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McCartney... why Hofner?
- Thread starter Gbass75
- Start date
And thanks to Macca, we have the privilege of playing that iconic "cheap" instrument for the low retail price of just around $2800, more than double the price of an MIA Fender P or J.
The Hofner 500/1 is entirely handmade, by expert German craftsmen who make a lot more than your average Asian worker. Here's a video showing how a Beatle Bass is made.
Easy to play, short scale, light, but as Bassdude15 said... kinda dead sounding.
My rifs are easily faster on the Hofner.
Of course way back then... all basses sounded dead, and the Fenders had sponges to deaden them even more.
My rifs are easily faster on the Hofner.
Of course way back then... all basses sounded dead, and the Fenders had sponges to deaden them even more.
I have to agree. I purchased my Hofner in 1968. It was $235.00 with the old wooden, green felt lined case. It was built in "West Germany".
I've got 10 basses of various brands, I don't play the Hofner much any longer, but, when I do, I really enjoy it. It's so different, and so much fun to play. Not to mention great for long gigs, because it doesn't weigh anything!
btw, one thing we discovered years ago, was that recording with it, (and the recording technology on the 60's) was a little difficult. When in the studio I used a Jazz Bass.
Summed up right here. So, Hofner is a cheap bass. Still is.
As for the "Sir" thing...............So what if the Queen of England bestowed this exalted title on him, and Jagger, and Elton John and whoever whatever...................
A man is just a man!!!!!!!!!!! "Bow before no human!"
Yeah, I can see Mr. McCartney buying an economical bass. Being young. Not much money.
But on the other hand............George was playing Gretsch, John, Rickenbacker and Ringo Ludwig.
Perhaps Paul was the "tight one in the band", ya think?
In an interview in Bass Player Magazine, ummm probably over a decade ago, Paul mentions that he finally took the famous Hofner to a luthier in NYC and had it gone over, which included re-fretting and not just replacing the frets but having the fretboard cut again for proper fret placement.
Paul said that, that very Hofner bass finally after having been worked on.............played correctly for the first time of it's existence.
So, that means on all of those Beatles recordings when that Hofner was played, the intonation and notes are off!
On the Anthology recordings where the bass is isolated before some songs start and also when when songs stopped in the middle because of mistakes but Paul keeps playing or noodling...........the bad intonation can be easily heard.
He should have invested in a Fender! ha ha ha ha
There's a bit about John and his first Rickenbacker that got discussed in The Anthology. He got it when The Beatles were in Hamburg on what he referred to as "The Knock". It was 1 pound down payment, and the rest when they managed to catch you. And legend has it that Lennon never fully paid off his first Rick!
- Feb 24, 2004
- 4,103
- 643
- 68
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Phantom Guitars, Eastwood Guitars
Yes, but I was answering the question posed in the original post: "who here thinks they know the REAL STORY about why he chose not only Hofner, but that particular STYLE of Hofner?"
If memory serves, Andy Babiuk wrote in his book Beatles Gear that the Hofner 500/1 violin bass was the only left handed model available when/where he was shopping in Hamburg. Paul special ordered his.
The original members of The Beatles were well aware of the Hofner brand before McCartney got his left handed "Cavern Model" violin bass.
John played a Hofner hollow bodied 6 string Club shaped electric, and Stu played a non-violin Hofner bass with F holes. McCartney played a hollow bodied single cut away Hofner 6 string electric guitar before becoming a bass player.
The brand was popular in England and Germany, after the war.
They were also more affordable than the American brands.
McCartney's memory, or his version of the myth of how he got the left handed violin "Cavern Bass" is a bit suspect, to say the least.
He has a very keen sense of his image, and he once said that people expect to see him with his Hofner, the way you'd expect to see Charlie Chaplin with his cane.
Having said all of that, how do you think he's done with his Hofner bass? Sound pretty good?
John played a Hofner hollow bodied 6 string Club shaped electric, and Stu played a non-violin Hofner bass with F holes. McCartney played a hollow bodied single cut away Hofner 6 string electric guitar before becoming a bass player.
The brand was popular in England and Germany, after the war.
They were also more affordable than the American brands.
McCartney's memory, or his version of the myth of how he got the left handed violin "Cavern Bass" is a bit suspect, to say the least.
He has a very keen sense of his image, and he once said that people expect to see him with his Hofner, the way you'd expect to see Charlie Chaplin with his cane.
Having said all of that, how do you think he's done with his Hofner bass? Sound pretty good?
Excellent point. I was moved to chip in after the discussion had broadened out a bit. My apologies
Lets face it, the only one who knows the whole story is Paul. My guess is that the price was a big factor.
Paul was known to be careful with money. A couple of years later when socialising with fans/other musicians, he would ask what everyone was drinking, order the drinks, then tell Brian Epstein to pay for them.
One of the reasons he ended up being nominated for the bassist job, was that his own guitar, a Rosetti Solid 7: had disintegrated under the relentless pressure of the St Pauli nights, and he hadnt bothered to replace it.
He would have been aware of the Hofner 500/1. Many times Paul has spoken of how influential the film The Girl cant help it was, and there is a Violin Bass backing Little Richard. Also, the bass player in the Jets, backing Tony Sheridan at the Top Ten Club, had a Hofner 500/1
This is what McCartney and others remembered about the purchase:
.'Eventually I found a nice little shop in the centre of Hamburg, near a big department store...I saw this bass in the window, this violin-shaped bass, the Hofner...So I bought it, and I think it was only about £30'.
It was on the second floor of the Steinway shop in the centre of Hamburg that McCartney found the solution to his problem: a German-made Hofner 500/1 bass...Günter Höper was one of six salesmen at Steinway at the time. 'Paul McCartney bought his Hofner bass from me...As usual in those days, he bought it in instalments. We offered a ten-payment deal, and so we had to set up a contract, for which we needed his passport number. However, Paul had left his passport at the Top Ten club, so I went with him to the club to get the passport and do the deal'. Höper says the price of the bass was 287 Deutschmarks..."
Myth or memory?
Whatever the reason Paul ended up with the Hofner, I think the important point was that at last The Beatles had a bass player. Up to then they had been held back by Stu Sutcliffe, who at best was a struggling player. When Stu was unavailable upon their return to Liverpool Chas Newbury filled in. He too wasnt a bassist. Also, the group was somewhat unbalanced, with three guitars and no real bass. Now McCartney took over the role....with his usual work ethic.
Imagine buying your first bass, then playing a seven hour gig. Then three weeks later, going into the recording studio.
A final point, that Violin bass was an important ingredient in the image of the Beatles.
It has been estimated that there was as many as 700 groups in the Liverpool area. Thats just the established ones, almost every lad owned a guitar, and got together informally with his mates. I was at school in Liverpool then, and the fave group was The Shadows. At the time, most local bands were clones of the Shads, with matching guitars, suits and neat hair. One day a lad brought a copy of the Merseybeat newspaper into school, and we all saw a picture of The Beatles for the first time. As guitar buffs the first thing we noticed was their instruments, no colour-matched Fenders. And what was that weird violin shaped one? No suits, just leathers, and their hair was far from neat. From that day, the Shads were no longer cool.
Paul was known to be careful with money. A couple of years later when socialising with fans/other musicians, he would ask what everyone was drinking, order the drinks, then tell Brian Epstein to pay for them.
One of the reasons he ended up being nominated for the bassist job, was that his own guitar, a Rosetti Solid 7: had disintegrated under the relentless pressure of the St Pauli nights, and he hadnt bothered to replace it.
He would have been aware of the Hofner 500/1. Many times Paul has spoken of how influential the film The Girl cant help it was, and there is a Violin Bass backing Little Richard. Also, the bass player in the Jets, backing Tony Sheridan at the Top Ten Club, had a Hofner 500/1
This is what McCartney and others remembered about the purchase:
.'Eventually I found a nice little shop in the centre of Hamburg, near a big department store...I saw this bass in the window, this violin-shaped bass, the Hofner...So I bought it, and I think it was only about £30'.
It was on the second floor of the Steinway shop in the centre of Hamburg that McCartney found the solution to his problem: a German-made Hofner 500/1 bass...Günter Höper was one of six salesmen at Steinway at the time. 'Paul McCartney bought his Hofner bass from me...As usual in those days, he bought it in instalments. We offered a ten-payment deal, and so we had to set up a contract, for which we needed his passport number. However, Paul had left his passport at the Top Ten club, so I went with him to the club to get the passport and do the deal'. Höper says the price of the bass was 287 Deutschmarks..."
Myth or memory?
Whatever the reason Paul ended up with the Hofner, I think the important point was that at last The Beatles had a bass player. Up to then they had been held back by Stu Sutcliffe, who at best was a struggling player. When Stu was unavailable upon their return to Liverpool Chas Newbury filled in. He too wasnt a bassist. Also, the group was somewhat unbalanced, with three guitars and no real bass. Now McCartney took over the role....with his usual work ethic.
Imagine buying your first bass, then playing a seven hour gig. Then three weeks later, going into the recording studio.
A final point, that Violin bass was an important ingredient in the image of the Beatles.
It has been estimated that there was as many as 700 groups in the Liverpool area. Thats just the established ones, almost every lad owned a guitar, and got together informally with his mates. I was at school in Liverpool then, and the fave group was The Shadows. At the time, most local bands were clones of the Shads, with matching guitars, suits and neat hair. One day a lad brought a copy of the Merseybeat newspaper into school, and we all saw a picture of The Beatles for the first time. As guitar buffs the first thing we noticed was their instruments, no colour-matched Fenders. And what was that weird violin shaped one? No suits, just leathers, and their hair was far from neat. From that day, the Shads were no longer cool.
i like them because of their matured midrange, deep fundamental, lack of sustain (promotes busy lines), quirky overtones. i don't like my basses too clean-sounding. they've been used a lot lately in commercials along with other short-scales because of their memorable voice.
That's a good point. I guess I should have qualified the bass sound as specifically that on the albums up through Rubber Soul. The bass is so lost in most of those tracks.
- Feb 24, 2004
- 4,103
- 643
- 68
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Phantom Guitars, Eastwood Guitars
i'm so glad i have the opportunity to buy properly crafted instruments even if they're pricey! they are so few hollowbody reissues done right. if only fender would release more proper MIAs of their reissues, modern players, and pawn shops!
