bubinga5 Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 a friend of mine has one of these, and he's wondering about a sale price.. anyone know these basses.. is it a Japanes made instrument.? any info is welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Hondo were distributed in the UK by John Hornby Skewes Ltd. They were a step up from the Kay guitars which pretty much dominated the low end market back then, but not by much. There's every likelihood that it was produced in Korea unless its more than 30 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 I don't think any Hondo Rick copies were MIJ. Apropos of nothing, for the sake of pedantry, AFAIK all early Hondos were Korean (made by Samick), but some later models were MIJ, in an attempt to move the brand upmarket. Anyway, the Hondo 4001 copies are (unfortunately) a cut below their MIJ contemporaries, featuring ply bodies & slightly lower quality hardware. However, these are collectable basses and if in decent nick & well set-up, perfectly useable. As far as value's concerned, that's a lot harder to define & I'm not even sure we should discuss it on BC, given the policy regarding Rick copies. There is a Facebook group devoted to "Rickenfakers", which has several BCers in its membership. This would be probably be a good place to get more info. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Good to see a couple of pics, looks tidy enough for its age. Hondo brand history here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hondo_%28guitar_company%29"]http://en.wikipedia....itar_company%29[/url] & copypasta of my response to your original post: [quote]I don't think any Hondo Rick copies were MIJ. Apropos of nothing, for the sake of pedantry, AFAIK all early Hondos were Korean (made by Samick), but some later models were MIJ, in an attempt to move the brand upmarket. Anyway, the Hondo 4001 copies are (unfortunately) a cut below their MIJ contemporaries, featuring ply bodies & slightly lower quality hardware. However, these are collectable basses and if in decent nick & well set-up, perfectly useable. As far as value's concerned, that's a lot harder to define & I'm not even sure we should discuss it on BC, given the policy regarding Rick copies. There is a Facebook group devoted to "Rickenfakers", which has several BCers in its membership. This would be probably be a good place to get more info. Jon. [/quote] Interesting the Wikipedia link claims MIJ manufacture for some models from the mid-70s. Not sure about this but if so, quite probable that the UK importers didn't distribute the higher-end models over here. JHS, like all UK importers of the era, sold different quality ranges under different names/brands - they had Zenta at the bottom, going up to Kasuga at the top, Hondo was low/middle. No question your mate's bass is MIK, though. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswareham Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) That Hondo is identical to mine. As Jon says, they were clearly a budget instrument but with a good setup they are surprisingly decent. The pickups are particularly good, and another member of Basschat transplanted the electrics from a Hondo into a modern Rick copy. The Hondo Rick copy in this colour was also Peter Hook's main bass throughout most of the time Joy Division existed, although in his autobiography he says it wasn't a great bass - the first gig he played with it the E string kept popping out of the nut! Edited October 26, 2014 by chriswareham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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