Kind of NBD

One Bad Monkey

One Bad Monkey

New member
I've actually had this for a little over two months now. Bought it for work, because we needed a good bass that was a 30" short scale but used a medium scale length string.

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Offhand, it didn't sound too bad. I threw some GHS Pressurewounds on it, and it was great. But, seeing as I can't leave well enough alone, was wondering what I could do to improve upon the sound of it. Talked to Scott Marceau about options, and he recommended the SM-1 Vintage Humbucker and SM-3 Seymourized Mini Humbucker for the task. Got them in on Tuesday and wired them in on Wednesday.

Also threw on a set of GHS Precision Flats (which was the main reason I bought the bass, as we were prototyping medium scale flats.

The sound is definitely thicker, richer and clearer. On a couple of settings, I could get a good P-Bass thump out of it, and other times a nice woody growl. Definite improvement in tone, although I can see the limitations of the electronics setup on the Hofner. May just buy a new control plate and wire it Vol-Blend-Tone and call it good.
 
Re: Kind of NBD

Nice. Violin basses have a neat vibe to them. One of the bands at a local blues festival last month had a black violin bass.
 
Re: Kind of NBD

Johnny the Kid said:
That's sexy. I like the color. I'm assuming the hotter pickup is in the bridge.
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I was surprised to find it in green; I had always assumed they were traditional sunburst, which I'm not that big a fan.

And yeah, the SM-3 is the hotter of the two pickups, and that's in the bridge.
 
Re: Kind of NBD

One Bad Monkey said:
I was surprised to find it in green; I had always assumed they were traditional sunburst, which I'm not that big a fan.

And yeah, the SM-3 is the hotter of the two pickups, and that's in the bridge.
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It's actually the same color green as my first car that died a hero's death last year.

It was actually more like a murder scene. The transmission fluid hose burst open with a gunshot noise and spewed red transmission fluid everywhere. I had to get the car to my school's parking lot and in the 3 minutes between then the clutches on the gearbox burnt out. I miss my Jimmy.

Where did you find it?
 
Re: Kind of NBD

Nice score. I'm a fan. Love Hofner basses. They can be upfront in a mix and still not upstage other instruments.

Here's the old-bass-day companion to yours... (FYI these were wound by Seymour also)

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Re: Kind of NBD

Johnny the Kid said:
Where did you find it?
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eBay. They had the "or best offer" options available, so I did a bit of research, gave them a price I was happy with and voila! Came with a hard shell case as well.


BlueTalon said:
Very pretty! How's the neck dive on it?
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I have a Levy's 4" thick leather strap (in white, no less) that I use for that, and I don't find any neck dive at all. The strap holds the bass right where I want it.
 
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