Hofner Model 182E2 Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1966)
Hofner Model 182E2 Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1966), made in Bubenreuth, Germany, sunburst lacquer finish, maple body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
While Hofner is best remembered today for the violin shaped "Beatle Bass", they made a wide line of instruments in the 1960s including many solidbody guitars and basses. This Model 182E2 is a small Fender-inspired solidbody bass that uses some of the same components as its more famous hollowbody cousin, including the staple pickups, flick-console wiring rig and "Teacup" knobs. The 30" scale length is the same as the Beatle Bass, though the feel is somewhat different. This one has a pot code "76" (7th week of 1966) so was likely built early that year.
The double-cutaway body looks and feels rather like a miniaturized Fender Precision Bass, but with two widely spaced staple pickups and the familiar (if somewhat counter-intuitive) "Flick Action" pearloid control panel inset into the black plastic pickguard. The bridge is a floating compensated metal piece adjustable for height, the strings running behind to a solid metal tailpiece marked with a script Hofner logo. The maple neck has a dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard and very Fender-like headstock sporting four plastic-button openback VanGent tuners.
This Hofner Model 182E2 is a good, solid design if not the particularly original, obviously owing its inspiration to Leo Fender. Functionally it is sort of a combination of Precision and Beatle Bass features, a compact instrument that plays well and has a good versatile sound strung with LaBella flatwound bass strings. It is definitely fun to play particularly for players with smaller hands; an excellent beginner's bass but fully professional in quality. When putting together one of the world's finest bass collections, Geddy Lee became quite interested in this often-ignored model and featured a variety of them in his excellent tome "Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass".
Overall length is 42 in. (106.7 cm.), 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 30 in. (762 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This cool little bass shows general wear overall but remains all original except for some small position dots added along the bass side of the fingerboard. The original dark sunburst finish has some noticeable broad checking with dings, dents and scrapes overall, most heavily on the body edges. The neck finish is heavily yellowed with shallow dings, dents and chips and small pin holes drilled and filled in the bass side below the fingerboard serving as side dot position marks. The original frets show some light wear, nothing that affects playability. All hardware is original (sometimes these got stripped down for their Beatle Bass-usable components) and the bass sounds lovely, a nice light and handy vintage 4-string at a relatively modest price. It includes the original pasteboard case, a bit battered but still fully functional. Overall Very Good + Condition.
While Hofner is best remembered today for the violin shaped "Beatle Bass", they made a wide line of instruments in the 1960s including many solidbody guitars and basses. This Model 182E2 is a small Fender-inspired solidbody bass that uses some of the same components as its more famous hollowbody cousin, including the staple pickups, flick-console wiring rig and "Teacup" knobs. The 30" scale length is the same as the Beatle Bass, though the feel is somewhat different. This one has a pot code "76" (7th week of 1966) so was likely built early that year.
The double-cutaway body looks and feels rather like a miniaturized Fender Precision Bass, but with two widely spaced staple pickups and the familiar (if somewhat counter-intuitive) "Flick Action" pearloid control panel inset into the black plastic pickguard. The bridge is a floating compensated metal piece adjustable for height, the strings running behind to a solid metal tailpiece marked with a script Hofner logo. The maple neck has a dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard and very Fender-like headstock sporting four plastic-button openback VanGent tuners.
This Hofner Model 182E2 is a good, solid design if not the particularly original, obviously owing its inspiration to Leo Fender. Functionally it is sort of a combination of Precision and Beatle Bass features, a compact instrument that plays well and has a good versatile sound strung with LaBella flatwound bass strings. It is definitely fun to play particularly for players with smaller hands; an excellent beginner's bass but fully professional in quality. When putting together one of the world's finest bass collections, Geddy Lee became quite interested in this often-ignored model and featured a variety of them in his excellent tome "Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass".
Overall length is 42 in. (106.7 cm.), 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 30 in. (762 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This cool little bass shows general wear overall but remains all original except for some small position dots added along the bass side of the fingerboard. The original dark sunburst finish has some noticeable broad checking with dings, dents and scrapes overall, most heavily on the body edges. The neck finish is heavily yellowed with shallow dings, dents and chips and small pin holes drilled and filled in the bass side below the fingerboard serving as side dot position marks. The original frets show some light wear, nothing that affects playability. All hardware is original (sometimes these got stripped down for their Beatle Bass-usable components) and the bass sounds lovely, a nice light and handy vintage 4-string at a relatively modest price. It includes the original pasteboard case, a bit battered but still fully functional. Overall Very Good + Condition.