Hofner Ignition - Real or Fake?

[dogbiscuit]

Hi folks,
I've received my Ignition bass which I bought on ebay. However, on close inspection I can see that the lettering is a bit odd (no obvious sign of damage or repair though). There's also no writing on the back of the headstock (which most seem to have). Everything else seems fine and it's nice to play. It's not a fake, is it?
Cheers!

[AndyTravis]

Real.

if you were faking a hofner violin, you wouldn’t fake the budget model...

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Here's mine. There are some differences, notably the shape of the headstock and the control panel placement.  Yours seems to have a slimmer body too but that might be camera angle. 

Mine is a few years old and a quick Google suggests there is some variation in the headstock and control panel.  However the logo on yours does strike me as a bit odd. 

The most worrying thing has to be the strings though - these basses love flats! 😁

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Could be b-stock sold from the factory back door because of that broken logo.

[AndyTravis]

3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Could be b-stock sold from the factory back door because of that broken logo.

Yeah, Friday afternoon job

[Grahambythesea]

There’s no umlaut over the “o”. If the Ignition is made for Hofner (sorry my iPad doesn’t have one either) even in China I think they’d spell their name correctly.

[DoubleOhStephan]

33 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

There’s no umlaut over the “o”. If the Ignition is made for Hofner (sorry my iPad doesn’t have one either) even in China I think they’d spell their name correctly.

Theres no umlaut on the bass in these pics either..? 

[therealting]

They’re neat basses, but the QC on the cheaper ones is very iffy and I’ve certainly seen variances in individual basses. 

[dogbiscuit]

Thanks for the replies folks. It's a good point that it would be silly to fake a budget version of a bass, so it's likely genuine but with a factory flaw. It's not that the 'o' is missing the umlaut, it's that it's somehow rotated clockwise, so it's sinking into the 'f'!

[dogbiscuit]

I paid £240 in total and that includes a hard case (with a missing fastener). I have complained to the seller as he didn't show anything about this flaw in the listing and he has offered to refund me £50. However I'm pushing for £80 because I imagine this defect will de-value the bass if I want to sell it on, which I may well do because it's bugging me. Am I asking too much?

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

There’s no umlaut over the “o”. If the Ignition is made for Hofner (sorry my iPad doesn’t have one either) even in China I think they’d spell their name correctly.

It's the 'Playboy' version... (think about it).

Actually the umlaut appears to be an optional extra...

[Pea Turgh]

Mad.  You get a misprint on a bass, and it devalues.  Get a misprint on a 20p coin and it’s worth as much as a bass!

[tom1946]

I think £50 is very fair, it's already cheap to start with.

(Note to self, don't sell this guy anything )

[markdavid]

If you are on Facebook there are a couple of Hofner pages on there , you will need to join them but they will tell you in no uncertain terms if it is fake or not although it seems unlikely that it is, at any rate given the low price point the most important thing is whether you think it is worth the money, whether you like it or not

https://www.facebook.com/groups/329769803775341/?ref=br_rs

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2260582823/

 

[Cat Burrito]

I remember there being a thing about Hofner logos differing on budget models a few years back. £50 is very reasonable as compensation and as said, who would fake a budget model?

[casapete]

On 30/05/2019 at 10:58, Cat Burrito said:

I remember there being a thing about Hofner logos differing on budget models a few years back. £50 is very reasonable as compensation and as said, who would fake a budget model?

Agreed, although there are fake Epiphone Les Pauls emerging now apparently.

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, casapete said:

Agreed, although there are fake Epiphone Les Pauls emerging now apparently.

That's news to me.

You could call it my moment of Epiphony.

[Cat Burrito]

5 hours ago, casapete said:

Agreed, although there are fake Epiphone Les Pauls emerging now apparently.

And there are thieves who operate in Poundland! 😂

[dogbiscuit]

On 29/05/2019 at 15:13, tom1946 said:

I think £50 is very fair, it's already cheap to start with.

(Note to self, don't sell this guy anything )

Well, don't sell me anything defective!