1965 Hofner 500/1 left hand bass

by Hal Steele
(New York City)

Any clue to the value of a left hand 1965 Hofner 500/1 violin bass. All is in good shape except the finish is very dull and cracked. No laquer missing but still a lot of cracking! What is the price range for an instrument such as this? Thanks in advance! Oh, I did make my contribution through PayPal

ANSWER

Hi,Hal--

Thanks for the donation. Here is the Blue Book general info:

MODEL 500/1 (BEATLE BASS) Add to Collection
- violin-shaped body, spruce top, maple back and sides, two pickups, two volume and two tone controls on early models, two volume and three sliding tone controls on production since circa 1959, lyre tailpiece, dot position markers, two-per-side tuners, available in Shaded Brown finish, mfg. 1956-1994.

Here is the current Blue Book pricing info:

1965
Mint $3,500
Exc.+ $2,800
Exc. $2,300
Avg.+ $1,900
Avg.$1,600
General $1,300

There is no price distinction for Left Hand configuration.

The value seems to be increasing slightly. Here is the 2006 pricing info:

2006 1965
$2,400
$2,100
$1,800
$1,600
$1,400
$1,200

Lynne