Macca's Hofner

[Silvia Bluejay]

2 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

Interesting - the extra cost of being a leftie. 

What would you say is the typical average cost of being left-handed?

If you buy new, as a bass player, being left-handed usually costs you more in terms of restricted choice than in actual monetary terms. The minimum 10% surcharge for lefty models is a fact, except in the case of certain companies, notably Warwick, who say they charge the same for identical LH and RH models. The problem is that they - like every other company - offer a far smaller choice of lefties than righties. (We're not talking custom shop models, of course.)

 

Uprights have the same surcharge and restricted choice problems, with the additional secondary issue of almost always having to order one and wait for it.

As a rule of thumb, you have to assume that lefty double basses do not exist. Thomann used to have some models a few years ago, and may still have one or two, but they must be the only store who can afford the warehouse space to cater for that tiny market! (They did/do apply the minimum 10% surcharge too.)

In general, you expect to either order a lefty DB to be built from scratch, or buy an old righty and get a good luthier to move the bass bar and the soundpost, replace the nut and the bridge and, often, modify or replace the tailpiece. [Edit: and re-shape the fingerboard!]

 

The above is more of a statement of fact than a moan. For as long as left-handed people give in to pressure and learn right-handed, this parlous situation won't change. I am grateful to Paul McCartney for insisting on staying a lefty player and, as a consequence, putting 'proper', non-upside-down lefty instrument playing on the map for the benefit of the rest of us.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Silvia Bluejay

[Happy Jack]

3 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

so if the rest of the story is true, the owner of the store ordered him a special left handed one from the factory, I wonder if that was still £30?

 

If memory serves, the beauty of dealing with Germans is their efficiency  ... one of the advantages was that they charged NO extra for a lefty, and that also contributed to Macca's decision. 

 

I wasn't there, you understand, so how much of this is true I couldn't tell you, but Macca has been interviewed enough times on this subject . 🙄

[SteveXFR]

I don't really like the Hoffner but I like that it's not the standard choice. McCartney sounds like McCartney because he doesn't use the usual instrument and amp choice. 

I know Fenders are popular because they sound great but the whole P bass in to an Ampeg thing is a bit unimaginative and always sounds pretty much the same.

The Hoffner has never been a common choice so it stands out visually and sonically. 

[Happy Jack]

14 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

The Hoffner has never been a common choice so it stands out visually and sonically. 

 

I beg to differ. Once Macca became famous (even iconic) playing one, they became one of the best-selling and therefore most widely-used basses for several years. 

 

Even after the big switch to Rickenbacker, there were so many Hofner Violin basses and copies thereof out there that they continued to be used extensively, and not just in pop music. Two really obvious examples (for me, anyway) are Aston 'Family Man' Barrett passing his 500/1 on to Robbie Shakespeare, and the 500/1 used by Dennis Dunaway with The Alice Cooper Band.

 

[iconic]

Being a very shallow type, I've always thought of these as both curious and butt ugly.

That these look ok when Maccas playing one, or in a mop haired period Beatles Benidorm tribute band scenario, anything else a tad, well you know, silly? 

 

A bit like Bootsy's Star Bass, not a look that's easy to pull off at the Nags Head, playing Country and Western on a wet Sunday afternoon.

 

That said, what do I know, my face is a look most punters would find rather sudden too. 

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by iconic

[MacDaddy]

8 hours ago, iconic said:

 

 

A bit like Bootsy's Star Bass, not a look that's easy to pull off at the Nags Head, playing Country and Western on a wet Sunday afternoon.

 

 

 

 

When Gibson brought out the Flying V and Explorer in the late 50's, it wasn't unusual to see them in Country bands.

So the Star bass isn't too much of a stretch 🤩