Hofner recycled bass jobby

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BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited August 2018
    i don't imagine it will sound any different to the standard material basses, so it's uber marginal eco gains (do these sell in hundered or thousands?). but still better than no eco gains.

    is it sincere? is it marketing? more the latter i suspect (this stage and these volumes).
    but it's sometimes through these 'how might we do things differently?' brainstorming projects that real innovative and original improvements to materials and process pop up. and if they can their way into their mainstream production, that's where the eco value will really lay.
    if you can find a way to finish that is 25% etc more efficient than you usually do. or find a way to mix walnut with carbon to produce a lighter more resonant bridge than cites woods.
    so it's good that hofner are thinking about the issue. thinking about it better than not caring.
    maybe it will do well. germany is one of the greenest countries in the world, petra kelly and friends started the very first green party there

    the other main value it has is of giving people who are deeply commited to trying to live less destructive and more sustainable lives, an option. even if 90% tokenistic.
    i try, within my capacity and means, but it's hard on a tight budget. i do what i can.
    but if someone has solar panels, electric car, fairtrade things, and then something comes through the door in a big blob of polysteyrene that will last a million years? it chips away at your feeling that what you are doing is worthwhile. which if you are doing the right thing, you shouldn't have to feel. everyone should feel trying to do something is worthwhile. so it's a nod to the cause.

    personally, my eco solution is to buy secondhand. recycle what's there instead of demanding production make more. there are quite a lot of guitars in the world. so buying used is zero carbon footprint in manufacturing terms, because it's already there.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Would it not be simpler to 3-D print them? Höfnerbergers, if you will.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    edited August 2018
    Total red herring. The best way to avoid environmental impact is to make sure it is not thrown away, and there is no reason for an electric guitar/bass ever to be, at least not for hundreds of years - as long as it doesn't incorporate any technology which will be obsolete and unreplaceable after a short time (eg crap like the Firebird X). There are violins that old, and there is no danger of them ending up in a landfill any time soon.

    As vale says, stopping buying so many new ones is the best 'eco' solution, and you aren't going to see any manufacturers recommending that, including Höfner.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • steamabacussteamabacus Frets: 1258
    Personally, I like the lack of plastic on purely aesthetic grounds, irrespective of any environmental concerns.

    It's the way I've always though I'd go if I had a custom built guitar.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    vale said:
    is it sincere? is it marketing? more the latter,  i suspect.
    Probably driven by domestic legislation. There must be political and social pressure to be seen to use responsibly sourced woods and to minimise ecologically damaging finishing materials and techniques. 

    The fact that some of the instruments may be manufactured entirely in SE Pacific Rim countries - whose health and safety standards might fail E.U. stipulations - is irrelevant. If/when it becomes *unacceptable* to trade in certain ways, the manufacturers must make some changes so as to appear to be in step with the latest assumptions and expectations.

    The reconfiguration of the controls to three pots has the combined benefits of simplified manufacture, fewer solder joints to make and, as a side benefit, makes the instrument less aggravating to use.
    Be seeing you.
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    vale said:
    is it sincere? is it marketing? more the latter,  i suspect.
    makes the instrument less aggravating to use.
    you're a closet violin bass fan playing hard to get. they are a pure never-ending joy to use.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Nah. The only German bass guitars that I like are Warwick. (So, shoot me.) 

    Come to think of it, Warwick used to offer short scale versions of some of their designs. 

    What is this never-ending joy of which you speak? Surely, all life is suffering? The only way to end the suffering is to follow the Eight Fold String Path.


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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I quite like violin basses. Not sure they would suit my style of playing and it would look silly hung round my fat neck and poking out in front of my fat belly but sound wise I like them.

    Warwick, meh - take it or leave it. Not sure about the slave labour either ;)
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Be seeing you.
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