Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

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

http://www.chrisguitars.com/

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Thanks!

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.