This is the message I was trying to get across earlier. Hofner/Pyramid strings really get that classic tone. Nothing against LaBellas per se, but my luck with them has been poor in general. For my Hofner, I'll stick with Pyramids.
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Which flatwounds for my Beatle bass
- Thread starter seilerbird
- Start date
This is the message I was trying to get across earlier. Hofner/Pyramid strings really get that classic tone. Nothing against LaBellas per se, but my luck with them has been poor in general. For my Hofner, I'll stick with Pyramids.
LaBellas WILL warp your Hofner neck! Their stainless flatwound strings are higher tension than the nickel Hofner/Pyramid flats... Jus sayin...
BTW, I really love the Deep Talkin' flats on on a P bass!!! Though Jamerson supposedly used "Fender" nickel flats originally, LaBella claims his were stainless... All I remember is he used whatever came with his Precision basses and never changed 'em... I'd be guessing if I say he used Fender's stock nickel wound flats of the day... Doubtful they were manufactured by LaBella... But it's just a guess...
BTW, I really love the Deep Talkin' flats on on a P bass!!! Though Jamerson supposedly used "Fender" nickel flats originally, LaBella claims his were stainless... All I remember is he used whatever came with his Precision basses and never changed 'em... I'd be guessing if I say he used Fender's stock nickel wound flats of the day... Doubtful they were manufactured by LaBella... But it's just a guess...
They won't warp the neck on my Hofner. I have the truss rod turned just about all the way out and it just barely has enough of a bow to work just fine. If it did warp the neck it could only help. Hell, I paid $250 for the guitar, if it goes bad I will throw it away and get another one. And another set of LaBellas.
Rogue VB-100s don't sound like a Hofner, and aren't built like a Hofner. It merely "resembles" a 500/1 in appearance... So, why would you even consider it a "Beatle Bass" Pilgrim?
And, for the record, I ruined one Hofner 500/1 with LaBella "Beatle Bass" strings after 3 years of regular gigging with one... NOT a good idea for the 500/1 or 500/2 Hofners... NEVER had this trouble with Hofner/Pyramid strings (after 40 years of playing Hofners)!
I'm not just repeating what I've heard... I have experienced this problem... It is not my wish to bad-mouth LaBella! I happen to like the brand. They are just not appropriate for a light-weight and temperamental instrument as a Hofner 500/1 or 500/2.
It wouldn't bother me at all if any of you decide to STRESS your Beatle Bass! "Each to their own," is what I've learned! It may even be my Beatle bass you'll replace yours with!
And, for the record, I ruined one Hofner 500/1 with LaBella "Beatle Bass" strings after 3 years of regular gigging with one... NOT a good idea for the 500/1 or 500/2 Hofners... NEVER had this trouble with Hofner/Pyramid strings (after 40 years of playing Hofners)!
I'm not just repeating what I've heard... I have experienced this problem... It is not my wish to bad-mouth LaBella! I happen to like the brand. They are just not appropriate for a light-weight and temperamental instrument as a Hofner 500/1 or 500/2.
It wouldn't bother me at all if any of you decide to STRESS your Beatle Bass! "Each to their own," is what I've learned! It may even be my Beatle bass you'll replace yours with!
Why? Because AFAIK no one has ever trademarked the name "Beatle Bass" to refer to a specific make and model of bass. A "Beatle Bass" is a generic term for any violin bass that resembles McCartney's Hofner. It's not specific to any make or model....so anything that looks enough like a Hofner is a "Beatle Bass" to those who use that nonspecific term.
Since my Rogue looks like a Hofner to most people, plays like a Hofner, and generally "resembles a Hofner", it's a Beatle Bass to about 95% of the population of the US and the world.
And so are the Epiphone, Klira, and the multitudinous other Hofner clones in the music world.
I made a statement of fact: Labellas have not damaged or warped the neck on my Rogue. Granted, it's not a Hofner. But my statement is correct.
If they warped the neck on your Hofner, then I'm sorry that happened.
I've had the LaBella Beatle Bass set (760FHBB) on two Icons for the past several years. No negative impact on the neck to report. My Hofners play like butter with low action. Great sound. Add a foam mute, play with a pick, it's Sir Paul time.
No hard feelings, but I perfer to err on the side of caution. I'll keep Pyramid strings on my Club.
FWIW, the Rogues, Epiphones and other violin bass lookalikes almost all have plywood tops and backs with internal support blocks, so yes, I do think they might be able to handle higher string tensions versus a solid wood MIG Hofner.
There's no right or wrong here ...just a difference of opinion. And there are strings for every opinion out there.
Play on!
FWIW, the Rogues, Epiphones and other violin bass lookalikes almost all have plywood tops and backs with internal support blocks, so yes, I do think they might be able to handle higher string tensions versus a solid wood MIG Hofner.
There's no right or wrong here ...just a difference of opinion. And there are strings for every opinion out there.
Play on!
Pilgram, I think your Rogue is stunning looking. And there is no doubt it is a "Beatle Bass". If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck then it is a duck. Most guitar copies I have owned have either been as good as or better than the original.
"Beatle Bass" IS a specific reference to the bass Macca is "known" for playing, which wouldn't include Rogue, Epiphone, Klira, or the multitudinous other Hofner clones - clones and/or copies being the give-away.
Wouldn't the title "Beatle Bass" imply something a Beatle would have played?? That "misnomer" is bad enough (since the only Beatle to play the Hofner 500/1 violin bass was McCartney), but to include anything that remotely resembles the Hofner violin bass in appearance is simply a joke! Not to mention there being NO similarity in sound between a German made Hofner and any of the "wanna be" copies. Including the Chinese made Hofners!
Wouldn't the title "Beatle Bass" imply something a Beatle would have played?? That "misnomer" is bad enough (since the only Beatle to play the Hofner 500/1 violin bass was McCartney), but to include anything that remotely resembles the Hofner violin bass in appearance is simply a joke! Not to mention there being NO similarity in sound between a German made Hofner and any of the "wanna be" copies. Including the Chinese made Hofners!
According to an interview with Sir Paul in Bass Player magazine ( August 1995 ), his '63 Hofner is either strung with Rotosounds or LaBellas. I don't know how the neck of his bass hasn't warped considering it has had nearly 50 years of constant "abuse"!
i think you will find that Paul McCartney had many Hofner basses over the years.
in the "let it be film" he had one with a bassman ticket on it and it was the studio bass also had one without the pickboard for many years, his early Hofner had a repair done to it where the two point strap fitted to the neck, you may see it on some of his flim clips.
he said he was not sure how many hoftners he has had in the beatles days.
in the "let it be film" he had one with a bassman ticket on it and it was the studio bass also had one without the pickboard for many years, his early Hofner had a repair done to it where the two point strap fitted to the neck, you may see it on some of his flim clips.
he said he was not sure how many hoftners he has had in the beatles days.
According to the book Beatles Gear he had three in theory, two in practice. The first one he bought had the two pickups close to the neck. Then the Beatles became famous and Hofner gave him a new one with the pickups in the normal location. This is the one that is famous, that he has used and the one you have seen 99% of the time. There was a bassman sticker on it at one point.
The third one is the mystery bass that Hofner made for Paul but apparently never presented to Paul. Paul got his Rick just about the time they quit touring so it was mainly used in the studio.
The third one is the mystery bass that Hofner made for Paul but apparently never presented to Paul. Paul got his Rick just about the time they quit touring so it was mainly used in the studio.
ROTFLMAO
This is the funniest post I have read in a long time. Thanks for making my day. You just keep on believing...
the bass that had the two pickups near the neck was a club Hoftner and he only used it for a short time, there is a few pictures of him playing it at the carvern in the early days, he also played a 6 string fender bass at Abbey road, George Harison played the 6 string fender bass on a couple of tracks when Paul was playing piano. Paul also started played the rick about this time too.
the bass with the bassman sticker was not Pauls bass but Abbey roads stock bass.
i think calling a viola bass a beatles bass is like calling a P-bass or a J-bass it more a refrence to the type of bass rather than the make.
I put extra light La Bella Beatle Bass flats on my Icon bass and they have worked amazingly well. La Bella markets these strings for Hofner basses, it would seem strange to market a set of strings for a specific bass that would damage that bass. Not likely.
I recently bought a new German made Hofner Club bass that came with flats with green silk on the strings near the tuning pegs. I assume they are Pyramid strings. They are cool!
I recently bought a new German made Hofner Club bass that came with flats with green silk on the strings near the tuning pegs. I assume they are Pyramid strings. They are cool!
WOW! Ya just can't fix stoopid, correct the inter-web, nor educate the masses... I've never seen such misinformation regarding The Beatles! So, y'all just go on disseminating incorrect facts about The Beatles... One day, when you're interested in actually knowing, you'll look it up (and for those of you that are correct - you know who you are - this is NOT aimed at you!).
Meantime, I'm outta here!
Meantime, I'm outta here!
