Hofner Contemporary 500/2 Club Bass

Hofner HCT-500/2-BK Contemporary Club Bass – Black

When Beatlemania sent demand for Hofner’s 500/1 Violin Bass through the roof in 1964, the Bubenreuth workshop came up with a clever answer. It took the Violin Bass’s 30" short-scale neck and paired it with the single-cutaway body of its Club guitar, which had been in production since the mid-1950s. The result was the 500/2 Club Bass. It had the same woody, thumping Hofner voice in a more traditional guitar shape, and Hofner pitched it at players who loved that sound but didn’t wanted a slightly larger body feel whilst still delivering playability and light weight ergonomics. 

The Club Bass became a cult classic in its own right. Tina Weymouth bought her first one from a fan at a Talking Heads show in 1979. A Club Bass then became her main bass for many years, and one of her originals is now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Session ace Justin Meldal-Johnsen, known for his work with Beck, Nine Inch Nails and Paramore, is another well-known devotee. Both are proof that the Club Bass reaches well beyond ’60s beat music.

The HCT-500/2 Contemporary Series updates that 1960s design for modern stages. Inside, a solid spruce centre block reinforces the spruce-topped, flame maple body. That adds sustain and tames the feedback that can trouble fully hollow basses at volume, while keeping the warmth and bounce Hofner is known for. A pair of Hofner ‘Staple-Top’ humbuckers deliver round, punchy lows and a smooth, vocal midrange. They run through the classic Hofner control panel: individual volumes, bass and treble on/off switches, and a rhythm/solo switch for an instant volume lift.

The 30" scale and slim three-piece maple/beech/maple neck make it effortless to play. At around 2.7kg, it’s comfortable for long gigs and suits smaller players or guitarists doubling on bass. Finished in gloss black with nickel hardware and Hofner’s signature teacup knobs, the HCT-500/2-BK is a piece of bass history built to be played hard. It’s at home in indie, rock, pop, soul and anywhere else that calls for big, old-school tone.

Body

• Shape: Hofner Club Bass single cutaway, semi-hollow
• Top: Spruce
• Back & sides: Flame maple
• Centre block: Solid spruce
• Binding: Multi-ply top and back
• Finish: Black or Sunburst

Neck

• Construction: Three-piece maple/beech/maple, set neck
• Neck joint: 16th fret
• Fingerboard: Rosewood/Jatoba, bound, with dot inlays
• Frets: 22
• Scale length: 30" / 762mm (short scale)
• Nut width: 42mm
• Width at 12th fret: 48mm
• Neck depth: 22mm at 1st fret, 24mm near heel

Electronics

• Pickups: 2 x Hofner Staple-Top nickel humbuckers, passive
• Controls: Neck volume, bridge volume, bass on/off, treble on/off, rhythm/solo switch
• Knobs: Hofner teacup

Hardware

• Bridge: Ebony, Hofner fretted type
• Tailpiece: Nickel trapeze
• Tuners: Individual nickel with pearl buttons
• Nut: Plastic
• Hardware finish: Nickel

Other

• Weight: approx. 2.7kg
• Strings: Hofner HCT roundwound
• Case: Not included