Hofner Bass Guitars

[bassboogie]

Now there's a thought....playing a Beatles Hofner bass through a Mark bass amp....aaaagh.

Mine has never been contaminated with anything other than a Vox bass amp.

Kind regards, Luigi

[dave robinson]

Now there's a thought....playing a Beatles Hofner bass through a Mark bass amp....aaaagh.

Mine has never been contaminated with anything other than a Vox bass amp.

Kind regards, Luigi

Vox never made a decent bass amp, which is why McCartney uses Mesa Boogie and why Alan Jones and Mark Griffifths use Mark Bass and AER respectively. All three of them will do for me.
My bass goes directly into the desk.

[Dranna]

Thank you Didier, Iain, Dave and Bassboogie!

You know, I've used a solid bass guitar for a long time and am really just learning how to play the Hofner, how to pluck, the effect of the solo switch, etc. My non-Shadows band has a wide repertoire (including songs like Lady Marmalade) so the required bass tone and pnch vary tremendously from piece to piece. I will need to consult you.

I'm quite happy you use Hofners too.

Warm regards,
Anna

[Iain Purdon]

We can consult each other Anna!

To a musician, an instrument is a means to an end, so use one you like that sounds the way you want

I have used my Burns Shadows bass on rock'n'roll gigs. Sacrilege? Not to me. It's a good gigging bass with a versatile range of pleasing sounds. Why confine it to Shads material alone?

Best wishes - Iain

[Dranna]

Thanks, Iain! I might take you up on that!

A friend sent this photo from a video, showing me with the Hofner, playing with the Madeleine Cookie Company. We're doing "Stupid Cupid" here - a lot of fun to perform!

Anna

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[Dranna]

Andy, who posts here, and our drummer Red were in this show, but they only do Shadows and Ventures. Although they sometimes pitch in with a triangle or other percussion instruments for the vocal numbers.

Regards,
Anna

[ecca]

I thought I'd join in the fun.
I built this violin bass in 1977 .
It was modelled on a Gibson EB1 but half way through I decided I wanted a long scale bass.
This meant that the original piece of mahogany wasn't big enough so I got another piece which not only didn't match but
was actually sapele which was as hard as a bullet to work. It's clearly visible on the RH side.
I then wanted it fretless and asked a local patternmaker what would be a good hard wearing wood for the fingerboard.
Beech.
The neck pick up was really dull so I fitted a staggered fender precision type, much better although not authentic.
The original had a painted line round the edge but I carved it with a spokeshave, what a job.
This I used for a couple of years playing in a band. ( Anything for money with 2 kids and a mortgage. )
What do you reckon ?

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[Martyn]

I bought an Epiphone Viola bass some while back partly because it looked like the Hofner and its obvious Beatles associations, but also because it was light. I tried one in a shop and as it was also a lot cheaper than the Hofner, which was a major consideration at that time, I went for it.
I've not compared it tonally with a the Hofner (they didn't have any) so can't say if they sound the same (maybe someone here will have made such comparisons?) but I liked its light weight and despite it having a tendency therefore to be a bit neck heavy, thought it sounded pretty good, albeit without some of the sustain that a solid body bass naturally has. I know they added a wood block into the body design later trying to remedy the sustain issue.

My personal view was that it was essentially a one-trick pony - it had the traditional punchy dub-dub thump associated with many of the earlier Beatles tracks but I felt that was pretty much it, tonally speaking. I tried to reproduce some of the sounds featured in later Beatles tracks, only to discover most of the ones I really liked had in fact been produced with Paul's Rickenbacker bass , which was rather frustrating. That alone wouldn't have made me sell it, but I did feel a Fender bass of some sort would be more appropriate for Shadows tunes and I was having difficulty trying to reproduce those tones with the Epi.

I subsequently sold it on and then bought a Burns that came up for grabs but couldn't cope with its awesome weight and size - I'm not very tall and folk commented the bass looked like it was wearing me rather than the other way around . I was suffering with neck and backache playing standing up and although I loved its tones it had to go.
I currently play a Fender Jazz bass but I still occasionally look to see if any Hofners are up for sale at an attractive price.
What do they say about the grass is always greener . . . .

Regards,
Martyn

[ecca]

The neck on the one that I built is so long that I can't play it when it's foggy.

[RUSSET]

My brother, Chris, who plays bass in my band generally uses a Tokai SG EB3 copy. This is a Medium scale bass (32") & he finds it to be the most comfortable, relatively lightweight bass he has played. He uses the Tokai with our band which mainly does '60s covers. For casual home playing & sometimes for rehearsals he has an Epiphone Viola bass which is, I believe, a shortscale bass (30.5"). He definitely appreciates the lighter weight of both instruments. The Epi is certainly limited in it's tonal range, but covers most of the tones we need for '60s music. He hasn't tried the Hofner Violin bass, but the controls & pickups appear to be very similar, & from what I remember, the Hofners were always a one trick pony. The only difference seems to be the price, with a certain amount of 'paying for the name' with the Hofners. The Epi is not at all a bad bass for the price, & is beautifully made & finished for a budget instrument.

Tony.