In the UK, a Hofner bass might be compared to Marmite. You either love it, or hate it.
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I shall not argue. The points I made are in the public domain, if you care to search for them. I stand by my posts.This came later in mid-90s and early 2000s, as he got older. Before that, he toured with Rickenbacker, Yamaha, and even a 5-string Wal and it was actually Elvis Costello that conviced Paul to whip out Hofner again around Flowers in the Dirt period.
Mostly, american instruments were hard to get in those times, so he had to choose from what was available. And he "didn't have money for a Fender" anyway.
His 1961 one (has pickups close together) has control plate on the bottom in all the pictures. If it was right-handed model that Paul would've had flipped around, it would have control plate on the top. I think there's not a single photo of him playing 'right-handed' flipped Hofner and it looks like he either bought left-handed model right away or ordered it to be made. And he did buy it on payments, actually. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] states he custom-ordered a left-handed model.
Funny you cite Paperback Writer, because that one was recorded with Rickenbacker (which Paul was given for free by the company, it's interesting that at that point he could afford all sorts of expensive instruments; similar thing happened with Fender supplying them some stuff and even later Yamaha) but seems like even his Rickenbacker wasn't really set up correctly. I think Paul just didn't care too much or didn't know how to do it, and they had no precise tuners in those days.
Abbey Road has only one song on Hofner, it's I Want You (She's So Heavy). Having said all that, his Ric was indeed intonated/tuned better than some of that Hofner playing during Get Back/Let it Be era (Don't Let Me Down, Get Back, I've Got a Feeling, One After 909).
It's quite interesting that Paul 'retired' his Hofner in 1969 from 1987 or so, Like he was trying to distance from the iconic image of him with violin bass. Ever since 1987+ he has techs to take care of the setup and instruments, so now the same Hofner mysteriously holds tuning and intonates pretty well
I don't care for the small string openings on the peg holes. Standard size bass strings don't fit the Hofners.
The notion that Höfners are 'one trick ponies' stems from the fact that most people that have played them, have only done so with flatwound strings on (furthermore, some 'fundamentalists' find it 'blasphemous' to string them up with anything other than Pyramid gold flats, because of course, it's what "Lord Macca" uses) which give you a limited tonal palate. I will repeat again. The simplest way to make these basses more versatile is to put roundwounds on them. You can still get very close to the classic 60's thump, while at the same time having the option of a 'modern' sound. Also, modern-day höfners are substantially better built than their vintage counterparts, so comparing the two is 'unfair' in most aspects. Here's a video that pretty much sums up what I just stated:
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All I heard in the Van Halen video was what TB'ers refer to as 'speaker farting'. I traced the source to the bass player's bass. This photo would just not be cool if the guy on the left was holding a Hofner. I guess if I was given one I would position it on a stand in my music room, with those droopy red cables between 2 poles in front of it, like movie theaters have.
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For clarification, his '61 was NOT flipped. His comment meant that even played mirror-image, it looked the same. And Paperback Writer is the Rick. And on Abbey Road, the Hofner was only used on I Want You, and possibly Something. ;-) And I just saw that Boggus covered this already.
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*Palette (yet another instance where one has to be careful when using voice-to-text!)
D
The Rotosound Tru-Bass short scale sets are HORRIBLE. In fact, ALL Rotosound's short scale sets are horrible. I love most of their long scale sets but I've never played a Rotosound short scale set that was anything other than completely useless. I don't think ANY bass can be intonated properly with Rotosound Tru-Bass short scale!
But yeah, McCartney's bass goes sharp on earlier Beatles recordings too. I'm assuming he used Pyramid Golds on those? Pyramid Gold short scale sets are wonderful strings and should not cause any problems with a Höfner.
The thing is, a Höfner can actually be intonated more or less perfectly with Pyramid Golds. It involved moving those tiny bits of fretwire that are used for saddles and then slanting the entire bridge slightly. This means the "saddles" won't be in the expected diagonal pattern on the bridge but they will end up in (more or less) the correct places relative to the nut. My German violin bass is 99% perfectly intonated on all strings in the 12th fret but this can't be achieved without pulling and moving those little bits of fretwire. Be aware that the bridge on some Asian Höfners I've worked on has been made from poor quality, brittle wood so be careful not to crack those! The German ones are much higher quality and should have no problems with moving the "saddles" as long as you use pliers specifically made for pulling frets. Using regular hardware store pliers may chip the wood when you pull the "frets" though so be careful!
I've done the same on my Contemporary President Bass with Pyramid tapewounds. It's also more or less perfectly intonated. The "saddles" are in a zig-zag pattern on the bridge but relative to the nut they're more or less perfect due to the slightly slanted bridge. It takes some time to get it right but it can most definitely be done.
I should probably add that I've used Höfner branded Pyramid strings on both these basses. They are a lot more expensive than "regular" Pyramids. As far as I know they are the exact same strings as regular Pyramids but the gauges are slightly different. Gauges can of course affect intonation and I expect the Höfner branded sets are optimized for Höfners. Maybe that's why lots of people have problems with Höfners and intonation? Wrong gauges?
Pyramids Golds can be purchased as singles BTW so it should be possible to assemble a "Höfner set" at a much lower price than the actual Höfner branded sets.
It takes a little time and effort to intonate a Höfner but it can most definitely be done. At least a LOT better than how they come from the factory (including the German ones).
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And by simply moving the bridge back far enough and tilting it enough. But only in the past few years did Manny's do that for Sir Macca's bass before the store closed.
I have owned a few Hofners and never even came close to having any neck dive. Other manufacturers violin-shaped basses may experience that (I'm looking at you Epiphone) but I haven't come across a German-made Hofner that had that issue.
Do you need one? A fairly broad question. It's always nice to have a bass like this in your arsenal for a particular sound and feel, and nothing sounds quite like a Hofner. Some love the sound, some hate it, it's a personal taste thing. Keep in mind, if you decide on a Hofner, get a Hofner, the actual German-made ones, not the budget models. The quality of the instrument is exceptional. The are not cheap, you get a quality instrument for the money paid.
Typically, most use the Hofner to recreate classic tones that are associated with music created from the 1950's-1960's in various genres. But that's not to say it can't be used elsewhere. Bob Daisley used a 1963 Hofner 500/1 to record the Ozzy Osbourne classic "Flying High Again."
Quite honestly it boils down to this: Find one, try one. If you like it and can use it effectively in what you create, make that purchase.
Do you need one? A fairly broad question. It's always nice to have a bass like this in your arsenal for a particular sound and feel, and nothing sounds quite like a Hofner. Some love the sound, some hate it, it's a personal taste thing. Keep in mind, if you decide on a Hofner, get a Hofner, the actual German-made ones, not the budget models. The quality of the instrument is exceptional. The are not cheap, you get a quality instrument for the money paid.
Typically, most use the Hofner to recreate classic tones that are associated with music created from the 1950's-1960's in various genres. But that's not to say it can't be used elsewhere. Bob Daisley used a 1963 Hofner 500/1 to record the Ozzy Osbourne classic "Flying High Again."
Quite honestly it boils down to this: Find one, try one. If you like it and can use it effectively in what you create, make that purchase.
I owned one back in the 70's - a fun bass to play (everyone wants to be Paul McCartney )...but had real difficulty with keeping intonation past the 5th fret. To me, it was more of a novelty than a go-to bass.
It was Mandolin Bros., on Staten Island. I was there and discussed it with them at that time.
Sssssssssh - What happens on Staten Island stays on Staten Island.And don't forget about those burgers!
Manny's didn't work on it. It was Flip Scipio at Mandolin Bros. on Staten Island. Bass came over from London on Concorde in it's own seat, with equipment manager John Hammel in the adjoining seat... ;-)
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