Hofner H500/1-CT Contemporary Series Violin Bass Guitar  

Product #515654
  • MSRP:
    $1,099.00
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  • Black

    $879.99 Top Rated

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    { "name": "Sunburst", "status": "backorderable", "availableDate": "07-11-2012", "price": 879.99, "isOnSale": false, "msrp": 1099.0, "salePrice": 879.99, "listPrice": 879.99, "isPriceDrop": false, "promos":[ "topRated", "topSeller", "flexibleFinancing", "guarantee", "international" ], "warranty": true, "sku": "site1sku515654000056000", "displaySku": "515654000056000", "serialized": false, "stickerText": "Top Rated", "shipsFree":true, "condition": "New" }

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Hofner

A classic with modern refinements.

A year after celebrating the 50th anniversary of Walter Hofner's original violin bass, made famous by a certain Beatle who shall remain nameless, they have decided to produce a contemporary version. It has a vintage look that will produce many "oohs", and an internal sustain block that creates a more modern, deep-resonating sound that will produce many "aahs." It's the kind of bass guitar people love to see, play, and hear.
Aesthetically, this model features a maple-beech-maple set neck with rosewood fretboard accentuated by mother-of-pearl dot inlays, the signature Hofner violin bass headstock, a brass trapeze tailpiece, and glossy spruce top with glossy flamed maple back and sides. An ebony bridge with movable metal saddles maintains intonation and string spacing. The nickel-plated hardware and floating celluloid pearl pickguard give it an extra little pop for the eyes.
On the electronics side, you're working with two original Hofner 511B 'Staple' humbucking pickups, as well as a control panel with 2 volume controls, 2 on/off switches, and a rhythm/solo switch for volume boost. The overall sound is warm like the original model, but with a little more sonic kick for a more "now" sound.

Features

  • Rosewood fretboard
  • 22 frets
  • Maple-beech-maple set neck
  • Neck width at nut 1-5/8"
  • 4 individual machine heads
  • Ebony bridge with movable metal saddles for perfect intonation and string spacing
  • Brass trapeze tailpiece
  • Selected German spruce top
  • Flamed maple back and sides
  • 2 Hofner 511B 'Staple' humbucking pickups
  • Control panel with boost and individual on and off switches and boost
  • Nickel-plated hardware
  • Floating celluloid pickguard, pearl designed
  • Mother of pearl inlay dots

Order today and play a thoroughly enjoyable bass.

Write a Review Overall Rating Customer Reviews 20 See all 20 customer reviews...

Give it a lot of thought...

| Review By: rfslick | 2 months, 1 day ago

0 people out of 2 found this review helpful

Features:

To start, this is a georgous bass.  The three piece neck and coloring are fantastic.  It looks like a perfect replica of the German model.  The bass has a volume control for both the neck and bridge pickups, as well as individual pickup on/off switches, and a rythm/solo switch.

The strings that come on it are horrible, and, most prefer to replace them with flatwounds.  I prefer the response of round wounds and get the tones I want from the controls and the amp.

The pickups sound great. But, you might as well stretch your strings over a railroad tie with pickups. as this is a solid body bass.  Get yourself a poster of a German Hofner and buy an Icon/Ignition for half the price. You won't be dissapointed!

Quality:

The quality of construction and fit and finish of these has greatly improved in the last couple of years.

Value:

All that said, I owned 2 German Hofners back in the 60's and 70's, and they were great.  I have had a Rogue VB100 for about ten years, and it has been quite good.  This last Christmas I decided to get a Contemporary and called all over the San Francisco Bay area to find one.  Noone had one in stock. Then I remembered that a friend's bass player bought one on line recently.  I asked if I could come over and play it for a half hour, and wound up taking it home for a couple days to set up the intonation and neck relief.  The operation of the controls was a little confusing as well.  So, after setup, I pulled the control plate off to make sure the wiring was ok and was quite shocked to see that the "tone block", was almost a completely solid body with just a small amount of space under the controls.  This troubles me as Hofners are accoustic.   You cannot play this bass without an amp. I would have been greatly disappointed if I had located one new and traveled a distance to buy it and got it home and realized that you couldn't sit and just play it without pluging it into an amp. This bass weighs 6 lbs, exactly the same as the VB100.

What I'd really like to point out, is, that the Icon/Ignition is actually hollow, with a 3/4 in. sound block and asian pickups, and sounds great.  It doesn't have a zero fret! Big Deal!  I have 14 guitars and  basses, including a Martin, Gibson, Fenders and Epiphones.  None of them have a zero fret.

Overall:

I rate this fairly high as it is a fine instrument and plays and sounds great. But, it should be advertised as a solid body Asian replica of the German instrument.

I bought the Icon/Ignition bass and it is great.  They all need intonation adjustment and decent strings.  If you really compare, I think you will see that the Icon/Ignition is a far better value.  I'm very glad that I couldn't find a new one in stock, because I probably would have bought it without realizing what it was, and been dissappointed  when I got home.    

Do you own the product?:
No
Have you used the product?:
Yes
Musical Experience:
45 years
Style of music you play:
Rock, Country, Pop
Where you live:
Ben

Did you find this review helpful? yes no1117678

Great Bass!

| Review By: Sho Blunderfield | 9 months, 52 minutes ago

3 people out of 4 found this review helpful

Features:
Quality:
Value:
Overall:

This is a great instrument! A while back I decided that I wanted to own a Hofner style bass for my band, and so I got a crappy copy from some family member. After my music started getting a bit more serious I decided to upgrade to the real deal, and boy I was a smart purcase. The bass is lighter than I expected, and short scale, which makes it very easy to play. It sounds great and can deliver either a cool crunch or just some low mellow vibes. I love the black finish (which is what I got) it definatley gives a modern look to a vintage guitar. I would recomend this to anyone who wants a quality instrument for a little extra.

Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
Yes
Musical Experience:
since I was 11...
Style of music you play:
Harcore/Punk
Where you live:
Calgary, Alberta

Did you find this review helpful? yes no1094223

Hofner contemporary

| Review By: Music Man-2ZF1Y | 10 months, 4 weeks ago

4 people out of 4 found this review helpful

Features:
Quality:
Value:
Overall:

The bass is a great bass for the money. The only thing i'm dissapointed in is the knobs and switches, it dosn't cost that much if any to go the extra step and make it 100% original! Most people will switch these out anyway. The case is also cheaply constructed.

Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
No
Musical Experience:
35 yrs working musician
Style of music you play:
rock, blues, jazz
Where you live:
Indpls

Did you find this review helpful? yes no995759

My Hofner is Best!

| Review By: Patti-XPYpQ | 1 year, 1 month ago

1 people out of 3 found this review helpful

Features:
Quality:
Value:
Overall:
I love my new violin bass guitar...it sounds great...it has a warm,rich tone. I am a small female and it is lighter than my others, making it easier for me to play. This is a great guitar for a great price. The hard case is a plus!
Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
No
Musical Experience:
self entertainment !
Style of music you play:
love the blues
Where you live:
Pueblo, Colorado

Did you find this review helpful? yes no1025718

Well worth buying..would like better fit/finish

| Review By: 3W7scFLnV | 1 year, 3 months ago

1 people out of 1 found this review helpful

Features:
Quality:
Value:
Overall:
I was very impressed with the sound and playability/action of this bass. The sounds I could get out of the bass ran from very acoustic sounding to jazzy sounding to slap bass....impressive.  The pickup system in this bass is very good. If there were to be a criticism of the bass it would be in the fit(not the finish) area...nothing affecting sound or playability. I would describe the fit as average for an $800(Chinese) instrument.  It wasn't bad...just average...glue spots, pickguard didn't fit quite right, fret nut looks rough, the saddle wasn't fitted to the body etc.... The woods are top notch if I understand the literature correctly...that is that the woods are solid. Solid German spruce top and solid flamed maple back and sides are implied in the literature. The lower model(Icon)is all laminated...no thanks. The case is a hard shell but a very cheapie hardshell....very unimpressive.  I think Hofner would have been better off providing an upper scale hard sided gig bag(like Alvarez or Taylor does) over this cheap hard shell case. Bottom line is I am keeping the bass. Despite fit, it's a great instrument.  I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
No
Musical Experience:
Play live....over 30 years
Style of music you play:
Country/Bluegrass/Rock
Where you live:
Upper midwest

Did you find this review helpful? yes no863953

See all 20 customer reviews...
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