Cat Burrito Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 In quite an unusual departure from my usual Fenders I ordered a Hofner Verithin Bass from my local shop. At £550 it was as cheap as the best online price so I took the plunge & collected it today. These don't seem to be talked about much. When it comes to Hofners it seems to be the Beatle Bass that gets all the attention with the Club bass a distant second. My initial thoughts were it looked amazing. Nice & light. The block inlays are amazing & no photo does them justice. It's short scale but doesn't feel like it is, perhaps due to the body size. In pictures the tuners look a bit substandard but in reality are sturdy and look the business. It actually feels and looks very vintage in a much more genuine way than a lot of other reissues. I had it restrung with flats. Plugging it in it immediately smacks of the 60s. Two volumes & two tones, one for each pickup. When I played with a pick (I'm mainly fingers) I was immediately transported back to 1967! I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of tonal variation. I can't wait to use it properly, be it live or recording. Only downside, no case & Hofner don't do one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelg Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Brilliant bass. those pickups give it a serious sparkle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Looks good. Nice to see something a little less familiar too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 That looks lovely. Very appropriate albums in the background of the photo too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Looks very nice. Where are they made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Forgot to mention playing it with a strap, it's very well balanced. [quote name='EssentialTension' post='1150889' date='Mar 5 2011, 08:00 PM']Looks very nice. Where are they made?[/quote] They are Chinese but with German pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Have you ever played a real (i.e. 60's) example? If so, how do they compare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly deluxe Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 That really does look more like a mint vintage than a re-issue,very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I like the flight case, brought orange or DIYed ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu-khag Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I almost posted about one of these the other week. mid wales music in newtown has one and some other hofners. seriously nice looker but didn't have time to try one out. I really like the inlays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 [quote name='Stu-khag' post='1151559' date='Mar 6 2011, 03:51 PM']I really like the inlays[/quote] On the originals, they're made out of strips of celluloid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 (edited) [quote name='lojo' post='1151547' date='Mar 6 2011, 03:45 PM']I like the flight case, brought orange or DIYed ?[/quote] Bought Orange, custom made for me Edited March 6, 2011 by BurritoBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jontywisp Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 What flats did you string her up with? Although the neck is shortscale, the tailpiece looks much smaller than on the original 60s Verithins, meaning you can probably use a longer string (medium or even full length?) Any thoughts on how this Verythin reissue compares with Epiphone Rivoli reissue (or the harder-to-find Guild Starfire 90s reissue)? To me it looks nicer and more unusual, but I've not heard the Hofner in action yet. A plus with the Chinese Hofners is it's straightforward to upgrade most of the fittings to full german hofner spec if desired (the pups already are german of course). Finally you mention no case is available. I wonder if it's worth trying out an Epi Jack Casady case for size? Or one of the Ibanez semi-bass cases? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hofner are supposed to be doing a case which is due March '11...so it'll come at some point I'm sure. I'll hang on, I have an acoustic bass case it fits in for now. I strung with Rotosound normal flats. As you say with the tailpiece being so far back it wasn't an issue. I've never played an Epiphone Rivoli but had I not bought this I'd have been interested in trying with a view to buying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jontywisp Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 how does the sound compare with the better known Violin or Club hofner basses? does the VeryThin have that deep thump of the true hollows, or is it a very different flavour? as you can probably tell, I'm thinking of buying one but being housebound at the moment, I can't really try before I buy, hence my questions I always liked the 60s originals, and to the eye at least the reissues capture some of that; but how about to the ears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 I've never played a Club bass but you may find an answer here [url="http://www.hofner.co.uk/index.php"]http://www.hofner.co.uk/index.php[/url] It's very Hofner sounding & there is a lot of tonal variation across the available settings. I don't think you'd be disappointed. It surpassed my expectations. I don't normally play with a pick but it sounds very 60s with a pick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jontywisp Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 was on the verge of buying one of the new CS verythin basses on Burrito's advice, when I came across a vintage Hofner 500/6 bass on ebay Italy (don't ask), and went for that instead looks quite like the Verythin, except body is unbound, and very unusually for Hofner, actually has a bolt-on neck sounds absolutely lovely (if you like the Macca hofner sound or double-basses), and is by far the most characterful and idiosyncratic bass in my stable despite the very old-school features (floating bridge etc), tuning and intonation are fine particularly nice with Pyramid strings thanks to a very kind bass-chatter I've also now managed to get hold of a spare bolt-on Hofner neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 (edited) Good evening, all Here's the Verythin Bass case... [url="http://www.thomann.de/fr/hoefner_h64_22_bass_case_verythin_bass.htm"]Verythin Bass case (no photo, Th****n, Germany[/url] ... I have an original, nylon Rotosounds, in a Kramer case. Very 'thumpy'... [attachment=78385:Front_Ve...hin_Smal.jpg] Edited April 25, 2011 by Dad3353 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jontywisp Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 thanks for the case-tip your original Verithin looks lovely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoker Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Here's my Verithin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gub Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Looks sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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