Hohner B2AV

Brand new cherry sunburst 5 string, active/passive with EMG select J PUs. Two volumes scheme: balance is at end more practical and precise.
Nice see-thru colour on neck and body, some "excessive" quilt on the top. All maple solid axe: you see and feel it. Medium rigidity (but stable: I had one -the old passive model- for 15 years and it did not budge) one truss-rod neck (3 pcs), half/circle section. string spacing is medium (Ibanez like) See other reviews for features.

Suggestion: just add a piezo bridge (I plan to add it myself since the saddles can be changed with piezo equipped ones; a separate battery place would definitely be an improvoment!

Passive: clear and singing, with a mild pleasant smoothness. Not always capable of cutting through. Very good for soling with lite compying background.
Switch on active mode and you're in for aggressive tones, always on the clear and sharp side. You easily saturate the electronics (not that much headroom in the pre-amp) and even more easily your amp/external pre with some ring modulation effect you could even be interested in.
Some great slap tones! B string is acceptable. A more rigid neck would have helped.

From Station Music the bass arrived perfectly set-up, with low action, absolute buzz free.
No flaws on finish, very good fretwork.

Control cavity is a bit of a mess but components seem to be good quality ones. Good shelding, still single PUs are as usual noisy if not paired

The previous one I had was fiercely standing every kind of abuse. Great hardware.

I need something easy to carry around, to fit in car trunk during office hours and the like. It offers much more. Playability, versatile sound (with some excellent, speaking, passive tone and a great full on slap one), excellent look. B string just acceptable. Few details and it could be just outstanding, even at higher price.
Much more rigid neck would launch it to the moon (but probably at the expense of classic, expressive passive tones Steinberger cannot offer). Though owner of a nice collection of instruments (including Alembics and Fenders) and owner in the past of Steinbergers as well, I feel this bass a must have.

5 String, Walnut Finish, switchable Active/Passive electronics, headless bass with Steinberger licensed tuners and hardware.

2 EMG Jazz-style pickups, sweepable EQ

Neck thru body construction

Neck scale is a bit long for my tastes, but it's a worthwhile sacrifice for the awesone sound you get!

Bought it in 2004 on eBay with Buy It Now from Abe Music in FL

Sounds VERY clean, very wide range of tonal possibilities. Excellent for recording use. Sounds very full when in Active mode. Sounds great for live use too.

Action and finish right out of the box was GREAT.

The neck scale is too long -- I'm a small guy so I sometimes hit the wrong notes on the lower end of the scale if I don't pay attention to what I'm doing. Gets a 9 because of that. They must've had Michael Jordon trying out this bass during development!

Strap buttons quite solid, actually pretty tough to get my strap off!

It's wood, so I'm sure the finish is sensitive, but I treat me guitars pretty well -- not like most destructive musicians!

One warning -- do NOT try to change the battery with the bass plugged in or you will be SORRY! The shielding must be bad, because the active electronics TOTALLY burnt out when I did this!

See above -- the dealer got me a Return Authorization from Hohner, shipped it back and they repaired, free of charge, except for shipping. I had only used the bass ONCE before the electronics shorted out! I had problems with the dealer not following up on things, but that's the fault of the flake I was dealing with, not Hohner!

Have been playing for 22 years. I bought this to replace a white Steinberger XP-2 bass that I stupidly sold years ago so I could buy an AWFUL Korg Sampler. Biggest mistake I ever made. But this was a great replacement. It has a great sound, great action. I just wish it had a shorter Steinberger-styled neck.

My recording engineer and I BOTH loved the sound of this bass!

If lost or stolen, I would definitely have to replace.

I'm not sure where or what year it was made. Here are the specs from the www.hohnerusa.com:

5 string
solid U.S. maple body and neck (Steinberger headleass, small body)
neck-thru-body construction
rosewood fingerboard
two-way adjustable truss rod
24 frets
Steinberger? licensed headless 5 string bridge
two Select by EMG? J-style pickups
active tone controls
active on/off switch with LED (and passive/active volume control on back cover)
two volume controls
one concentric tone control (bass/treble)
fold-out leg rest

STRING SPACING: 1 7/16" @ nut, 1 15/16" @ 12th fret,
2 1/2" @ bridge
COLORS: Quilted Maple Top Cherry Sunburst, Grey Nickel Satin, Walnut Satin
MSRP: $850.00

The electronics cavity is shielded on the cover but nothing in the cavity itself. The cover is held on by 4 machine screws and screws into inserts. It weighs in at 8.5 pounds, with a Planet Waves locking strap attached. Nice on the shoulder.

I ordered mine in Grey Nickel Satin. Nice feel to the finish on the neck. This thing is built like a rock. I bought it for travel on airplanes. And yes, airline employees and security officials will ask if it is a rifle and have you open up the gigbag or case. On the last flight I took, one of the screeners used it to train several other screeners on the x-ray machine. The people behind me in line were not impressed.

I play rock, blues and praise/worship. The sound of this is versatile, but the pickups are noisy (single coils) unless the output of the two pickups is balanced. I have both pickups maxed and leave them there. In passive mode it has a nice mix of punch and growl, with good mids and treble, but I raise the low setting on my amp to get more bottom end. In active mode, I have the bass knob all the way on and treble up about halfway from center detent to maximum. I balanced that setting with the passive setting using the active level setting on the electronics cover. I'm using the active setting for pick and slap work while using the passive setting for fingerstyle. When slapping, I again add more lows in my amp.

I'd like to be able to use either the neck or bridge pickup by themselves, but I can't stand the noise. The electronics cover plate has foil shielding on it, but no shielding in the cavity itself. Ignoring the noise, the pickup sounds are similar to a jazz bass but have less bottom end.

Live, I use it either through an Ampeg Portabass or through a Sans Amp bass driver going direct to the PA. I haven't used it in the studio.

I had some fret buzz on the B string, so I raised the saddle on the bridge. I ended up loosening the truss rod a quarter turn and now it plays like a dream for my heavy handed style.

Again, this is built like a tank. Everything looks tight and solid. The only thing I'm worried about is the active/passive toggle switch, but only because I'm travelling with this thing and sometimes have to check it planeside. I can't find any flaws in its construction.

This thing should withstand anything you can throw at it. Everything is solid. I saw a photo once of one of these (from another manufacturer) propped up with the end of the neck on one box, the end of the body on another box, and a man standing on the middle of it. While I won't try this on mine, I believe I could do that with little impact.

I've been playing guitar for 8 years and bass for 4 years. I've owned a Fender Squier P-Bass Special, a Yamaha 760 and an Ibanez SR495. I bought this for travel, but have no problem using it live. It's now my backup bass for playing in our worship band (my main bass is an Ibanez SR495). If lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy it again, and I may buy another one and convert it to a fretless. Yeah, it has that cheezy 80's vibe going, but only my Fender-purist buddies seem to care. It's a great value for the money, solid as a rock, and fits in in the cracks of airline overhead bins even when they're stuffed with roll-on suitcases.

This a New Hohner B2AV 5 string Headless bass...I bought it new. It was made in Korea.
It is solid California Maple with neck thru constuction, Rosewood fingerboard...It has a grayish, nickel satin stain.
It has 2 EMG select Jazz picups with active electronics.
Has 2 volume controls and a concentric bass and treble boost when the active circuitry is on(it has a switch, you can play it active or passive).
It is headless so it has all Stienberger licsensed hardware and brige.
I bought some custom Q-part Knobs to put on it, just to personalize it a bit.
It is a Cool ass little bass...
Came with a gig bag(looks like a shotgun case when you are carrying it)

I bought this bass kinda on a whim, I always wanted a Steinberger and this was an affordable way to get something like it. Was I surprised when i plugged it in...w o w!!!!! it has a really great sound..It has a really strong, deep bright punchy sound.

Live, I play it thru an ancient Gallien Krueger 400rb and a Hartke 4.5 XL (4x10) cabinet and a Ramsdel Audio Cabinet with 1 15in EV..it sounds great..

Most of the time (for Recording and Quite jamming) I go thru a Tech21 Sansamp RBI, a BBE 882i, and an effects loop with Boss effects (chorus,flanger) and a ElectroHarmonix Bassballs and Small stone, and straight into the mixer..put on some headphones and it sounds awsome.

I don't really have a set music style..we get together and play whatever comes out..mostly rockish, r and b with some jazzy funk thrown in...this bass would sound great for Metal.

Right out of the box this bass sounded good..slight buzz on one fret but nothing major.
The harware looks solid...it is Steinberger licsensed...
The finish is good..it is smooth and no flaws...
It seems to be a solid little bass..it is well constucted...neck thru, nice fretboard.
Suprisingly smooth action.

I think this bass will stand the test of time..like anything if you take care of it it should last.
I wish it had a little more of a luxurious finish, but all in all it seems really durable...I also should mention that I am comparing this bass to my other basses, a Pedulla Thunderbolt, Pedulla Rapture, Dean Edge Improv(custom euro), and a 83 Rickenbacher 4001.
So when you put this little Korean made Hohner against some of the finest Basses made it is shockingly good...
It is a solid little stick of bass dynomite.

Have not had to use customer support....

I have been playing for a few years...and have some nice Basses(Pedulla, Rickenbacher, Dean, and a Carvin) and I must say I am really impressed by this bass..the sound is awsome, it seems to be built really well, and truly I just bought it as a whim, and I have not put it down yet..
This little Hohner Rocks..!
and it cost less than(more than half) of any other bass I own.