Hofner Beatle Bass

[Skokiaan]

I was NOT kidding. Rics & Epis are not as associated, with a single player, to the same degree as the Hofner "Beatle" Bass is.

Sure, LOTS of pros own them. However, the Hofner is forever aligned with the Beatles and McCartney. Not kidding.

I own one and have never held a job other than music. Does that define me as a "pro"?

Complete your statement: "There are several "pros" who play them here and there", with some names.

John Entwistle owned several and used one onstage with the Who (couldn't find pics online, but I've seen them).

Robert Plant (2nd from left), playing one on stage with Paul McCartney:

Jack Daley:

Chris Wood:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Coldplay

 

[Stick_Player]

I've seen Entwistle with a Beatle Bass.

I wonder if Plant is playing McCartney's Beatle Bass? Look at them ALL standing behind The One.

That's NOT a Beatle Bass that Jack Daley is playing. He a Hofner Club Bass player.

Chris Wood... he also plays Double Bass with a bow... he can play whatever he wants.

Coldplay? No comment.

John Entwistle owned several and used one onstage with the Who (couldn't find pics online, but I've seen them).

Robert Plant (2nd from left), playing one on stage with Paul McCartney:

Jack Daley:

Chris Wood:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Coldplay

 

[hotbass57]

I play mine at church alot. It seems to fit with what we're doing. We really don't rock out. I find it fits well with the grand and hammond. I played it out in my rock band a couple of times, it did fine. I seemed to worry about it more than my Fenders.

 

[Pentatonic]

The 500/1 (violin) Hofner bass shouldn't feed back, since it has no f-holes in the body.

I have '62 reissue, and I love recording with it. Lovely warm low end.

I had one instance of feedback when playing live with my violin bass. I was using a borrowed amp and was somewhat starved for volume so the amp was elevated at waist level and I was standing fairly close to it. This may be why there was some feedback.

 

[mcarp555]

I had one instance of feedback when playing live with my violin bass. I was using a borrowed amp and was somewhat starved for volume so the amp was elevated at waist level and I was standing fairly close to it. This may be why there was some feedback.

But was it a Hofner or some other brand of violin bass? Many do have f-holes.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Current pricing at GC:
Hofner Ignition $469.99
Hofner Contemporary $879.99
Hofner Vintage 62' $2,869.99

Epiphone Viola $299.00

Having played all four at GC, the Vintage 62' is simply not worth six times the price of an Ignition, or three times the price of a Contemporary, or 10 times the cost of an Epihone Viola. The Hofner pricing is absurd on the face of it. If you are willing to pay in excess of a $2,570 premium for the bragging rights of owning a Hofner labeled bass, more power to you. People have certainly paid more to gain less for the sake of a name. I'd buy the Epiphone, another nice bass, and a decent amplifier and still walk out of GC for less than the 62'.

 

[Gaolee]

I have played them and don't like them all that much for string spacing reasons, but that's it. There's absolutely no reason not to use one if it works for you.

 

[Kestrel]

Current pricing at GC:
Hofner Ignition $469.99
Hofner Contemporary $879.99
Hofner Vintage 62' $2,869.99

Epiphone Viola $299.00

Having played all four at GC, the Vintage 62' is simply not worth six times the price of an Ignition, or three times the price of a Contemporary, or 10 times the cost of an Epihone Viola. The Hofner pricing is absurd on the face of it. If you are willing to pay in excess of a $2,570 premium for the bragging rights of owning a Hofner labeled bass, more power to you. People have certainly paid more to gain less for the sake of a name. I'd buy the Epiphone, another nice bass, and a decent amplifier and still walk out of GC for less than the 62'.

Paul McCartney is said to have paid £30 for his Hofner back in 1961 because it was cheap and he couldn't afford a Fender which cost about £100 at the time. £30 back then is about the equivalent of £465 today, so yeah, the $2800 cost of the current German made 500/1 is hard on the wallet, unless you have the spending money for it and just have to have it. I recently picked up a Hofner "Ed Sullivan Show" Ignition bass. It was cheap (no case), sells for $369US and I liked the darker colour of it over the standard sunburst finish of the basic model. Certainly, not as nicely finished as the Hofner Contemporary or the German made ones, but slap on a set of flatwounds and it can get very close to that tone at a fraction of the cost. I like it so much I may look into the Contemporary some time in the future, but for now I'm quite content with the Ignition bass.

 

[jmattis]

For those curious, here's a pic of the circuit board that's used on the Ignition (full Chinese) basses-

Would be interested to see a pic. Tempted to pick myself up an Icon/Ignition, be good to see what i'd be getting myself into

 

[Skokiaan]

I've seen Entwistle with a Beatle Bass.

I wonder if Plant is playing McCartney's Beatle Bass? Look at them ALL standing behind The One.

Robert Plant is playing right handed and would not be playing Paul's left handed bass. Plus, Paul's Hofner was still retired at the time of that picture (1979) and was not on the road with him. On that final Wings tour, the Ric was the backup for his Yamaha.

 

[Pentatonic]

But was it a Hofner or some other brand of violin bass? Many do have f-holes.

It was a Rogue bass, no f-holes.

 

[Peacefrog35]

Paul McCartney is said to have paid £30 for his Hofner back in 1961 because it was cheap and he couldn't afford a Fender which cost about £100 at the time. £30 back then is about the equivalent of £465 today, so yeah, the $2800 cost of the current German made 500/1's is hard on the wallet, unless you have the spending money for it and just have to have it. I recently picked up a Hofner "Ed Sullivan Show" Ignition bass. It was cheap (no case), sells for $369US and I liked the darker colour of it over the standard sunburst finish of the basic model. Certainly, not as nicely finished as the Hofner Contemporary or the German made ones, but slap on a set of flatwounds and it can get very close to that tone at a fraction of the cost. I like it so much I may look into the Contemporary some time in the future, but for now I'm quite content with the Ignition bass.

Hey Kestrel. If you get a chance, post a pic. I've been wondering what real life pics of these look like instead of just the Hofner Literature.
FWIW, I think Hofners are good for all kinds of music. I've owned one for 6 years now, from 50 year old 64 500/1 to reissues, to Contemporaries right down to Ignitions. They are all fine basses.
I had just come from a lesson and stopped by a local coffee shop. I didn't want to leave my bass in the car so I brought it in with me. There was a group playing and the guitar player recognized me from college and invited me to sit in. When I opened the case, you'd have thought an A list celeb came out of it. LOL
She shined that night!

 

[ICM]

That is such a nice bass. I may have asked it before, but is that german? What are the specs?

 

[Peacefrog35]

Hey Ivan. This one is the CT, it has a custom finish done by the Hofner master Pat Wilkins. IT has a vintage 61 control panel, Pickguard and Rugby Tuners. I guess it's all German except for the body. lol This thing has the best neck of all my Hofners including my German Reissue Cavern. Its my favorite.

 

[iiipopes]

OK, having played real 1960's era Hofners, here is the deal with playing a Hofner Beatle Bass on stage:
1) You have the right strings on it, La Bellas. Some like the Pyramids, but the La Bellas are superior, and are what Sir Macca is using now.
2) Set each intonation section in its own slot: G forward, D next back, A next to back, E back groove, and move the E string side of the bridge back towards the tailpiece to get the proper intonation, if necessary. Don't be a slave to having the bridge "parallel" to the frets.
3) Lesser wattage tube amps, especially those with a tube rectifier, that can naturally be slightly overdriven to get natural compression and sustain, are preferred. If you have solid state, crank the pre-gain to warmth and back off the master gain. If you don't, use a little bit of compression, even if outboard. I know very few of us can afford our own Fairchild limiter, but some compression is necessary to compensate for the "pebble on wet cardboard" tendency.
4) Consider using a medium or medium soft pick, Like a Dunlop nylon .88 or .73. Not because of Sir Macca, but that will give the best articulation to the tone.
5) Avoid the urge, with the short scale and narrow neck, to play it like a guitar. It is still a bass.
6) Get a good wide strap, because it is so body light, it will be neck heavy on stage.
7) Keep both pickups on, which may be "backwards" to the way the switches "ought" to work, and balance the two pickups with the volume knobs to get the overall tone desired. Check this link:
8) The neck pickup may need to be lowered a screwturn or so on the E side to avoid boominess.
9) (you knew with it being a Beatle Bass I would have nine points) Most importantly: Rock On!

 

[ICM]

Hey Ivan. This one is the CT, it has a custom finish done by the Hofner master Pat Wilkins. IT has a vintage 61 control panel, Pickguard and Rugby Tuners. I guess it's all German except for the body. lol This thing has the best neck of all my Hofners including my German Reissue Cavern. Its my favorite.

That's a beaut clark.

 

[Kestrel]

Would be interested to see a pic. Tempted to pick myself up an Icon/Ignition, be good to see what i'd be getting myself into

Hey Kestrel. If you get a chance, post a pic. I've been wondering what real life pics of these look like instead of just the Hofner Literature.
FWIW, I think Hofners are good for all kinds of music. I've owned one for 6 years now, from 50 year old 64 500/1 to reissues, to Contemporaries right down to Ignitions. They are all fine basses.
I had just come from a lesson and stopped by a local coffee shop. I didn't want to leave my bass in the car so I brought it in with me. There was a group playing and the guitar player recognized me from college and invited me to sit in. When I opened the case, you'd have thought an A list celeb came out of it. LOL
She shined that night!

Sure. Pics as requested. I took off the stock roundwounds and threw on a set of flatwound D'Addario Chromes. Had to shave off some of the blue string wraps to make them fit through the nut, but they work for now until I replace them with LaBella Flats. This Indonesian made version has an Ed Sullivan Show LTD logo on the back of the headstock and comes with a small Ed Sullivan Show sticker on the pickguard, but I quickly removed it too. I gave brief thought to placing a small Mod target (RAF roundel) sticker as a nod to the era, but I'm going to leave the pickguard clean for now. It is sooo comfortable to play and the fretwork was well done, especially for a bass in it's price range. Note, after I took the pics I had to loosen the strings and angle and move the bridge a little closer to pickups to intonate. All I need now is to find a hardshell case for it.

 

[Mike M.]

Question. Are the pickups on the German made Hofners bigger than those on the Ignitions? I watched the video in this thread from iiipopes then looked at the pics provided by Kestrel and the Ignitions pickups appears smaller. Are they?

 

[Kestrel]

Question. Are the pickups on the German made Hofners bigger than those on the Ignitions? I watched the video in this thread from iiipopes then looked at the pics provided by Kestrel and the Ignitions pickups appears smaller. Are they?

Yes, the pickups on the Ignitions are slightly smaller. A good friend of mine gave me a set of pickups off a 1964 Hofner 500/1 he used to own. They are definitely wider.

Interestingly enough, he owned 2 Hofner 500/1's back in the day and got rid of them because of warped necks. He feels that the Ignition and CT series are constructed way better today than the German 500/1's from the 60's.

 

[Blankandson]

I agree they are better built today than in the 60s. I bought mine new in Heidelberg in 1966, with hardshell case, for $125 US. I found it difficult to keep in tune more than about 30 minutes but a lot of that may have been the damp cellers we played in. I brought it with me to the USA in 1967 and sold it immediately for $450 US. I bought a new P-bass, Standel combo, and an assortment of goodies and still had cash left over. It looked good on stage but just never felt good in my hands. Today's BB are much better built and much easier to keep in tune. And they all still look really good!