rhofner Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 (edited) [attachment=217356:IMG_4747.jpg]hi everyone I am new to basschat - i recently bought a Hofner violin bass(500/1) COPY and the only label or number on it is the Engraved Neck Plate (it has a bolt on neck) that says "Handmade by Hoffner of England" very good copy of a 500/1, well made, one staple pickup in neck position, headstock shape, bridge and tailpiece just like 500/1, cheap tuners, control plate has one volume one tone and a slide switch in middle, not the same rectangular shape as a 500/1, plays good and sounds great, 30.5" scale this HOFFNER is spelled with two "F's" - cannot find any info on this instrument anywhere - please if anyone can provide any info i would appreciate it thanks rick Edited April 19, 2016 by rhofner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Welcome to the Forum Rick.. Unfortunately you've posted in the wrong thread - I'm sure one of the mods will be along shortly to put it where it belongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 "Hoffner of England"? They're 'aving a giraffe mate. I'd love to see some photos of that bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Pics would be fascinating (BC doesn't always play nicely with pictures. I put mine on Photobucket, then link to them.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 OK, so what can we see? That's not a Hofner body, nor neck, nor control plate. It might be a Hofner scratchplate, bridge and tailpiece. It certainly looks like a Hofner staple pickup though there were plenty of similar ones around. Neither the scratchplate nor the control plate were designed to go with that body, so what you appear to have is a cheap copy which has the had parts from other basses fitted to it, i.e. it's a Bitsa. It's clearly not recent. That neck plate looks pretty old to me - check the accumulated grime and wear on and around the screws. The engraving on it is far too fancy to be from a mass-produced instrument, and actually looks to me like the work of a jeweller or similar. The expression "Hoffner of London" is so obviously tongue-in-cheek that it must be a deliberate pisstake. Worth remembering that Hoffner is actually quite a common surname. So there we have it. Your bass was built from randomly collected parts by an English jeweller named Hoffner. He had red hair, walked with a limp, and loved parakeets. Elementary, my dear Rick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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