Hofner
500/1 Violin Bass®
The
Hofner Bass is also known as "the Beatle bass",
due to the guitar's close association with Paul
McCartney of the Beatles fame.
The main reason McCartney
bought the Hofner bass was because he could not
afford a Fender bass; the Hofner bass was relatively
cheaper, nearly $200 less then the imported Fender.
Soon he discovered that the guitar had many plus
points.
Not only was it lightweight, it was also easy to
play. Besides, the Hofner Violin Bass produced a
deep thudding sound of an acoustic bass, more than
the Fender or any other bass for that matter.
He also found it suitable to his left-handed playing,
because its shape did not make it look upside down,
unlike the Fender.
Hofner was originally
a respected manufacturer of violins, cellos and
double basses. However, it unveiled it's first bass
guitar in 1956. The Violin Bass remained in production
for along time, thanks to McCartney, of course.
The bass guitar's body
was rather small compared to its counterparts. Its
hollow body also made it different, not only in
its built but also its sound. The guitar is hand
made, its body made out of laminated maple with
a spruce top.
Even though its hardware was considered relatively
crude, the Hofner's warm and soothing tone was clearly
distinctive. McCartney liked it so much, that he
used it for most of his career.
Throughout his career,
McCartney showed what rock bass should sound like,
and only Hofner provided that sound. He completely
shocked other bass players of his time with his
performance in songs like "Paperback Writer"
and "Day Tripper". He was originally a
lead guitar player, but had to switch to bass when
the group's original player Stu Sutcliff quit to
paint full time.
Confused with navigating this site?
Try out the guitar
galleries to navigate by images.
