Hondo II Iceman rough copy

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Despite the glowing write-ups in certain eBay listings that I've seen, Hondo guitars have a dreadful reputation, and I've heard many an ex-owner complain that they were cheap and nasty - and often unplayable - copies. Judging by this Hondo copy of an Ibanez Iceman, they weren't very accurate copies either. Look at the shape of that thing - that curvy lower is slightly reminiscent of a Musicvox Spaceranger. I'm also aware of the irony of an Ibanez Iceman copy, when before the Iceman, Ibanez were copyists themselves.

So, any Hondo owners or ex-owners out there? Were they really all that bad?

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Hondo All-Star H-702

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Once again we have an eBay seller claiming a guitar is much older than it is. So, he thinks this Japanese Hondo All-Star H-702 is from the 1970s (or even the 60s judging by the listing title)?

Well seeing as it is very obviously a copy of the Fender Bullet MkII series from the early 1980s, I don't see how this is possible. Unless those crafty Japanese had access to a time machine.

"Let's nip into the future and steal a design from Fender's budget-guitar series."

I mean, if I had a time machine I think I'd do something better with it than that.

So, it's an eBay seller not doing his homework. Even the logo is copied from the Fender Bullet! Jeez! Some people!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Hondo Flash headless bass designed by Harry Fleishman

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Hondo guitars don't have the best of reputations. Those that remember their poorly executed copies of Gibson and Fender designs recall them with a shudder and rarely have a good word to say about them. In the early 1980s Hondo brought in luthier Harry Fleishman as a design consultant, and together they came up with this, the Hondo Flash Bass.

It has the appearance of being all neck. Indeed, the fretboard sports 30 frets (unless I miscounted) and I think you can safely say that access to the upper frets is unhindered. The volume and tone controls are mounted on the upper edge (reminiscent of the LaBaye 2x4) and the Hondo/Fleishman team have come up with quite an elegant solution to the problem of where to locate the tuners. The bass has a single J-style pickup and allegedly a piezo pickup system too.

The seller keeps referring to it as a "travel guitar", but you'll see in the photo of it next to a Jazz-esque Bass that it's about the same length. The length subtracted from the head has simply been added behind the bridge. However, if you're talking body mass, then yes, it's a lot smaller but it's still going to have to fit inside a lengthy case or gig bag.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!