I have a Hoffner 61 reissue, I bought it used with tape wound strings. Any opinions out there would I be better off getting it restrung with a set of pyramid flats.
Sorry if the question has been asked before. Thanks a lot
Well...
If you don't like how the tape wounds feel and/or sound? Then, by all means - change them out for something else. Lots of players don't care for tape wounds - just as some don't care for flats, or (like me) rounds, or ground wounds, or half rounds, etc., etc. Out of 25 basses in my herd, only 3 don't wear some kind of flats - and two of those wear tape wounds. I have 2 violin basses - a cheap Chinese Starfire, and a '90s, MIK Rogue VB-100 (which has little resemblance to a modern Chinese VB-100, other than the shape). The Starfire wears 43-104 La Bella 760FL-M's, and sounds reasonably nice. Pretty thumpy, but that's what I want; and violin basses are not the world's most versatile bass, anyway. The VB-100 wears tapes; Rotosound's TruBass 88M's. Which, coincidently, are what Sir Paul's Hofner wears, too. Which is not
exactly why this lefty bass player also has them on his violin bass; it's more the fact that they were the strings that tuned up and intonated the easiest - and that the deep, woody tone is just what I wanted from that bass...
As for the Pyramids? A fair number of people seem to like them on their Hofners, and Pyramid
does make Hofner's factory flats. In fact, I'm pretty sure that my German Hofner 500/2 Club Bass came to me with Pyramids on it. They sure do look - and feel - exactly like the set of Pyramids I bought as backup strings for it - look, feel and even the color of the silks. If it's really wearing Pyramid flats? I have no complaints whatsoever; they're
very nice flats, and suit the bass really well...
So, yes; put the Pyramids on your Hofner if you feel they would suit you better. Like I said; lots of people do just that. Alternatively, La Bella makes some flats (760FHB2's) especially for the Hofners - longer tuner leads for the guitar-style tuners, and smaller ball ends for the Hofner tailpiece. They also make Hofner-centric rounds - and tapes, too. Or, you might like the short scale TI Jazz Flats; they're pretty popular on those basses, too. Their Jazz Rounds would probably work, as well. I have those on my '94 Gretsch Broadkaster; just a hair bright for that big ol' hollow-body, but they are by far the nicest rounds I've ever played. In any case? Good luck with whatever you decide to put on that Hofner...
