Dom in Dorset Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Vincent Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 It's a regular banjo,she's just tiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Yes, bless them, they have always been a bit "different". Pottily designed, commercially stillborn monstrosities. And it's one of the reasons I like 'em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulconnolly Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 [quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1344969947' post='1771861'] It's a regular banjo,she's just tiny. [/quote] That's perspective for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 She's also really spiderman..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 or Spiderwoman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Vive La Difference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Bass 65 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 The SG Range were just jumping on the bandwagon and had quite a few weaknesses. Look up Tutti Fruiti on You Tube by Little Richard and his band and at the right moment you'll see an early Gibson Violin Bass similar to Maccas Hofner bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Jazz Bass 65' timestamp='1344979305' post='1772043'] The SG Range were just jumping on the bandwagon and had quite a few weaknesses. Look up Tutti Fruiti on You Tube by Little Richard and his band and at the right moment you'll see an early Gibson Violin Bass similar to Maccas Hofner bass. [/quote] As I understand it it's the Hofner that looks like the Gibson, by about 2 years. Edited August 14, 2012 by Big_Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul torch Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 I heard that Macca went for the hofner over the Gibson as it was a cheaper copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 [quote name='Jazz Bass 65' timestamp='1344979305' post='1772043'] The SG Range were just jumping on the bandwagon and had quite a few weaknesses. Look up Tutti Fruiti on You Tube by Little Richard and his band and at the right moment you'll see an early Gibson Violin Bass similar to Maccas Hofner bass. [/quote] Wow, opinions expressed as fact and vague, unsubstantiated accusations of inferiority, that's new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 [quote name='paul torch' timestamp='1345023939' post='1772364'] I heard that Macca went for the hofner over the Gibson as it was a cheaper copy. [/quote] Macca had no interest in Gibsons, because there weren't any. It was 1961 and he was living & working in Germany. The 500/1 Violin was readily available for relatively little money, Hofner were prepared to take an order for a L/H one, simples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) Does this Gibson count as a bass? Edit: Found [url="http://www.harpguitars.net/history/month_hg/month-hg-3-07.htm"]here[/url] Edited August 15, 2012 by Norris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Since when did Picasso design musical instruments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 [quote name=[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]][/font][/color]'[color=#000000]Bass Player [/color][color=#000000]Magazine'[/color], [color=#000000]Issue: July/August 1995[/color], [color=#000000]Title: Paul McCartney - Meet The Beatle[/color] [color=#000000]Author: Tony Bacon[/color][color=#000000]'[/color][color=#000000][/quote][/color] Paul had to find a bass guitar of his own, so one day in 1961 he went shopping in Hamburg. "Eventually I found a little shop in the center of town, and I saw this violin-shaped bass guitar in the window." This was the famous "violin bass," a Hofner 500/1, made in Germany and similar in shape to Gibson's early Electric Bass model. McCartney recalls buying his first violin bass for the equivalent of about $45, and he insists it was a right-handed model that he turned upside down, although all the photographic evidence of the band in those early years shows him with a production left-hander. McCartney has had a number of different versions of the Hofner 500/1 over the years, but he stuck to the model as his sole Beatles live- performance bass as well as the principal bass for the group's recordings until late in the '60s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fumps Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Am I allowed to say I actually like the Rumblekat ? ***runs for cover *** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 [quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1345041792' post='1772752'] [/color] ... and he insists it was a right-handed model that he turned upside down, although all the photographic evidence of the band in those early years shows him with a production left-hander. [/quote] Hmmm. I don't recall reading anywhere that McCartney ever claimed that he bought a R/H model and played it upside down. Given the number of photographs knocking around from those early days, it would have been a very stupid claim, and even Macca's worst enemies don't accuse him of being stupid. What he actually said was that he was initially attracted to the violin bass because it was the same shape for a lefty as for a righty. This was a time when it was bloody difficult to obtain a L/H instrument (witness the number of lefty players who simply had to learn to play a R/H instrument). Then he discovered that, with that efficiency and common sense that they are famous for, the Germans were perfectly prepared to make a L/H instrument if he ordered it through the shop in Hamburg. Not being very stupid, this is what he did. [quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1345041792' post='1772752'] [/color] McCartney has had a number of different versions of the Hofner 500/1 over the years, but he stuck to the model as his sole Beatles live-performance bass as well as the principal bass for the group's recordings until late in the '60s. [/quote] Erm ... no ... no he hasn't. He has owned just three violin basses in his life. The first (a 1960/61) model was stolen in 1962 when The Beatles first became famous. He replaced it with a 1962/63 model which he still owns and plays. Several years later, Hofner presented him with a gold 5000/1 in recognition of his "services" to Hofner. He never played it, at all, and he gave it away after a while. The 500/1 ceased to be his "principal bass" in 1966/67, during the recording of Revolver and Sgt Pepper. By then he had migrated almost totally to his Rickenbacker, though there is the occasional track where it is very obvious that he's chosen to use the 500/1 instead. Tony Bacon has forgotten more about basses and bass-players than I'll ever know, so I can only assume that the article being quoted here was "ghosted" by a particularly incompetent sub-editor. I'm hardly a leading authority on this subject, but these mistakes are just too obvious to ignore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) You're quoting it as being me that said it - it was - as I put in the quote - a face to face interview between McCartney and Tony Bacon in McCartney's studio. [url="http://www.recmusicbeatles.com/public/files/bbs/bass-player.html"]http://www.recmusicbeatles.com/public/files/bbs/bass-player.html[/url] Edited August 15, 2012 by Big_Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.I. Joe Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 He also used a Jazz on later recordings. Just throwing that in there On later albums they all swapped instruments at different phases of recordings too, I'm pretty sure there are some songs where John or George play a Fender VI, IIRC. I'm not exactly a Beatlemaniac though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cytania Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 The vintage Gibson shown earlier in the thread is a harp guitar. Popular at the turn of the last century. The outboard strings provide a drone harmony to play over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 [quote name='cytania' timestamp='1345052972' post='1772964'] The vintage Gibson shown earlier in the thread is a harp guitar. Popular at the turn of the last century. The outboard strings provide a drone harmony to play over.[/quote] The angled string; that is just hooked onto the stand isn't it? Not supposed to be like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 [quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1345054546' post='1772995'] The angled string; that is just hooked onto the stand isn't it? Not supposed to be like that? [/quote] It does look like it's caught on the stand. Obviously not a lot of string tension then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.