Hofner shorty bass for air travel - any comments?

Can anyone comment on this?

I've been looking at the Hofner Shorty Bass for times when I have to travel by air. Not for serious giging, but for playing with a small "family band", which occurs about 3 times a year. I rent a bass when I do that now, but I'd rather have a familiar bass, and with the Shorty costing ~ $200, it would pay for itself quickly in rental fees.

YouTube video sounds good enough. But is it really small enough for travel? It's about 40" long with case. I would take it as a carry-on exclusively. Is it small enough to hold onto, then stash it in the overhead after other bags are in, so it doesn't get crushed? I'd imagine that flight attendants might put it into a closet most times.

Oh - and if you know - any comments on how it plays / sounds? I presently play an Ibanez SR400 and SRA550.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Thanks Blue. I basically counted these other options out because they are double the price of the Hofner Shorty, and they are not as "conventional" as the Shorty (I'd rather play the 30" scale with metal strings).

Can anyone comment on the Shorty? I've scoured the net, and there's surprisingly little about it, and basically nothing regarding air travel. There is some info on the Shorty Guitar, but that's a bit shorter.

 

Thanks to Moonshine, and all that have responded.

I'm still looking for anyone who has a Hofner Shorty bass that brings it in carry-on bag in an airplane. This is probably my only concern before buying it. My key reason for it would be portability for air travel (I would certainly use it on short car trips though where I don't want to bring a full scale bass).

Here's some logic about choosing this bass over others:

- low price, and it sounds good. Based on YouTube vids, I prefer the sound greatly over the far more expensive piezo pickup basses
- price so low that if it gets broken or stolen, it's not a huge loss.
- small size - a hollow acoustic bass would have more girth.
- other small options are not much smaller - the Traveler bass, at twice the price+, is 36" length vs. Hofner Shorty at 38".

I'll probably have to just buy and try, but once I keep it long enough to get it on a plane, it probably will be too late to return it. And the plane is my key concern. Even though it's small, and still only 40" in length in the gig bag, will it still be a hassle in the plane? Checking it defeats the purpose. My usual suitcase is a garment bag, so it would require a separate hard case, and that's just a hassle. I could bring my full scale bass in a TSA case if I wanted to check it.

Hopefully, someone will respond with the answer.

NOTE: the answer doesn't have to be just for the Hofner Shorty bass. If you have any instrument of approximately the same length, and you travel by air, can you comment on your practical experience? Thanks.

 

JimmyM - the Hofner Shorty is probably the same size and length as your Steinberger copy, so that's good news for me. Do you remember how long your Steinberger was?

 

MacManLou - thanks much. I was thinking about that possible issue, but that would pretty much be the same for all small travel basses like this. I was thinking perhaps of putting some music stickers on it. Perhaps an American flag would help.

What do you think about the Shorty? How does it play? What do you think about the tone?

How's the neck? Some people describe it as "chunky". It seems to be the same thickness as my Ibby SRA550, but perhaps it's a bit wider.

RSVP - and thanks

 

Thanks MacManLou - I'm going to order it.

About the tuners - I thought if they were really cheap, I could just replace them myself. Thoughts on that?

Thanks again - you helped me decide.

 

Hey MacManLou - Thanks for the info. I might do the same. How do the Chromes sound on the Shorty vs. the stock strings? Did you intentionally go flatwounds for a deeper tone on the Shorty? Also - what length and gauge are appropriate for the Shorty?

The Grover tuners look very nice! You haven't changed them out yet, but do they appear to fit the headstock without any mods? As they are guitar tuners, do you expect any issues on bass? (e.g. post length?)

JimmyM - thanks for the info.

I'm looking forward to having a travel bass. Should be here end of next week I imagine.

 

Thanks again MacManLou - you have been very helpful. I hope to pay it foward with a review when the Shorty gets here and I put some time on it. There's really not much information on it anywhere.

Best regards,