Hofner Beatle vs. Club vs. Senator basses

[jps]

Between these various models is there a substantial difference in their value, if say, one found a nice clean one owner mid '60s model (I would assume the Beatle model would fetch more). I have a bead on someone with a '66 Hofner bass for sale but at the moment I do not know which model it is. Thanks for any useful (or useless, I suppose) info!

[leftybass]

Club..mine has no center-block, totally hollow. Most of the Beatle Basses had a center block unless they were really old...

I love this bass.

[ganister]

"Most of the Beatle Basses had a center block unless they were really old..." Au contraire. Most of the Beatle Basses are hollow, unless they are really new... The Contemporary series Beatle Bass has a center block. Mine is from 1988, and it certainly is hollow.

- Seppo -

[antipodean]

I have been musing about a Club for some time. My research had led me to believe that the specs for the Club and the Violin bass were practically identical (historically) until the contemporary and icon series were launched. The body shape of the Club does it for me.

The larger Senator and President basses are just a bit too bulky for my liking, but they do exude a sort of gravitas.

I do have to confess to being totally underwhelmed by the traditional hardware - Hofner tuners usually look like they belong on a toy ukelele rather than a bass.

[leftybass]

"Most of the Beatle Basses had a center block unless they were really old..." Au contraire. Most of the Beatle Basses are hollow, unless they are really new... The Contemporary series Beatle Bass has a center block. Mine is from 1988, and it certainly is hollow.

- Seppo -

Welcome Seppo. The new cheap models (ICON and Contemp) are certainly not totally hollow, I agree. The last 500/1 I owned was a '57 and it was hollow all the way, but the '69 lefty 500/1 I used to have was different internally, and had a bit more weight to it. Admittedly I've owned a bunch of Hofners thru the years but I didn't look at all of them.

The Club in the pic above is totally hollow, and more loud acoustically than any other Hofner I've had.....

[ganister]

Yeah, Hofners are surprisingly loud for the size. I have round wounds on mine, and play with a pick. I do almost all of my practicing at home without an amp. Beatle Bass is a bit awkward to play fingerstyle, because of the small body and narrow string spacing.

- Seppo -

[jps]

I am still waiting to hear from this guy so I have no clue as to what this Hofner is; for all I know it could be a solid body model, which in that case I will pass on it.

[jps]

Okay, I just talked with the seller of the bass; it is a one owner 1966 500/1 Beatle Bass, clean with no issues and the OHSC. Does $2000.00 sound fair?

[antipodean]

Jeff,

Dealer offer on a mid-60s 500/1 in what I presume is good condition is around $2,100 - $2,400.

There's a '68 on the bay for less than $2,000: http://cgi.ebay.com/1968-HOFNER-500-1-B ... dZViewItem

A note of caution is that the necks on '60s 500/1s can "hump" near the body join - investigate thoroughly before you buy!

[jps]

Thanks, I will definitely check it out carefully. The one on ebay has a lot of checking; the one I will be maybe getting is supposed to be in nice shape, whatever that means. I will examine Every Little Thing about it! The owner told me it's been in the case for around the past 30 years or so, he has been playing guitar all this time.

Oh yeah, he said $2000.00 or best offer! We will see.

[leftybass]

String height and neck angle on these is everything..... If you buy it Jeff, put the lightest flats you can get on it. The Labella set is nice, and the Pyramids with the dark green wrap will do nicely.......

[fran4001]

$2k??? Very nice price! If it's a goodie, it's worth 600 more. Last year for the staple pickups! Well, early' 67,still....And EVERY 500/1 from '56 to today is completely hollow. And the German ones will continue to be for another 50 years. The Icons and Contemps will be the only ones with any kind of center block.

[leftybass]

...And EVERY 500/1 from '56 to today is completely hollow. And the German ones will continue to be for another 50 years. The Icons and Contemps will be the only ones with any kind of center block.

I suppose I should have opened up more of the ones I had, LOL... I remember the last lefty 500/1 I had (a late '69-early '70) just didn't seem very loud acoustically, and was decidedly heavier than others I've owned. I just deduced that meant more wood, or thicker wood perhaps.

[jps]

Well, the bass is a no go. There is a split in the neck heel that made the neck bow forward from that area so the action is over 1" at the 12th fret! The rest of the bass is very nice with just a little finish checking in places, but that neck would be too costly to repair to make it worth it. BTW, it had blade pickups on it. Now I can think of spending the money on an iMac!

[shamustwin]

I love my iMac. But I also loved the '67 Beatle bass I used to own. My Club comes close in feel, and makes you automatically want to play all over the place, like a guitar.