Hofner builds a bass for the working man.

beatlejon · Post by **beatlejon** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:52 pm

Here's a pic of me with the Hofner Icon bass.... I still think it looks alot better without the pickguard.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/ ... ndbass.jpg
Jon N.

westtexasrickenbacker · Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:24 am

The pickups in the Icon are top notch. They dont move at all and they are the staple-top style pickups which makes it even sweeter. The volume control is just about like my 62 reissue...I just usually leave mine wide open all the time. It also has the genuine Hofner paper attached to the inside of the bass. Thats what makes it so cool...its not a copy...its a Hofner!

Hi Jon,

Ah, positive feedback on the Icon. Please tell more. Did you string it with flats? Give more comparison on the sound and feel compared to your German Hofner. Is the intonation good? Are you pleased with the sound at high volume when playing in a group setting?

More input, please

I have a Ricky 4003! It's the king of basses. An inexpensive Hofner would do me just fine if it is a reasonable alternative to the German original.

beatlejon · Post by **beatlejon** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 9:29 am

I'm very happy with the Hofner Icon bass. I did string it with flat wound strings and it sounds just about like my vintage 62 reissue. It plays really well and very easy to play. In ways it's better than my 62 reissue and in some ways its not. The color is ok...it's more of a "honey" tint to it. The string volume is more even than my 62 reissue. I was really surprised with this bass! If you ask me...it's WELL worth the money!
Jon N.

westtexasrickenbacker · Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:00 pm

Now that's news I can use!!!

Thanks very much, Jon.

qmoder · Post by **qmoder** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:03 pm

Your starting to temp me Joh. Here's a special request. Would you mind weighing it and your Hofner for us and telling us the differences. I weigh all of my basses and guitars when I first get them.
I have a set of baby scales that I use. You can get them cheap at most any store like Walmart. If you don't have and don't want any LOL.. Then you could take it to a grocery store. They use scales to weigh things like fruit and meat.
I used to take in my model ships and have them weigh before I got the baby scales LOL.. They had to weigh scale weight at the hobby events that I went to back then.
As a last resort you could just weigh yourself on your bath room scales. Then pick up the bass and weigh yourself again subtracting the difference. Thanks!

greg_feo · Post by **greg_feo** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:16 am

Lots of info here..just an fyi..unless you already got your ICON ..or COntemp...GOOD luck.
MF sold out but taking $, same with Sam Ash, G.Center has none,Music Ground is not getting any but taking deposit $ too?lol
It soundslike 6 months to nearly a year wait ...quoting CMI .the mfg. fyi.
There are no more Contemporary Hofners available in the USA either ..if this was already discussed so sorry.

Icons, and German Models all on Back order The bay is where to find them , most all at a higher price.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:23 am

"I used to take in my model ships and have them weigh before I got the baby scales LOL.. They had to weigh scale weight at the hobby events that I went to back then."

WHOA...SCREECH...The Battleship Missouri weighed (unfitted) 45,000 tons. You're saying that a 1/350th scale model of it, at about 2 /12 feet long, HAD to weigh 128.57 tons?

Questions:

1. Were these made of dwarf star material?

2. What butcher's scale goes that high?

Please clarify...I'm a bit fuzzy this AM.

rickfan63 · Post by **rickfan63** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:31 am

North Coast won't get any more Contemp. basses until Feburary at the earliest. I think Gary still has the Icons though.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:47 am

Paul W., I don't know the formula, but I think scale weight is some sort of reverse geometric proportion. It doesn't apply to static models, of course, my area.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 11:17 am

Yeah, gotta be, I was thinking...but, then, isn't that a bit silly? Nobody can ever comprehend 45,000 tons to begin with. Who cares of a model weighs 8 or 10 pounds as long as it looks correct?

Side note: Got rid of the round wounds on my Icon and strung it up with Rotosound medium scale flatties, black tape wound. The sound is now fatter, smoother, and fret buzzing is gone. So much bottom from such a light bass! Controls are confusing, though...

I'm playing through a Behringer 3000 "Workstation" (I think they mean bass amplifier). Nice amp for $250.00!!

I'm a bass newbie, but having a great time.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 11:39 am

I just placed my order thru NCM, so they have some on hand, or at least they did a few minutes ago.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:35 pm

Curious, Paul, how much fret buzzing are we talking about, before you made the change to flats? Was it noticeable on every string?

qmoder · Post by **qmoder** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:26 am

Paul my friend. Please stick to guitars that you know a lot about as you don't know zip about model ships. First off I didn't name a scale.
But the scale that build in is 1/144 and 1/120. Those scales are more than twice as big as 1/350. However the scale weight is no where near 128.57 tons even in those scales.
I'm afraid that your figures are a tad bit inaccurate. The real scale weight of a ship model of the Missouri build in 1/144 scale would be from 44.5 pounds to to 48.95 pounds and yes butcher scales do go that high.
These ships are quite big however. One easy way to figure it is why we often often called 1/144 scale one twelth scale. Because you divide the length of the real ship in feet by twelve. The number that you get will be the number of inches that the model ship will be long.
So the Missouri which is really and Iowa class Battleship is 887 feet long and is 73.9 inches long in 1/144 scale or just over six feet long. I only build British ships so my Queen Elizabeth class Battleship whick weighs in at 31.75 pounds.
Even if a ship were build in 1/96 scale. Which a wooper of a big ship model. It would come no where near 128.57 tons LOL..
As for guitars or basses it does in fact make a difference as to weather its five or eight pounds or not. Yes it most certainly does.
My Turser weighs in at under five pounds and Believe me its a big difference from the eight pounds of my EBO.
My heaviest Strat weighs in at eight pounds and my Les Paul is nine and a half pounds. I hardly ever use the Les Paul live because of its weight. I only use it for one set when I do use it.
Some folks have asked why Paul Mc. no longer performs with his Ric live any more. So John Hall asked him point blank why during Paul's last tour?
Paul's answer was yes the Ric. Nice bass but its too heavy.
I know it might sound crazy. But I can tell the difference in even a quarter of a pound in guitar weight. Such as the difference in Tele and my Ric.
People can certainly tell when its 70 or 90 degrees outside. They didn't start out knowing that as a baby. Its and acquired skill. But one that you learn none the less. All of my friends who play bass can tell the differences in weight from my Turser to my Rogue.
After all the people on here can tell you the differences in John Lennon's 325's headstock and the shape of its name plate from the current production C58's.
Weight like that is a valid consideration when it comes to guitars, Hofners, and the women we like. Just a few pounds one way or the other can be very important..
Guitars and basses just get heavier and heavier the longer the night goes on. The EBO is my heaviest bass and very likely to remain so. I will never own one of those big clunky Fender basses. Just too HEAVY.
What flats have the red silk wraps. My wife's favorite color is red. I don't have any flats on any of my Violin basses. Might be time to try a set.
I still like the Contemporary more but that Icon does look a lot better in your pic's than I thought from other pictures.
I gather that you've had no problems like other people have talked about of warped necks and black stuff that rubs off the frets either.
Much be a lot people out there wanting them for all of these stores and catalog warehouses to be sold out so fast.
I'm kinda surprized from the way most players talk a Hofner is the last thing on their list for Christmas. I guess talk is cheap LOL..

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:00 am

Dan, you're right--I know zip about model ships. That's why I was asking, not "stating for the record".

My numbers were EXAMPLES (including my 1/350 scale EXAMPLE); my figures for Iowa, class battleships were similar to those which you quoted...I most certainly did NOT pull them out of my a***.

One more thing--my math is correct, too, as far as it went.

I was asking what the competition model weight was supposedly based upon, showed the math, and inferred that it could not be in direct proportion to the scale (1:350 scale length=1:350 scale weight). In fact, I should have taken it one more step, being a longtime professional modeller myself. The actual weight of the model is based upon the mass, and mass=scale cubed.

This is what you should have pointed out to me, instead of informing me of how little I know about ship modelling...

Anyway, the calculations for a 144th scale model of the Missouri, using the cube root, work out to darned near the numbers you quote. (31.48 pounds, unladen).

What I was looking for is the practical basis for the scale weights. I found my mistake myself, and it's a dumb mistake I made, based upon math, not modelmaking.

But, jeez, Dan, educate me, don't tell me how little I know...

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:17 am

So, how do you weigh a battleship? Just balance it on a scale? No, you measure "displacement": it's easier to measure the amount of water displaced by a ship when afloat, and water having a known weight per volume, it's easy to figure. Displacement is measured when flooding a drydock, I think. Measure the amount of water brought into the drydock until the ship floats, compare that to the known capacity of the drydock when the water level is the same with no ship in it. I would imagine that's how it's done.