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Epiphone Viola vs Hofner contemporary violin bass?

T

Thurisarz

Aug 20, 2004
824
2
Sweden
#1
How is the quality and sound difference between these two? I have done my TB searching but found only one short review of the two side by side.

The Epiphone looks tempting at it's price since american brands like Jay turser, brice etc is not available in scandinavia and the only ones in my pricerange are the Epi and the Höfner contemporary.

Is it possible to "Höfnerise" the Epi with Höfner exchange pickups, tailpiece and pickguard? Would the result be positive?
 
#3
I would assume the Hofner is a decent enough playing bass, the Epi, imo, feels about what you'd expect for a cheap bass. That is to say, I didn't like it at all. The Hofner Icon series are much better, again, imo. I would like to have one some day.
 
#4
Thur-
Had a Hofner as my first bass a long time ago. I bought it because of the look and the brand.
Own an Epi Viola now, but it's not my primary bass. The Epi is very solid instrument and an excellent value. I wouldn't recommend trying to 'upgrade' one unless you like to take things apart and put them back together.
Maybe someone else can give an opinion on the craftsmanship and value of a full priced Hofner.
Do you own a 'beatle' bass at this time? They are not as 'comfy' as you might expect.
 
#5
With Hofner you have 3 violin bass products to choose from.

German made Hofner 500/1 - $2,000 + but the original, enough said.

Hofner Contemporary HCT500/1 - Sells for $500.00 + depending on the store. This bass is identical to its German made cousin in body shape. It's completely made in China except for the pickups and pickup surrounds which are the German made type 511 found on all 500/1 German made Hofner re-issues.
The bass has a strip of solid wood that's mounted to the underside of the top, making it sound more like a solid body bass while retaining some of its hollow body sound.
These basses are available in traditional brownburst and solid black finishes and are quite nice to play and own. One can easily be altered to look identical to their German made counterpart by swapping out a couple of basic parts. This is also a excellent well built alternative to the original German 500/1 at a third to quarter of the price. I personally own one. BTW, these come standard with roundwound strings.

Hofner Icon B-Bass, is 100% made in China. Sells for approx $249.00 + depending on the store. Body shape is very close to that of a Contemporary HCT500/1 and a German made 500/1. Pickups are made to resemble the type 511 p/u while the surrounds are larger and more inline with the surrounds Hofner used in the late 60's through the 80's. These are available in a very bright sunburst and transparent black finish. The Icon B-Bass was made to go head to head with the EPI, Turser, Rogue, Johnson, etc that are lower priced instruments. The Icon B-Bass is more accurate in looks than any of the other low priced knock-offs, and it's a Hofner. One thing the knock-offs are not. These are well made for the money. They play and sound quite nice and can be altered by swapping out parts to come close in looks to the Contemporary HCT500/1 and German made 500/1. And as above, these come standard with roundwound strings as well.

So you see, you have choices with Hofner, more choice than the knock-offs offer. Hofner recognized a few years ago that they were not competing in the lower end market of "Beatle Bass" sales. They created the demand, but didn't have a product to sell into it. Now they have the Contemporary and the Icon B-Bass and next month the new Icon Club Bass will be arriving in the stores.

If you're going to buy a Beatle Bass, go for a Hofner.

TD
 
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#7
Played both of them in a store once. I thought the Epiphone tone controls were more user-friendly. The Hofner has on/off switches for each pickup and, at least on the model I was playing, you couldn't have both of them on at the same time. The Epi on the other hand, if I remember right, has two volumes and a tone knob. Very easy to use. Other than that, they felt and played very similar.
 
#9
I've just got myself a Douglas "Beatle Bass", that seems to be the exact same thing as the Epiphone viola. It's only been a few days but I'm really happy about it. It looks great and has a sound that my P/J or Jazz can't match. One of the pickups is somewhat muddy but the other is clear as water.

The best thing is the sound of the E string. Never heard such a low beautiful bassy sound from my other basses. Kind of weird coming from this "little" pressed-plywood semi-hollow.

I'm waiting on some Labellas to really evaluate it but I'm really glad I got it. I'd say all bass players should get one of these.
 
#12
I have an Epiphone Viola. I tried one of the Hofners at GC. Apparently, so had everyone else. The switches did not work. The Hofner is noticibly lighter than the Viola, which is no heavy-weight. A friend who is an accomplished bass player, both BG and upright, said that he thought my Viola is better built than Hofners, which he said were not that good. Mine has D'Addario chromes. Its sound is deep and thumpy; a fine contrast to my Cort GB 34a.
 
#13
I A/B'd a Viola and Icon in a store while deciding which to purchase. A difference between the two is the the Viola feels more 'solid', if I recall someone mentioned here that there were more plys of wood on the frame or something, whereas a Hofner Icon stayed closed to violin construction.

In terms of controls, the Viola has V/V/T and I kinda preferred that to the switches, as they seemed a bit more fragile.

The finish of both were nice, I liked that the burst went up the back of the neck as well. Sound quality wise, the Hofner sounded fairly close to what you would expect of a Hofner, while the Viola sounded further from regular Hofners in comparison to the Icon. Err. Does that statement make sense?

The pro about the Viola is that while it sounds close to a Hofner, it has a slightly wider tonal range. I ended getting the Viola cause I didn't feel confident in the Icon, it was really light and I felt that I might have broken it.

Both are great basses imo, I especially like the Viola when recording for acoustic tracks. The hollow body offers a very nice warmth. Used with a pick for attack articulation, full bridge pup and about 6/10 neck, it sounds great (to me). For live, well, I've yet to be able to get it to cut through the mix well enough, but that may be cause I'm going 1/4" line in to the PA as opposed to using a DI.

I suggest trying both. The Icon has a lot of fans here, more so that the Viola I think.
 
#14
I suspect the Epi has a "tone block" down through the center. Adds weight and stability and reduces the hollow body feedback issue.

Have been playing a used Epi in a local store and it sounds great. I don't think the fit and finish were as good as the Brice HVB-600 I bought as my first bass.

I like the tone controls on the Epi better.
 
#15
I have the Epi. Got it as it was the best value shorty local.

Turned out liked it so I thought about trading up when the local got in some Hofners. I seen a few build "issues from the other side of the window in one and the next one in didn't look much better so I never lifted it from the hanger.

When you can't find any obvious flaws on a Tanglewood bar needing a truss rod adjustment when two Hofners have glaring issues from a distance, it puts you off.
 
#18
I purchased a viola 6 months ago. I wanted a short scale to add to my line up. Between my thunderbird, my acoustic and my viola, i can attain any sound i may want. I find the viola to be very warm sounding & quite comfortable to play, I have it set up with half rounds, if others lead you to believe the viola is junk, they don't own one!
 
#20
I'm very familiar with the 500/1 courtesy of a friend who has one. I also own an Epi Viola.

The Epi is very nice. It's well made, has a surprisingly nice finish, and is very solid feeling. But the one I own doesn't really sound (to my ears) that much like a real Hofner. It has that decent woody thump and flatwound tone you'd expect. But it's more muffled sounding than a Hofner. Nothing wrong with that if you consider it as it's own thing rather than a 500/1 knock-off. I plan on keeping mine. It's a very cool little bass. (My guitarist GF loves it.) But it's not a Hofner by any stretch.

I recently got a chance to try the Icon and the Contemporary. IMO, if you can't swing a 500/1 (which I think is overpriced for what it is) both budget models are a far better choice than the Epi if you really want to hear that Hofner voodoo.

The Contemporary comes close, but misses the mark. But because of the design differences, that's to be expected. The semi-solid body and the roundwounds give it a different, but still Hofner-like, sound. In some respects it's almost an improvement. I really liked it. (I know... Blasphemy!!! Please put down the pitchforks and torches...) If I were to buy a Hofner clone today, the Contemporary is the clone I'd be buying.

The Icon also misses it. But not by much. It's a great bass for the price - with a lot of the sound, and most of the 'look,' still there. To me, it sounds much closer to the 500/1 than the Contemporary does. But no surprises there.

If I had $300 to spend, and had to choose either the Epi Viola or the Hofner Icon, I'd go with the Icon. The Epi looks nicer and is probably better built. But the Icon just sounds better to me.

Interestingly enough, I think I currently prefer the Contemporary over the 500/1. Maybe my friend's 'Beatle Bass' isn't a good example of what Hofner is capable of producing. Or maybe I've grown so used to the clarity of modern basses that the original Hofner is just a little too much 'vintage' for my ears.

Either way, there's plenty to choose from among the three Hofners and the Epiphone Viola.

(Note: if you're only looking for a very inexpensive and surprisingly good sounding short-scale bass, check out the Gretsch Electromatic Junior Jet. It runs just below $250 most places. And that gets you a rosewood fingerboard plus a TV Jones designed mini-humbucker pickup. The thing is fun to play and sounds great. The perfect grab & go bass for jam sessions or when traveling.)
 

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