Violin Bass Players , hows your intonation?

[walruswaspaul]

Been thinking about getting a violin bass for a while now , the one thing thats always stopped me from buying one is the stories I have heard about Paul Mccartney struggling with the intonation on his hofner going sharp past the 3rd fret. Is this a flaw of all violin style basses or is this intonation quirk unique to the hofner?

 

[Thornton Davis]

It's one of the negatives that you get when you use a floating bridge that has no room for adjustment designed into it. Unfortunatley all basses with floating bridge's suffer from this fate, it's not just Hofner's.

TD

 

[Relic]

you can intonate violin basses fairly well actually, it just takes practice and patience. The bridge itself, having very little room for adjustment actually built into it, can be manually moved to adjust intonation then locked into place by the downward pressure of the strings. So there's actually a lot of room for adjustment when you take that into account, it's just not very easy - kind of like wrestling an octopus with one arm tied behind your back. It can be done but aint easy

 

[UncleBalsamic]

I have mine alright I suppose, but it's still quite sharp when you get up to the high frets around 12.

 

[Matt R.]

Have owned 2 Hofners. No problem with intonation.

 

[Human Bass]

Easier or harder than a classic Rick bridge?

 

[Stringer]

I posted about this at the end of this thread about the Rondo Douglas Violin bass:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274340&page=4

You can get it close, but it isn't as easy as on a modern bridge.

John

 

[iamthebassman]

I've played Hofners for years(it's my job) and have never had intonation problems.

 

[spade2you]

....of course if it's fretless you don't need to worry about the bridge a whole lot.

 

[DeanT]

I've got a Hofner Icon and the intonation is nearly dead on all over the neck. All you need to do is be patient in moving the bridge to the correct position. It takes time and some practice, but it can be done. In fact, I find that my Hofner has more intonation options with the floating bridge than my other basses with regular bridges do. You can make more subtle adjustments with the floating bridge than you can with stationary bridges.

 

[main_sale]

I got the intonation very close on my Hofner. I did spend some time with it moving the bridge assembly and saddles around and once set, I had zero intonation isssues.

 

[mr sprocket]

With good strings and a good setup you can get pretty accurate. You might find a few issues at the 12 fret an up but I don't play that high on the violin bass.

I had a local guitar tech set mine up and it is spot on until the 12-14 fret area which the G string sounds a little off.

 

[appler]

As others have said, setting the intonation with a floating bridge just requires a little patience. On my hollowbody, I had to angle the bridge quite a bit so it's not even close to perpendicular to the strings--don't be afraid to experiment. You shouldn't settle for poor intonation.

 

[subdude99]

My Hofner is great until the 12 fret and then it gets funky...not in a good way.

 

[Stringer]

My Hofner is great until the 12 fret and then it gets funky...not in a good way.

But have you tried to adjust it and failed, or are you just leaving it that way?

John

 

[GM60466]

I have five different violin basses. My Hofer from the early '60s and a '68 Ideal are the only two basses that stay intune all the way to the 17th fret. The key on the "E" string is nothing heavier than .095.

G

 

[Bass4LifeRS]

kind of like wrestling an octopus with one arm tied behind your back. It can be done but aint easy

...he wrestles you with one arm, and tickles you with 7 more, omg the agony!

 

[RonChase]

I have no problem with my green Hofner go for the gusto,I know where you can get the blue hofner it is #95 OF 150

 

[Johnny Crab]

 

[Rob Martinez]

I have a Hofner Icon violin bass, and the intonation is very accurate. Very ncie bass for the money!