NBD Hofner 185 (resto thread)

[Maude]

34 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

It certainly different. Perhaps a little more Italian than German?

I know what you mean, it's got that Eko kind of vibe. But it's definitely a Hofner thing. Hofner weren't being shy with some of their solid bodies at this time, all sorts of patterned vinyl coverings and pearl or sparkle plates. Even these fret inlays must have been pretty radical at the time, white pearl/tort/white pearl stripes. 

 

It's OK not to like it though. 

🙂👍

[Beer of the Bass]

The Italian companies did use a lot of pearloid, it's true. I always thought it was due to their proximity to the accordion trade!

[Maude]

I agree. 

The odd thing is, I don't really like pearloid at all. I think it's a bit tacky. I never had pearloid on any bass up until last year, even removing the factory fitted pearloid plates and making plain ones. 

I'd always said the only bass that pearloid suits is a Hofner, then bought a Club, removed the pearloid plate and made a plain one. 

I don't like red or pearloid, so then put a bitsa together last year, painted it red and made a cream pearloid plate for it. 

Now look where I am. I actually like that this is a bit tacky, kind of kitsch. 

It's a funny old place, my head. 😁

[Maude]

Well, I just can't decide on pickup placement so let's hear some thoughts. I know ultimately it's up to me but where's the fun in that discussion?

I've got a choice of three places essentially, obviously anywhere inbetween these is fine but let's narrow it down to three for ease. 

The background, this bass' pickups should be at both extremes between neck and bridge. I have a 4005 and a Club with this pickup arrangement, the Club fully hollow, the 4005 has a centre block so let's say more like a solid, on both the bridge pickup solo'd is too thin sounding for my liking.

We all know for sitting in the mix a P is king. I also do like to use a pickup as a thumb rest to pluck roughly in the centre of this area, edging towards the bridge for a touch more tension. 

Given that info, I've taken three pictures of the bridge pickup placed in roughly the P, MM and Hofner positions, the neck one will be where it should be. 

My dilemma is that I feel the pickup should go in the Hofner position, but I have that on two other basses and it's not ideal. Should I put it in the P position so hopefully I'll get that kind of mid punch (also a little like the violin 'cavern' placement), or compromise with it in the middle of those two choices in the MM position.

As so much of this bass isn't original I don't feel bad about moving the placement as it's not a proper restoration that'll be worth anything, but should I just keep it as it should at the expense of possibly sounding better? 

Bored yet? 😁

Here's the pictures. 

 

Hofner position. 

 

Musicman position. 

 

Precision position. 

Edited January 21, 2021 by Maude

[Pea Turgh]

Definitely MM position - looks the best, will give better sound than the original position while retaining enough of a difference to the P.

[Rich]

I concur. MM definitely the way to go. I know exactly what you mean about the stock bridge position being thin and weedy, my Artist bass is the same. It may as well not be there.

[Maude]

@Pea Turgh @Rich, thanks for your thoughts. I'll see if there's any other views before I offer mine so as not to sway it one way or another. 🙂👍

 

What, who's over thinking this? 😄

[BigRedX]

Put three pickups on it. Then you get the classic Höfner arrangement as well as one in the P-bass position

[Rich]

[Maude]

49 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Put three pickups on it. Then you get the classic Höfner arrangement as well as one in the P-bass position

I did consider that but it was partly about whether to keep the look as it should be, as well as how it sounds.

If I put a middle pickup in, then as I'd have already changed the look I wouldn't bother with the bridge pickup, as it's not ideal sound wise and it just over complicates things. As it stands with two pickups I'll have 24 different combinations, not including the tone controls and volume blending. A third pickup is too much and the tones will just overlap, kind off. A humbucker right at the bridge might give a similar depth tone to a single coil in the MM position. Obviously not the same but a thin sounding humbucker vs a fatter sounding single coil.

 

[BigRedX]

15 hours ago, Maude said:

I did consider that but it was partly about whether to keep the look as it should be, as well as how it sounds.

If I put a middle pickup in, then as I'd have already changed the look I wouldn't bother with the bridge pickup, as it's not ideal sound wise and it just over complicates things. As it stands with two pickups I'll have 24 different combinations, not including the tone controls and volume blending. A third pickup is too much and the tones will just overlap, kind off. A humbucker right at the bridge might give a similar depth tone to a single coil in the MM position. Obviously not the same but a thin sounding humbucker vs a fatter sounding single coil.

Fair enough, in that case I'd go with the P-Bass and neck combination.

However... On my Burns Sonic bass which has bridge and neck pickups in similar positions to the Höfner, by far the best sounds came from having both pickups wired in series, so there is a use for the bridge pickup. I certainly wouldn't consider a short scale bass complete without one.

[Maude]

38 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Fair enough, in that case I'd go with the P-Bass and neck combination.

However... On my Burns Sonic bass which has bridge and neck pickups in similar positions to the Höfner, by far the best sounds came from having both pickups wired in series, so there is a use for the bridge pickup. I certainly wouldn't consider a short scale bass complete without one.

Thanks for this input, it's definitely interesting. 

I put a series switch in my 4005 and it transformed the sound, but the bridge pickup on it's own is weedy, hence my dilemma. 

The shortscale part is what is making me consider it though as they're usually inherently deeper sounding, I'm generalising here of course. 

The other bit info I haven't divulged is that due to the fact the frets are pretty worn, it'll be getting flats on it so darker again. If it's a nice bass when done I might get it refretted but just want to get it usable for the mo. 

Maybe being shortscale with flats would make the bridge position more usable anyway. 

I'll be putting in a series/parallel switch anyway. Coupled with each pickup switchable between single coil and both coils in series or parallel I should get a decent amount of usable tones whatever I go for. 

I know the only way to really know is to just do it though. 

 

 

[Grahambythesea]

To follow the Hofner thing, you could argue that middle and neck is the same as on the “Cavern” model of the violin bass.  That was the original positions, I wonder why Hofner moved away from it to the bridge and neck? 

[Maude]

On 21/01/2021 at 16:04, Maude said:

....... Should I put it in the P position so hopefully I'll get that kind of mid punch (also a little like the violin 'cavern' placement)..........

 

3 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

To follow the Hofner thing, you could argue that middle and neck is the same as on the “Cavern” model of the violin bass.  That was the original positions, I wonder why Hofner moved away from it to the bridge and neck? 

I know 😉. 

The predecessor to this bass, the 182, had both pickups very close together at the neck on the early ones. 

https://images.app.goo.gl/BmhjPqd3dapeiLpy7

Too close if you ask me. 

I'd guess they moved to the 'up against the bridge' position to to get more snap or bite out of them as back then it was all flats, and on a short scale made for a dark tone. It seems most folks use the bridge pickups in these set ups almost like a tone control to add some brightness into the tone. 
😁

[MoonBassAlpha]

The spacing of the Rumblekat bass gives nice tones with middle/neck positions

[Rich]

On 14/01/2021 at 09:23, Maude said:

One thing to consider though is that, if yours is all original, they make quite good money. While hunting around for parts I've seen them for sale up to four figures, whether any have sold for anywhere near that is another matter. I'd guess a decent one would get £6-700 though judging by the listings. 

Mine was too far gone to make finding all the original parts economical, hence why I'm doing what I am. 

 

I think mine is also too far gone to be restored to factory. One pickup is dead and the other's not brilliant, only 3 out of 4 tuners work properly, the bridge is damaged albeit functionally ok and the original pots & knobs are long gone. It'd cost a fortune to make it worth money, and I'd rather have fun with it.

[Maude]

22 minutes ago, Rich said:

I think mine is also too far gone to be restored to factory. One pickup is dead and the other's not brilliant, only 3 out of 4 tuners work properly, the bridge is damaged albeit functionally ok and the original pots & knobs are long gone. It'd cost a fortune to make it worth money, and I'd rather have fun with it.

Welcome aboard 😁

[Maude]

Who did that? 

Someone just picked the entire thread up and dropped it in the 'Build Diaries' section. It could've landed on someone! 😁

 

It was getting a bit in depth wasn't it? I'll consider it a promotion. 🙂👍

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Maude

[Rich]

That was me  Yes, it's definitely becoming far more than just another NBD thread   (in a very good way)

Edited February 1, 2021 by Rich

[MoonBassAlpha]

19 hours ago, Rich said:

I think mine is also too far gone to be restored to factory. One pickup is dead and the other's not brilliant, only 3 out of 4 tuners work properly, the bridge is damaged albeit functionally ok and the original pots & knobs are long gone. It'd cost a fortune to make it worth money, and I'd rather have fun with it.

My mate's Verithin had both pickups die after an extended vacation in his loft. It was very inexpensive to get fixed. I  think the failure mode is corrosion where the hookup wires attached to the coil. The flux used was probably acidic and gradually corroded the thin coil wire over the years. Don't write the dead one off!

[Rich]

Any updates?

 

[Maude]

On 10/02/2022 at 11:27, Rich said:

Any updates?

 

 

In a word, no. 😁

 

Embarrassingly I have a number of unfinished projects on the go, bits are getting down to some, but due to life in general getting in the way it's a slow process. 

They're not meant to be work and as soon as they start to feel that way they get put to one side, to be continued when I'm in the mood. Sadly I'm struggling to get motivated with a lot lately. 

I'm determined to make this year the year when I finish all these projects, I'll then have a handful of new (to me) basses to enjoy. 

 

Watch this space... but not too eagerly. 😉

[SpondonBassed]

I can appreciate that as I am in a similar position myself.

 

I am part way through shoe-horning an East preamp into my Ibby SR605.  It's been a year since I put it aside!  The next task is to remove some material from the control cavity.  I want to make sure I am in the right frame of mind to tackle it.

 

One day...