1984 Hofner 500/1 Violin Beatle Bass Sunburst PROJECT
PROJECT BASS SOLD WITH BROKEN TRUSS ROD. BASS IS UNPLAYABLE IN CURRENT CONDITION. This instrument is not covered under our return policy and is sold AS-IS with no returns accepted for any reason (unless the unlikely case its destroyed in shipping, obviously).
The most annoying part is that other than the broken truss rod, this Hofner 500/1 Violin Bass is in very good condition. We purchased it in a 100 instrument collection from a gentleman who owned a music store since 1976 local to us in NY state who had passed away. He kept the best-of-the-best that came through his store as his personal collection and barely played them, so he likely had no idea the truss rod was broken.
We purchased this Hofner not knowing it had a broken truss rod at the time. Before we realized it was broken we did $250 in repairs including: full cleaning, ground repair, new output jack, nut adjustment, and new strings. Besides the truss rod issues, this bass is ready to go!
The fretboard will need to be removed and the truss rod replaced and the fretboard reglued. Your local experienced luthier should be able to perform this job for around $600-$1000, feel free to have your luthier quote the repair before purchasing. When these basses rarely hit the market, they are usually listed around $1500-$1750, so we have priced this bass to account for the repairs plus some extra for your hassle.
Or, if you are a luthier yourself, buy this and repair it yourself to have an incredible rare bass for a great deal!
Hofners are notoriously hard to date. To the best of my knowledge I believe this is a 1984 20th Anniversary 500/1 that for some reason doesn't say "1964-1984" on the headstock truss rod cover. I cannot make any guarantees as to the year of this bass or if it is in fact a 20th Anniversary. Its stamped "Made in West Germany" on the back of the headstock and on the tailpiece but has no serial numbers otherwise, which is normal for these basses.
We want to be fully transparent about the instrument we are selling so please reach out with any questions and check out our detailed photo's on the listing.
Includes what MIGHT be an original Violin bass case from the 1960's. Its tough to find information on these, but if it is an original it could be worth as much as $300. I cannot guarantee anything about the case, its just a hunch.
Weight: 4.9 lbs
Questions?
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We go beyond your typical guitar store. Each instrument is inspected at our in-house luthier shop before, during, and after its stay with us.