I'm a big fan of the bands the OP listed, and I think the Hofner could do a reasonable job for most of them. You might need a good preamp (or stomp box) to get the honk of the Smiths, but I think it would sound great for Cure, etc. I'd say get a set of rounds and a set of flats, switch back and forth, and see what you come up with.
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hofner bass only for playing beatles?
- Thread starter Nexany
- Start date
Greetings from the North,
One of the coolest bass sounds I ever heard was a Hofner Beatle Bass with Roto round wounds on it running thru an SVT. It was awesome!
Rezdog
One of the coolest bass sounds I ever heard was a Hofner Beatle Bass with Roto round wounds on it running thru an SVT. It was awesome!
Rezdog
You can use it for other songs.
Other Hofner users besides Paul McCartney include Allen Woody (The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule, although he primarily used an Epiphone Rumblekat bass), Merlo Podlewski (Jack Johnson's bass player) and Christian Wargo (Fleet Foxes).
Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith also played one on their album Just Push Play (in addition to an upright bass)
Other Hofner users besides Paul McCartney include Allen Woody (The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule, although he primarily used an Epiphone Rumblekat bass), Merlo Podlewski (Jack Johnson's bass player) and Christian Wargo (Fleet Foxes).
Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith also played one on their album Just Push Play (in addition to an upright bass)
I've never thought of that before...maybe that's why lately I've put aside my Fender P and been playing a Höfner 500/7 Verythin?
After a two-show night, my shoulder and back thanks me!
I find that I can play most rock / pop tunes w/ her...it just may take some fiddling w/ your pups and amp.
I use my Icon in an orchestra for musicals where the original music would call for an upright sound, Rogers and Hammerstein stuff. While it's not identical to an upright sound, I want something that's not as aggressive sounding as a solid body. I'll also use it if I'm accompanying an acoustic guitar player where the guitarist is finger picking a lot, as opposed to strumming. It has it's own unique tone. It's not for everything, but it's perfect for certain situations.
This Icon is my 3rd Hofner. My first two were German made originals. My first (back in the 80's) was an early 70's model and my 2nd was a 1964 model that I owned in the 90's. The Icon is far superior to those others in terms of even sound. Maybe the 64 had better tone on the A-D-G strings, but I could never, ever get the E string to sound decent. Always dead sounding. The 70's model suffered from feedback. Microphonic pickups or something like that.
Anyways, I love mine now. I don't need the more expensive models, because I only use it once a year or so.
This Icon is my 3rd Hofner. My first two were German made originals. My first (back in the 80's) was an early 70's model and my 2nd was a 1964 model that I owned in the 90's. The Icon is far superior to those others in terms of even sound. Maybe the 64 had better tone on the A-D-G strings, but I could never, ever get the E string to sound decent. Always dead sounding. The 70's model suffered from feedback. Microphonic pickups or something like that.
Anyways, I love mine now. I don't need the more expensive models, because I only use it once a year or so.
I agree, I've owned 5 German made Hofner basses since the early 1970's, and I think my Ignition violin Hofner is the best of the lot. It has a very up right bass sound with Pyramid flat wounds on it, and yet quite another voice with T-I Jazz Round Wounds on it. If you use two pick ups you can get a wide variety of sounds.
