'79 Hofner Beatle Bass cheap...

webhead · Post by **webhead** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:18 am

It's like the second item down the page. Chris is a standup guy for gear..

http://www.chrisguitars.com/

lowendbob · Post by **lowendbob** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:11 pm

That is a beauty and a great price, but what's up with the black knobs , and pickup controls?
I thought all Hofner's had the white teacup knobs, and white pickup selectors.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:57 pm

Actually, that's correct for that period. The '70s showed several changes, including the modern closed tuners, bound neck, and the small black knobs and switches. Bar-type pickups were also standard, replacing the "staple top" pickups which are once again standard on the reissue models.

fran4001 · Post by **fran4001** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:59 pm

Too bad the tuners got replaced. Possibly drilled out to fit the replacements also. Otherwise, she's sweet.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:15 pm

Those may be the original tuners (see above). I had a reference site called "dating Hofners" but left it at the office – and I don't go to the office anymore. As I recall, there were a couple of more modern closed tuners that were used in the '70s, and these may be one type. There were also some variations of the trapeze or "music stand" tailpiece; this one has the longer vintage one, but there was a shorter one used back then, too.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:49 pm

http://www.geocities.com/joe.baiardi/date.html
Is that it?

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:06 am

That's it, John. I think the piece about the long/short tailpieces was in the Hofner Beatle Bass book.

Thanks!

fran4001 · Post by **fran4001** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:06 am

Reissue tailpiece too. Generally not available until around '92-'93. I've set up, handled and owned several 70s and 80s Hofners and none had a long tailpiece. Same with those tuners and way oversized ferrules. The only chrome Hofner tuners were the standard issue ones seen on all the rest of the late 70s/80s basses. White plastic buttons from '67 to '76 or so.