Roundwounds on Hofner bass?

[gary m]

DavyR:

I'd be extremely extremely know how Hofner brand roundwounds work out. I've never used them, and I don't know of anyone who has.

I think Hofner branded rounds might actually be manufactured by Pyramid. If that's so, they probably sound just like Pyramid Pure Nickel Roundwounds. They actually may be priced the same as well. They have a warmer sound than most rounds, owing mainly to the purity of the nickel wrap.

Might be worth a look on the Strings And Beyond site to price out a set and try them out.

 

[DavyR]

DavyR:
I'd be extremely extremely know how Hofner brand roundwounds work out. I've never used them, and I don't know of anyone who has.

This might be a bit premature for it takes a few days or weeks for strings to break in a bit and to arrive at a more objective opinion, IME. I installed Hofner rounds yesterday. I replaced a set of LaBella rounds made for the Hofner bass that were on my '65 Hofner bass for 4 years, but with light playing time. Only after about 3.5 years did the Labella rounds lose enough high-end to finally notice. Well, the new Hofner rounds sound 'noisy' to me, have less volume output and less deep low-end, and have less sustain (highter tension = less sustain?) than the "deep talking" LaBella rounds. But, the tension of the Hofner rounds is less (normal) and they feel better and are easier to play. The Labella rounds have high tension. This was noticable on the neck when I installed them. The higher tension slowed down and changed my playing a bit. So, we have a trade off. The Labella rounds sounded deeper, and better IMO, but have higher tension. I'm tempted to go back to the Rotosound Swing Bass 66 long scale sets that I used to 'force' on ye 'ol Hofner for over a decade with great results. The Rotosounds might be the happy medium for me. Shame that Rotosound only makes a medium scale set with an E = 90, which is too light for me.

 

[El Pelusa]

I play a hofner CT bass with rotosound stainless steel round wounds, it sounds awesome! I don't want a beatles sound and I don't really like the dullness of flats.