• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Hofner Basses

#21
Big_Daddy said:
Hofner violin bass?

One of the most useless basses I've ever played in my life. The only sound you can get out of it is the Beatles sound, which is just this dull thud...Which is good if you're playing to the Beatles. Other than that, it's just a waste of money, IMO.
Click to expand...

Exactly. No one would ever use one of them for metal...oops, here's one on an Ozzy tune:



or reggae:

RobbieShakespeare1978.png


They are just one trick ponies. The one trick being the defining bass sound for the most successful band of all time. You wouldn't want to sound anything like that.
 
#22
Rob Martinez said:
Whatever works. I sold my Fender P bass and J bass, and now use the Hofner Icon basses. They just sound and play better for my needs than the Fender basses did.
Click to expand...

I haven't sold my other basses...yet, but my Icons have become my go to basses for several reasons but if they didn't have the tones I needed they wouldn't hae made the cut. There was no compromise on that.
 
#25
GM60466 said:
I have several German models of both. They are well built and play great. IMO The Icon beatle bass isn't worth fire wood.
Click to expand...

Well, tra la la!

So far, everyone in the audience I have played my Icons in front of think they are German made! I wouldn't pay $2000 for a bass I can pay $300 for and get pretty much the same effect.

I played a German made Hofner a few years back, it felt and sounded very similar to the Icon violin bass. IMO.
 
#26
Rob Martinez said:
Well, tra la la!

So far, everyone in the audience I have played my Icons in front of think they are German made! I wouldn't pay $2000 for a bass I can pay $300 for and get pretty much the same effect.
Click to expand...

I suppose if fooling audience members into thinking it is a real Hofner is the effect you are after, then sure, it does the job. It says Hofner on the headstock and from 10 feet away it is hard to tell the difference. If that makes you happy, then great, and you saved some money too!

Rob Martinez said:
I played a German made Hofner a few years back, it felt and sounded very similar to the Icon violin bass. IMO.
Click to expand...

I played one for about an hour in a shop recently - I had my Icon with me so I actually played them both back to back. They are very different in both feel and sound - suprisingly different, actually. Doesn't mean the Icon is bad, but it is nothing like the real thing.
 
#27
lazerbrains said:
I suppose if fooling audience members into thinking it is a real Hofner is the effect you are after, then sure, it does the job. It says Hofner on the headstock and from 10 feet away it is hard to tell the difference. If that makes you happy, then great, and you saved some money too!



I played one for about an hour in a shop recently - I had my Icon with me so I actually played them both back to back. They are very different in both feel and sound - suprisingly different, actually. Doesn't mean the Icon is bad, but it is nothing like the real thing.
Click to expand...

Do you prefer the sound of the German Hofner? If yes, buy it. I don't have an issue with them sounding different, you seem to. I'm sticking with the Icon. When you get your German Hofner, give an A/B for us here at TB!:D
 
#32
audiomitch said:
Meh. They've always been cut rate basses. McCartney bought his because it was cheap and left handed.
Click to expand...

Meh, I got mine because im crazy about the beatles and they look good, plus they don't sound bad especially the club bass. Sometimes I wonder whenever you bag on the 500/1 your comparing it to a Rouge model or one of the nameless brands that don't even sound like a bass, if so, then I would agree:bassist:
 
#33
I've never owned a Hofner bass. But I will say I was very surprised when I played one thru an amp a few weeks ago. Acoustically they sound like cheap toys but plugged in I was surprised at the depth these little basses produce. Don't know them well enough to comment on what or what not they'd be good for.

If I ever bought one it would no doubt take me a few to get use to playing it finger style due to the narrow spacing and how far away the strings are from the body. Felt akward. But with a pick it was fun.

Yeah, I toy around with the idea of owning one but it's not a pressing need.
 
#34
Jmustern said:
Meh, I got mine because im crazy about the beatles and they look good, plus they don't sound bad especially the club bass. Sometimes I wonder whenever you bag on the 500/1 your comparing it to a Rouge model or one of the nameless brands that don't even sound like a bass, if so, then I would agree:bassist:
Click to expand...

Not bagging on anything. I own an Icon B, and in one of my bands the guitarist lets me use his '68 Hofner. I like Hofners, but they started out as cheap guitars. After The Beatles, they went up considerably in price and status.
 
#35
My club bass is awesome! Its a 65 i think. It was my first vintage instrument, my father gave it to me. It was his, he painted it yellow and put the fritz decal on it back in the 70s. His nickname was 'fritz von bitch' he says because he always got the good looking girls and it pissed the guitarist off. The tuning keys crumbled and we ordered some replacements back in the late 90s. I put a set of la bella beatle bass strings on it and its all you could ask for. I dig the tone the bigger body gets over the smaller body...the neck doesnt dive as much as a beatle bass either.
 

Attachments

  • SANY1255.jpg
    SANY1255.jpg
    71.3 KB · Views: 49
#36
about the size issue, the club bass is the same size as the club guitar...infact...it is the club guitar with a bass neck on it. its pretty close to a les paul size. When i first got this bass my dad has stuffed it with pillow filling to keep it from feeding back. i took it out because i prefer the hollow tone...but it didnt sound terribly bad with it in there...
 
#37
IMO, there's nothing cheap about a german made hofner. hofner was originally a violin maker. a bass with an arched spruce top, maple sides, fiddleback arched maple back, maple neck, bound front and rear, with rosewood board and celluloid floating pickguard are not the makings of a cheap instrument.
 
#38
johnk_10 said:
IMO, there's nothing cheap about a german made hofner. hofner was originally a violin maker. a bass with an arched spruce top, maple sides, fiddleback arched maple back, maple neck, bound front and rear, with rosewood board and celluloid floating pickguard are not the makings of a cheap instrument.
Click to expand...

True enough. In the '50s and '60s Germany was still a recovering economy after losing a war. There were a lot of crafts people who worked for cheap, and their industries were willing to undercut other countries to gain market share. Can we agree on "inexpensive"?

Btw, the same can be said of the emerging countries today. A lot of the Asian instruments are of very good quality, but their perception is not.
 
#39
el_crawfordo said:
My club bass is awesome! Its a 65 i think. It was my first vintage instrument, my father gave it to me. It was his, he painted it yellow and put the fritz decal on it back in the 70s. His nickname was 'fritz von bitch' he says because he always got the good looking girls and it pissed the guitarist off. The tuning keys crumbled and we ordered some replacements back in the late 90s. I put a set of la bella beatle bass strings on it and its all you could ask for. I dig the tone the bigger body gets over the smaller body...the neck doesnt dive as much as a beatle bass either.
Click to expand...

Wow you did a good paint job on that, dang its spiffy and I can see girls going after it.
In junior high I played in a Jazz Band program which had two bands, I played a peavey milestone bass and still love it, despite the fact that it would drop 1 fret in tuning and that occured at the most inconveniant times (during a performance) and I had to play a fret lower. One time we played during lunch and the other bass player in the seperate band was being adored and whrn I got up there they said "WE LOVE YOU...BASS PLAYER!!" but of course I found out someone told them to do that. What im getting at is that when I got a club bass and played in the school again they came up to me and said "thats a pretty bass" so yeah, I love bass, I love Hofner
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back