I was wondering why the tone of my new Hofner didn’t sound right, and I just discovered something weird…
All the open strings are tuned perfectly (according to my Polytune 3). But when I fret any note on any of the strings they are reading extremely sharp. Not just a little sharp… needle off the chart sharp.
Why is this? Does anyone know? String height, intonation? What is the issue here?
I’ve never had this with any of my previous basses.
Intonation. Chances are they just sat it in the guitar store right out of the box and didn’t do any adjustments. This can vary on brand/place, but not uncommon. If you know how you can do it yourself, or take it in to a music shop and they can.
Supposedly it got a setup at the store, which is why I didn’t pick it up until 2 days after I bought it.
This is the definition of an intonation problem. Luckily you can easily fix it yourself.
Also a good time to re-evaluate the skill of this store’s guitar techs 
Yup, having a guy who is good is important.
Pam,
Did you change the strings on the Hofner yet? The Hofner bridge is “floating” ( I think that is the correct term). If the bridge moved somehow that would throw the whole setup off kilter.
New strings also often require a new full setup, if the tension changes. And always require intonation in my experience.
No I have not changed strings yet.
This saddle is weird the way it just slides around if you loosen the strings
Yeah, it takes a bit of effort to get the intonation correct on it.
@JerryP @Sully and anyone else who has a Hofner…
I have discovered that doing a setup on a Hofner is vastly different (and challenging) than traditional basses. I found this handy video on YouTube that addresses this very problem.
Unfortunately, the Hofner is a completely different animal so the Wizard’s video doesn’t help. It has a “floating saddle” which is not attached in any way to the body of the instrument. The only thing holding it in place are the strings, which when loosened, allow the saddle to be moved freely to adjust the intonation.
Yikes.
Good luck with this one!
It’s like the upright. Get out the pencil, and when you find where/how high the saddle should be, make those marks so you’ll know to adjust it!
Make marks on the body?
Well, I’m just going from my upright experience.
Graphite rubs right off, so I use graphite on the body and the fretboard for when I need to mark things.
I have a bunch of graphite on the body around the feet of my saddles.
If the finish lacquer is solid, the graphite will rub right off when you want it to… sometimes when you don’t.
Yes, Pam. That quit common on the Hofner.
I’m lucky: the guy selling them here in the Netherlands knows how to teach you doing it yourself.
Sweet! Hope you enjoy that instrument. Definitely some different tones you can get there. I’ve contemplated getting an acoustic bass, but they are so different!
Pam…sorry busy day at work, just seeing this now. Glad you got it sorted out, they are more of a challenging beast to set up, but it will definitely make you appreciate a more modern bass. The floating bridge is always tricky, but Gio’s tip is a good one. They are great once you get it dialed in.
Nice, to own one is on my list. I’ve played (and tuned) several, it’s a nice different tone from the Jazzbass I have.
Have fun with it exploring @PamPurrs