Hofner 50TH Anniversary Bass

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 4:24 pm

What was the deal with the colored basses anyway? Not available now anymore right? Gary, that blue bass gets me every time.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:17 pm

That's interesting, Gary. I didn't know you had a Hofner, let alone a blue one. I didn't know that some came with gold hardware. Might have been special order that way. My blue one has chrome. I put rounds on it, and have gigged with it. Sounds really ballsy, which is not usually an adjective used to describe a Hofner.

What other surprises have you up your sleeve?

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:13 pm

My Black Club supposedly is one of 50 made.

I like it cause it sounds Beatley but doesn't look Beatley

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:26 am

Hate to tell you this Jerry, but the Black Club Bass "Limited Edition" is now a standard production item and no longer a "Limited Edition" item.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:41 am

I kinda figured.
When I bought it, it was presented as only one of fifty (earlier this year!).
Ah, well, I like the looks of it.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:03 am

Back to an earlier question, the colored 500/1 basses came about in 1999 and 2000. Then president of Boosey & Hawkes, Jack Faas, suggested to Hofner (which was part of B&H at the time) that they try offering the classic "Beatle Bass" in other colors. Apparently, they made several prototypes (outlined above), and eventually settled on the standard trim level. I'm not quite sure on this part: either 50 or 100 each of red burst and blue burst were made in the 1999-2000 time frame. I bought the superdeluxe prototype from Fass on eBay two years ago. The other solid red one was on eBay last year, and the red burst with deluxe features I've seen in a photo in the capable hands of Steve "The Dude" Barr at a NAMM show back then. I don't know if there was any blue prototype. There is some criticism of the colored finishes that the clear coat was foggy, not showing the wood grain clearly. The blue is a funny color: brilliant in daylight, just plain dark and muddy in low-light levels.

webhead · Post by **webhead** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:06 am

I had the blue one. Bought it used for $1100.00 about 2 years ago. It looked nice in the picture but I didn't like it up close so I got rid of it. It kills me that these basses are going for $1800 new. I don't think they're worth it... They're ok for the Beatle Buzz but other than that it's nothing... If McCartney didn't use this- we'd see this in the $400 range.. That's just my opinion.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 10:26 am

There's an argument that if McCartney hadn't used (or still uses) the violin 500/1, that we probably wouldn't see ANY electric instrument from Hofner. It's kept their brand visible to the world for 43 years.

After watching eBay for Hofners for several years now, it seems that the truly rare limited-edition colors capture very little interest. I think that players and collectors who want the violin bass, want the brown sunburst like Paul's. There is some interest in the truly vintage models up through 1964 or so. I understand the colored ones sold out, but after that production run, they made no more that color.

What I'd like to see is a genuine (not Chinese) Hofner with super deluxe appointments (like the red one above) done in black, like the Black Beauty Les Pauls. Yum!

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 2:17 pm

I would be the first in line for a 1957 or 1958 re-issue, even though I have an original.

These basses are a WORLD apart from their Beatlemania-era decendants....David McL's 1958 is the best-playing 500/1 I've ever held. These old flat-back, fat-neck Hofners are IT.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:26 pm

Finally found the shot of the red burst deluxe neck Hofner held by Steve "The Dude" Barr. Sorry, I don't know where I got it, but it must have been off the Dudepit somewhere. I didn't take the shot, so can't be held responsible for the top of Steve's head!

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:40 pm

Here's my blue one in indirect sunlight. Really jumps with the extra ultraviolet light on it. Hardware is chrome reflecting the grass; it's not gold.

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:27 pm

Paul that's my photo of Steve Barr holding the custom made Redburst 500/1v63. I cropped his head out to reduce the image size. No offence to Steve, but i'd rather focus on the bass then him.

FYI a number of those special red and blue finished 500/1v63 basses ended up being returned to Boosey & Hawkes because of finish flaws. It seems that a number of the red ones turned to a mud red brown hazed finish. I was told there were a number of them in inventory when B&H created The Music Group. They in turn tried to pawn them off onto Klaus Scholler when he bought Hofner from The Music Group in late 2004 but he refused to take them as part of the inventory that he was buying.
Apparently they were sold off to some of The Music Group employees for next to nothing.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:16 pm

Interesting info, Jon. I recently paged through the "new edition" of the Hofner Beatle Bass book, and despite it being recently published, there's nothing on the colored ones. Hmm. Maybe a new book is in order on Hofner basses, too. Hmm.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:57 pm

One option is to get a regular Hofner and give it to Paul for a proper coloring job I suppose. That way you're paming homage to Macca but putting your own style on things

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:44 am

Paul, I noticed the 2nd edition of the Joe Dunn book neglected to mention the red and blue limited editions of the 500/1v63 bass.

It also didn't mention the change of ownership of the company from The Music Group to Klaus Scholler in late 2004.

If you happen to have a copy of the 2000 Hofner catalog, you'll see photos and description of the Transparent Blue and Red finished 500/1v63 in it along with the traditional Antique Brown finished ones.