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McCartney... why Hofner?

#21
I've just bought a lefty Hofner CT Violin Bass. It's not the same animal as Paul's, but it's dimensions are basically the same, and its staple pickups get me very close to Paul's sound.

If you ever play a really sweet Hofner, you'd know why Paul kept using it. Geoff Emerick is a genius for the recorded sound of Paul's bass from Revolver on. It's a pity that we don't hear better recordings of the Hofner.
 
#22
Paul's stuff since Flowers In The Dirt is mostly recorded with the Hofner. Not like high quality modern recordings of him playing it don't exist.

Anyway, I don't have a Hofner but I have a couple violin basses. They're light, easy to play, and sound big and fat and gnarly. What's not to love?
 
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#23
ShoeManiac said:
[...]
McCartney...got to talking about the Fender Precision bass. He went on about how it had that word "Precision" in it's name, and that it instilled this notion that it was a professional's bass and was too good for a player like him...

...he recognizes just how many people associate him with the Hofner bass, and that's a big part of why he continues to use it.
Click to expand...

I believe he was being honest in that interview. And I agree with the second bit.

Macca is clearly brilliantly, intuitively musical. But he's never been a muso or tech-head. There's as much art-school conceptualist pot-head as there is musician about Sir Paul and I reckon he loves his Hofner as much for the statement he knows it makes about him as for the sound it makes. And it does make a lovely sound...if you like that sort of thing, and I do.


- Erstwhile Hofner Violin Bass player (early 80's reissue - was pretty cheap then in the UK, about £200 IIRC.)
 
#29
Ramblings: When they were in Germany in '60-'61, Hofners were readily available. Hofner was only making 2 basses at the time, the 500/1 violin bass and the big-body 500/5 (Stu's bass). The solids were still a year or so away I think, and the Club (500/2) wasn't produced until very late '64-early '65. Lefties? forget it. The '61 that Paul ordered is considered to be possibly the first lefty Hofner bass made. And the 500/1 was way cheaper than the 500/5 Stu bass, considered premium/top of the line. And from all recent conversations, two very mundane factors seem to explain it best: it's very light and he says he has a bad back, and the clincher for me, a direct quote, "people just expect to see it".... So true!
 
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#32
I think part of the reason he still plays it is because it's just so closely associated with him, and with his old band. The Beatles are probably still the most photographed band in history. And there he was wearing that odd, violin shaped bass in so many of those photos. I suspect when most people see that instrument, they think 'Beatles' even before they think McCartney. And really? He has every right to remind people he was one of the Fab Four.
 
#33
Why Hofner before they were famous- that's been answered multiple times (as reiterated here) by Paul himself- it was cheap, he could afford it at the time Stu left, and it was symetrical so he could flip it over to left-handed.

Why after they got famous? Because he was tight or frugal... Rickenbacker had a lefty 4001 for him but wanted him to pay for it so he passed on it. They gave it to him for free a year later. He's also talked openly about how the way the Hofner felt and sounded made him play differently than the Rick or other basses led him to play.

Why still? It's iconic and that's certainly not lost on Paul. However, back when he did an album with Elvis Costello (what- 20 years ago) when they were discussing the initial preparation he asked about the bass Elvis really wanted the Hofner, which at that time McCartney hadn't played in ages due to not being able to get it to intonate correctly. That discussion led to him getting it set up and finding someone who did it right so it was playable again- and I suspect Costello's insistence helped Paul realize that bass' significance to the public.

John
 
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#36
I just couldn't hang with the Hofner bass; but felt so strongly that I wanted one of the basses this "mentor" of mine had played, I went and got myself a Ric...

ImageUploadedByTalkBass1384664882.168853.jpg

Hmm... I think I'm going to start a thread about this! "Show the pics of your "Hero's Bass!"
 

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