The Hofner, she is a harsh mistress

Hey Hofner heads

I’ve just restrung my Ignition and moved the bridge slightly to correct the intonation. Unfortunately I’m now getting an irritating rattle from around the bridge / tailpiece area when I play the second string (A). It went away when I swapped the 2nd and 3rd strings, but came back when I swapped them back.

Anyone else had similar problems? I’m wondering if the string is hitting the wooden part of the bridge - maybe I need to file down the edge or lower it?

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Ed,
Disclaimer, I am definitely no expert here, but before you moved the bridge, did the string rattle?

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I think I know where you might be going here … :slight_smile: The string didn’t rattle before moving the bridge; however, I’ve moved the bridge back to its original position (more or less) and I’m still getting some rattling.

I don’t think anything is rattling around inside, and it doesn’t seem like anything else is loose (pickguard, pickups, etc). I might let this go until I fit the next set of strings - it’s not seriously interfering with anything, although the string’s a little muted.

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Was the intonation that far off that it required the entire bridge to be moved instead of the individual “mini bridges” (don’t know the proper name) for each string?

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Saddles, the word you are looking for is saddles :slightly_smiling_face: As far as the Hofner, looking at picks I don’t think it has individually adjustable saddles.

@Ed This happened to me when I restrung my SRC6. The 1st string started buzzing at the bridge/saddle, or that’s what it sounded like. As the neck adjusted to the new string tension it went away on its own. Also, when I manually stretched the string (ie grabbed it and pulled a bit, and had to retune), that alleviated it. I think the string got partially “hung up” on the restring or something.

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Well … I found moving the mini bridges a little intimidating so I thought I would just bring the bridge forward a little. All the strings we’re slightly sharp at the 12th fret anyway (but the harmonic was ok).

The intonation is pretty spot on now - just the buzzing is annoying…

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Thanks ! I like the wait and see approach - what the hofner giveth, the hofner taketh away :wink:

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Yes, you’re correct. Saddles. Thank you @Koldunya .

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@ed.

Did you move it towards the neck or away?
Did you readjust truss rod and string height? Your minor move may have fixed intonation but sent another angle out of whack.
Other possibilities…
check that both height adjustments wheels are firmly up against the bridge so they can’t rattle.
Lastly, might be a bad string. Put the old one back and see what happens. This happens more than it should.

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@John_E

Oh this looks like it could be more complicated than I first thought… I first moved the bridge towards the neck but then slightly back - the resultant move is probably slightly towards.

Thanks for the checklist :+1:. I’d better invest in that tool @PamPurrs recommended a while back. Where is it…

I’m not going near the truss rod though. When I think of tinkering with that I feel my sphincter tightening up. I’d rather leave that to a luthier if I can…

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@Ed this is really easy stuff, you can do it. If you can tinker with string height & intonation you can tinker with truss rods. It’s the easiest step!

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It really is.

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I would even say adjusting the truss rod would be your first step. It’s the easiest one for sure.

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@John_E @howard @Paul

Ok but I’m going to do a dry run on my ibanez first - I’m guessing it’s the most forgiving. Tbh adjusting string height and intonation is pretty straightforward on the hofner - apart from moving the saddles around…

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@Ed as others have said, you definitely want to adjust the truss rod first (baby steps, as always) before even touching the spanner wrench or moving the saddle.
Also, another tool you should have in your kit is a small rubber or plastic mallet to coax the saddle one way of the other.

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Yeah I’ll have to get round to it sometime, though I just feel any changes to the bridge can be walked back easier than the truss rod. I’d better practice on a simpler bass (or someone else’s :wink: )

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Undoing a truss rod change is literally turning a wrench the opposite direction you just turned it :rofl:

Seriously, the truss rod is the easiest part.

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This is what I watched just before I did my first truss rod change.

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Well not if I turn it too far and somehow break it. Take my word for it - if Mr Fumblefingers here can screw it up, he will… Baby steps man, baby steps…

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Hey nice vid. Bookmarked for later digestion!

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