Jamesemt Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I've just bought myself a Hohner Jack but know very little about them. Anyone know of a site which details their history? Mine has soapbars, not single coils?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Never seen the history on the Hohner Jack, but I had one of these in the past and it was a darn good bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 One of these was my 1st bass. I keep looking for another too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golchen Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I have the 5 string model as my no2 bass. Very playable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 My old Jack bass was awesome and is now owned by Rick Wakeman's cousin Alan ......bizarre and tenuous claim to fame!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) I had one for my second ever bass. I saved up for it while at college & played it for a couple of years before I got into a lot of debt and bought my first Status at the age of 20. Mine was the reddish stain with the high gloss varnish, soapbars & 2-band eq with a little red led for power on/off to the preamp. Cool bass at the time! The only "history" I can find at the moment is that they were produced between 1990-2000 which is incorrect anyway, as I bought mine in about 1988! Edited January 4, 2009 by OutToPlayJazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Your right Rich.... and I'd say they were even earlier than that..... I was working in a Music shop in Basildon, Essex when I left school around 85/86 and we took on the Hohner range.... I remember having a variety of Jack basses on the wall all different colours..... Think that's why I'm such a Status guy these days.... just loved the shape and the fact they were headless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 [quote name='Jamesemt' post='369560' date='Jan 3 2009, 08:31 PM']I've just bought myself a Hohner Jack but know very little about them. Anyone know of a site which details their history? Mine has soapbars, not single coils??[/quote] Post pics please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 [quote name='crez5150' post='370152' date='Jan 4 2009, 05:58 PM']Your right Rich.... and I'd say they were even earlier than that..... I was working in a Music shop in Basildon, Essex when I left school around 85/86 and we took on the Hohner range.... I remember having a variety of Jack basses on the wall all different colours..... Think that's why I'm such a Status guy these days.... just loved the shape and the fact they were headless[/quote] Hi Jay, yes I remember I was at college & the launch of the Jack bass was in a magazine in the music department. I already knew I wanted a Status, but no way as a student could afford one, so the Jack was a more realistic prospect. I ordered one from Foulds Music in Derby within a couple of months. It was a great stepping stone to a "real" Status, which I achieved by 1990. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesemt Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) [quote name='stingrayfan' post='370158' date='Jan 4 2009, 06:02 PM']Post pics please![/quote] Haven't got it yet!! Bought it from Xverminate2 - should arrive later this week... So when did they start making them? Edited January 4, 2009 by Jamesemt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martfitz Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Blimey, that brings back memories, I had a Jack in 1989 as my second ever bass, probably like lots of people wish I still had it, it was a nice little bass to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Hohner introduced their Professional range in the mid 80s - the B2/B2A licensed Steinberger copies first popped up in 1985, and as a result of the popularity of Status & other conventional-bodied headless designs, the Jack - basically a B2 with body wings - appeared about a year later. At this point, Hohners were made predominantly by Cort in Korea, and it's likely that's where most 80s Jacks were made. I wish I'd grabbed a Jack a couple of years back when they were going for under a ton, they're lovely basses. Our drummer's brother's got one, it's a stunner & he won't sell. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Jones Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 My Dad bought me one as a reward for doing alright in my A-levels in 1988. At the time, everyone was gagging for some sort of Status copy that we could fit Superwound 30-90s to and go bonkers on... They first came out in '85 or '86. It's greatest selling point for me at the time was that it was a through-neck which was almost unheard of on the mass market. They were very well put together. I think in the late eighties they were £275 and were available either in black or (more rarely at first) in a kind of stained natural finish. No idea what the woods were - all maple? Basswood? The earlier ones had EMG Select humbuckers - which were passive pups - and a switchable active output with treb/bass and the famous little red light. It got a bit more complicated in the (?) early nineties as Hohner expanded the range and perhaps replaced the Select humbuckers with single coils. Around the same time they introduced the 'B-bass' which was a sort of Jack 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon1964 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 [quote name='crez5150' post='370152' date='Jan 4 2009, 05:58 PM']Your right Rich.... and I'd say they were even earlier than that..... I was working in a Music shop in Basildon, Essex when I left school around 85/86 and we took on the Hohner range.... I remember having a variety of Jack basses on the wall all different colours..... Think that's why I'm such a Status guy these days.... just loved the shape and the fact they were headless[/quote] Same here - I worked in my Dad's music shop during the mid 80s, and I remember he had the Hohner Jack range in around that time. Fantastic value for money. I recently bought one of the Hohner Steinberger ''stick'' copies, and again, they're great little basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MoJo Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 This was mine. Very playable, nice slim neck, well balanced and with a decent range of usable tones [attachment=18127:hohner_jack.JPG] [attachment=18128:HohnerJack_002.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 This was mine. Very playable, [b][u]nice slim neck[/u][/b][, well balanced and with a decent range of usable tones Slim neck? do you mean narrow? Mine are quite chunky front to back, a nice round profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 My main bass is a B 5 - effectively a Jack with a headstock & standard hardware. as it has a narrow neck, I have a smallish hand, and keep coming back to it, and although I've often thought about upgrading the 'Licensed by EMGs', every time I hear them on a recording, I feel they are fine. I've done the 'J' pups-in-series mod, which is pretty effective. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xverminate2 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Hi Chris, Your Jack is on it's way, please take care of this baby!!!!! Have sent you an email Enjoy Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xverminate2 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 [quote name='stingrayfan' post='370158' date='Jan 4 2009, 06:02 PM']Post pics please![/quote] Hi , pics here Regards Greg [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=35611&view=findpost&p=365074"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=365074[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Strange I just picked up a rather knackered one from a basschatter too, not got it yet but excited despite the large amounts of tlc required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 It's good to see the Jack Bass love going on here! I've got a Jack custom in natural I wouldn't mind selling as I haven't played it since I got it (playing fretless, well, a defretted jack, mostly now and play the blue fretted in my avatar) It's in good condition but the truss rod will only adjust the neck so far, and won't take all the relief out with std gauge strings. These things don't go out of tune! PM me if you're interested, it won't be expensive..... Cheers Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalfunster Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 [attachment=18365:Picture_140.jpg] And this is mine which I purchased ooooh way back when 198? from Hammonds in Watford, a guy named Ed Poole worked in the guitar dept and convinced me to buy it (20 years before I could even play) I hold him totally Responsible for my never ending gas!!! Mine is near mint having spent most of the past 20ish years in a hard case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digestive10 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) [quote name='originalfunster' post='374663' date='Jan 9 2009, 12:11 AM'][attachment=18365:Picture_140.jpg] And this is mine which I purchased ooooh way back when 198? from Hammonds in Watford, a guy named Ed Poole worked in the guitar dept and convinced me to buy it (20 years before I could even play) I hold him totally Responsible for my never ending gas!!! Mine is near mint having spent most of the past 20ish years in a hard case![/quote] That's the model I own (the passive one?). Bought secondhand in '87 from a paper ad when I was 15. One of the main things I remember is you couldn't find single double-ball end strings anywhere in Nottingham, you had to purchase a full set and they cost nearly a month's paper round ! I loved playing mine. It felt light, allus balanced well when standing up, it was so easy to change strings, I don't recall any dead spots and being neck-through, it sustained really well. I also loved the fretboard dimensions. I moved onto to a Stingray after and couldn't get on with it - the larger spacings meant I could never get what I heard to fit under my hands. Even tho' I've retired from playing, I hope I never have to sell mine. Edited January 9, 2009 by Digestive10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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