98% but like always I chase that final 2% because to be frank , that’s the difference between a nice bass and a special bass……
the bridge on this thing is a dog, very poorly seated and in trying to correct its seating in not satisfied I’ve got any better a result, mostly because previous owner has sanded the heck out of the lower bridge so I’ve ordered a new one, I’ll start again.
BUT….. my issue is with the intonation on this bass.
i appreciate that with a floating bridge it’s near impossible to get perfection but I’m almost close enough now ti be happy.
BUT here my thing…….
EVERY other hofner I see has the string saddles on the bridge sat in this order:
e string bridge slot 1 nearest tail piece.
a string bridge slot 2
d string bridge slot 3
g string bridge slot 4 nearest neck
BUT on my bass, when intonation properly , it’s the other way around:
e string bridge slot 4 nearest neck
a string bridge slot 3
d string bridge slot 2
g string bridge slit 1 nearest tail peice
every bass I’ve ever owned has the d and g string shorter with the saddles pushed forward closer to the neck, ibvuously to account for the thinner Dianeter if the strings than e and a…..
but how can it be on this bass it’s inverted. Not least since every picture Ive ever seen of a hofner shows bridge saddles as per the stock image below.
move shown mine as well to show how I have it.
the bridge is a mess now after having saddles in and out a million times, new bridge is in its way.
i also had to make some saddle myself from some brass fret wire.
(it actually looks better than stock too)