15 minutes with a Hofner Beatle Bass and a Rogue copy at GC: a comparison...

yeah... you'll never get a job at a music store!

 

nevermind.. it was just a bad attempt at being humorous

saying that the cheap one is as good as the expensive one..

 

I don't know but it's better to be careful with those. I tried an Epi kind of imitation and it was horrible.
short scale, good price (about 180$) but a terrible guitar sound.
It seemed to be playing an octave guitar or that kind of danelectro thing.
didn't have the famous booommm.

 

you never know.

 

I've had a Rogue violin bass for about a month now, and I really like it. I''ve never played a Hofner, but once I put flats on the Rogue and did some adjustment, it sounded great. It has way more output than my heavily-modded Carvin, which has DiMarzio Model One and a stacked Jazz pickups. Mine definitely has a boomy tone, and has a lot of bite with the "solo" switch on. Can't beat it for the bucks.

 

ive had my rouge for about 3 hours and i love it. never played a hofner so i cant really compare them but the rouge is so amazing i can only imagine what the hofner must be like

 

has anyone ever researched replacement pickups and/or bridges for the Rogue VB-100?

i have me an intchy trigger finger

where i cali? i wana go try both also

 

I played a hofner at the hollywood GC... it wasn't anything to write home about.

However I played a beatle bass copy at Westwood Music, actually played/felt quite nice. However there was a Parker there for the same price that was lighter. That was way cooler.

 

I played one and i though it was absolutely horrible, i dont know why anyone would spend that much money on it

 

I play an actual Hofner on a regular basis. Even though the strings are older than I am, the setup is wonderful, great feel once you get used to the narrow body and short scale. And of course -the- sound.

I tried a Rogue on a lark, and though it felt and sounded foul and evil. I won't be picking one up any time soon.

 

I just said this in the other hofner thread, but these fall under the catagory of crappy for a reason (so don't pay 2k for it) kind of sound. I think they have a cool tone, but not one that takes 2k to get. It is kind of like a fender champ guitar amp. Here is a little practice amp that is supposed to run with the speaker, tubes, and cabinet nearly melting down. A cool sound indeed, but not one that needs to be replicated with a $1500+ boutique amp.

Long and short, do I like the sound, yes, would I turn down a freebie, no, would I pay 2k for one? Not in a million years.

 

I made the same comparison a while back and found pretty much the same thing, didn't like the Hofner one bit. It was too light and felt really flimsy in my hands. However, I made it with the Epiphone copy and really loved it, thought it had a good slap tone, an overall solid feel, and almost walked out with it for $200.

 

I bought a Rogue violin bass last Christmas just for something to goof off with on Beatle tunes. I've really liked it. I also played a Hofner at a GC in Nashville and found the same results. I actually preferred the Rogue too. If you're thinking about buying a Hofner---save yourself $1900 and buy the Rogue---or better yet, buy the Rogue and spend the $1900 on a really nice bass.

 

Back in the mid 1960's, when I was stationed in Germany, I owned two Hofners, an acoustic arched top guitar, and an electric solid body guitar. Don't remember the specific models, it was a long time ago. The acoustic wasn't much to write home about, but I bought it for goofing around in the barracks. The electric I bought later to play in a band. I really didn't like either one of them. They both felt cheap, sounded cheap, and were cheap. When I joined another band as the bass player, I looked at various basses, including the Hofner violin bass (Beatle bass to some). Compared to my Fender P-Bass, which was still back in the US at that time, it was a total POS. I sent for my P-Bass and my Strat, and sold the electric. Never bought the violin bass. In retrospect, I should have kept the Hofner electric and played it, as my Strat was stolen when I shipped it back a couple of years later. Hofner's are no better today than they were then.

Danelectro guitars and basses fall into the same category. Cool things to mess around with, but are now WAY, WAY over priced. They were "nice" junk back in the late 50's and early 60's when I played them, and even owned a couple. Now they're totally "over priced" junk. However, much more desireable than a Hofner.

If you like Hofner's, that's cool. Play 'em and enjoy them. It's kinda' like Yugo's, there are people, not many, but people none the less, that actually like Yugo's. More power to 'em. Hofner's are not now, nor were they ever worth the kind of money that Sir Paul elevated them to. But, you know, if Elvis had walked through a store and picked up a $50 toy guitar, played it, maybe even "sweated" on it, it would then become a $10,000 "Elvis" Special.

I've played around in stores with Hofners, Rogues, J-Tursers, and Epiphone violin basses over the last year or so. The Hofner reminded of the Hofner of my Germany tour. The Rogues and J-Tursers were, in my opinion, actually a little better overall. The Epi was a LOT better, but harder to find. Should have bought one of the ones I played.

 

So did I! Was at the GC on Sunset?

I was recently there and played their wall of Warwicks... they were all pretty bad. I also played their Modulus Flea... uninspiring.

I also played their Hofner... and you're right.

In fact, the majority of basses there played pretty bad... maybe it's just the store?