Product: Hofner 500/6
Price Paid: 170 (UK Pounds) used
Submitted
01/22/2005
at
01:26pm
by
Ted Wood
Features
:
1
Made in Germany 1969 - 1970.
22 fret 4-string 30" scale
Looks a bit like a Verithin or ES335 withount any edge binding. Body is only about 1.5" deep.
Top looks solid but i wouldn't swear to it.
Two tone, one volume, three position pickup selector
Two Hofner 513b shark fin humbuckers
Black painted bolt-on neck
Redburst body.
Floating bridge.
Non-original Schaller tuners
Rosewood fretboard about the same width as a p-bass
Sound
:
No Opinion
Great for jazz and blues.
Big warm boomy sound with LaBella Deep Talking flatwounds. Tried D'addario roundwounds but they sounded a bit non-descript. Slightly muddy tone probably due to short scale.
Much quieter than Hofners with 512b pickups.
Feeds back like a bastard.
Not a huge amount of tonal variation but through an Ashdown MAG 300 you can get it to sound quite toppy. Not really an instrument for popping and slapping.
Effects? I think not.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
No Opinion
Came to me after 25 years in a shed in germany.
Totally rewired, everything but the pickups replaced.
Its battered and the steel part of the tailpiece is a bit rusty.
Nitrocellulose lacquer finish slightly cracked on body and neck
Reliability/Durability
:
7
Its lasted this long so it will probably last forever now.
I'd use it without backup.
Customer Support
:
9
I've not dealt with Hofner.
Musicground in Leeds were incredibly helpful
Overall Rating
:
7
I've been playing since 1972 (with a 25-year gap)
Its a bit neck-heavy.
I wish i'd paid a bit more for a less-battered example.
I don't think I'll ever get rid of it.
I wish it had an attachment to make me play better.
Objectively, not the best bass in the world, but it was built by humans to be played by humans. It's got a very genuine warmth which i love.
