Höfner Galaxie bass

I had one of the original ones from the late 60's. It was covered in tan vinyl from the factory. It was a good sounding bass,and only one of about 3 short scale basses i ever owned. I actually preferred it to the hollow body beatle bass. (not a big fan of floating bridges). The new ones are actually cooler than the originals,and if it wasn't a short scale,i would probably buy one. (again,not my thing)
The bodies on the new one are basswood,which doesn't bother me. As you mentioned, for the money,not a big risk there.

 

I have one of the new ones. It's kind of hokey, but it's actually a fun little bass. Once I got it set up, it stayed put, and one can coax some cool tones out of it. The bridge is its primary flaw. They could have tried a little harder on that part. But it's not something I'd ever get rid of. I enjoy it a lot more than the couple of Epiphone EB-0s that I've had.

 

Standard bass scale is normally 34".

 

I just talked to Rob Olsen of Höfner USA yesterday about these.

I have one on order for a video prop.

Some are Chinese-made and some are Indonesian, and there's no telling which you will get. The pickups are Korean-made and supposedly pretty good.

If these are contract-built by PT Indonesia, they are probably very nice instruments. The Chinese Höfners I've had on the bench here are pretty iffy. Some OK, some not -- typical Chinese output.

Hello Music is selling these for $199 at the moment.

These are 30" short-scale...be warned.

[Later: Hello is sold out.]

 

I may cancel the order before it ships. They're taking an awfully long time to get the stock. If I could be assured it was an Indonesian build, I'd wait, but I'm not that excited about getting a Chinese one, even as a prop.

As for the 30" scale, I don't say shortscale basses are no good (though some do), but they are hugely a bigger and more expensive hassle to get properly strung than a regular-scale bass. Flats start at over 50% more than what's available for regular-scale basses and your selections for strings in general are limited and pricier. I've been in many guitar stores -- big ones -- without a single shortscale set of any description in the entire store.

Basically, they're "specialty" strings.

The reason this is an issue is that every new low-end Asian bass that's ever come across my bench is strung with some cheap, awful, gritty stainless roundwound set that start destroying the frets (and your fingers) immediately. Literally.

If I get this thing, I'll tell you what I think after I get it. I may do a review on my new site and Photoweborama may do a photo spread on it if he thinks it's photogenic enough.

 

I only get strings online anymore. I use Labella tapewounds and Just Strings has them for my long scales and my Hofner for the same price of $43.35.

 

I've played a few. I was surprised that I didn't outright hate them. They're a low end - but reasonable - bass. For the money I'd prefer a SX or Squier MV Jazz. They *kinda* do the Jazz thing so that's why I lump them in that category.

 

9050* flats are under $20. No way in this lifetime I'm paying over forty bucks for a set of strings, especially on a $200 bass.

The other drag is that you can't check out the lengths until it's too late.

I rest my case.

 

I know, I used them for a while but I like the Labellas much better. But for me strings are all about the sound and feel, not the price.

LOL, I've already done that for you...The Labellas are fine.

I rest my case.

 

Interesting, I'll have to try the Labellas. I was just going to use D'Addario shorties.