edstraker123 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 After a weekend of Beatles madness I've become quite taken with McCartney's violin bass. I've been checking out the market to see what's available and there only seems to be high end and low end models with nothing in between. Has anybody got any experience of any of these basses or know of a decent one at less than £1000 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Hofner Contemporary series? [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/hoefner_hct5001_sb_contemporary.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/hoefner_hct5001_sb_contemporary.htm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasher80 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) i've always wanted a Hofner, but being left handed it might be a bit much! I've heard some good things about the contemporary series FWIW If i got one, i think the urge to shake my head and go "woooooh" whilst playing it would be too much Edited September 1, 2009 by rasher80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Both the Hofner Contemporary (CT) and the Hofner Icon (basically a CT for the US market) list at about £350 and can be had cheaper. Both also turn up on eBay from time to time. They're Hofners in the same way that a MIM Fender is a Fender. Not "the real deal" but close enough to give you a decent flavour at a fraction of the price. If you don't need it to say "Hofner" on the headstock, then the Epiphone is an interesting variant on the same design, with the old Eko (if you stumble across one) adding a bit of fun. As to Wesley and other cheapo Chinese copies, quality is very patchy. I've played some very nice ones, but there are plenty that are just pants. Whatever you save on the initial price you'll probably lose when it comes to selling it later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 [quote name='rasher80' post='586470' date='Sep 1 2009, 01:11 PM']i've always wanted a Hofner, but being left handed it might be a bit much! I've heard some good things about the contemporary series FWIW If i got one, i think the urge to shake my head and go "woooooh" whilst playing it would be too much [/quote] Going off at a tangent, the houseband at my local jam night two weeks ago had a left-handed bass player playing a left-handed Fender Jazz. I spent half an hour trying to figure out what was "wrong" with his set-up ... nothing wrong with his playing, but it looked weird. Finally sussed it. His [i]left[/i]-handed bass was strung [i]right[/i]-handed. In other words, I could have taken his bass and played it upside down. The controls would have been in the wrong place, and the body cut-out down by my knees, but it would have been perfectly playable. I asked him about it. His older, right-handed brother learned to play bass, and he then learned to play on his brother's bass. End of. Really nice guy, and played some wicked walking lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 A lefty player at my local jam sometimes uses a Shine violin bass which are cheap but it sounds excellent through a Hartke combo, much 'bigger' sounding than I'd expect with plenty of low end for a short scale bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 I had the Hofner contemporary series one for a while. I strung it up with Rotosound jazz bass 77 flats and it sounded huge. Really nice bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radansey Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='586550' date='Sep 1 2009, 02:44 PM']Going off at a tangent, the houseband at my local jam night two weeks ago had a left-handed bass player playing a left-handed Fender Jazz. I spent half an hour trying to figure out what was "wrong" with his set-up ... nothing wrong with his playing, but it looked weird. Finally sussed it. His [i]left[/i]-handed bass was strung [i]right[/i]-handed. In other words, I could have taken his bass and played it upside down. The controls would have been in the wrong place, and the body cut-out down by my knees, but it would have been perfectly playable. I asked him about it. His older, right-handed brother learned to play bass, and he then learned to play on his brother's bass. End of. Really nice guy, and played some wicked walking lines.[/quote] Check out Andy McCluskey of OMD - he is right-handed, but originally learned to play bass guitar on a left-handed model. As a result, he plays with the strings "upside down". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 (edited) If you can find one of these (CORT), they are quite good. Tanglewood also make a fairly authentic looking one. [url="http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/products/default.asp?cID=26463297&sID=66460053"]http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/product...mp;sID=66460053[/url] Edited September 3, 2009 by 12stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 [quote name='radansey' post='587772' date='Sep 2 2009, 06:07 PM']Check out Andy McCluskey of OMD - he is right-handed, but originally learned to play bass guitar on a left-handed model. As a result, he plays with the strings "upside down".[/quote] I've never noticed that but I checked some pics on Google and I could see it was so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Still off on the tangent. I swear the guy out of the Doves has a right handed bass set up for right hand, and he is left handed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 [quote name='RichB' post='590362' date='Sep 5 2009, 06:11 AM']Still off on the tangent. I swear the guy out of the Doves has a right handed bass set up for right hand, and he is left handed.[/quote] I see that is true also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalmickey Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 (edited) Try Brandoni, they have a stack of vintage parts, bodies etc and I've seen some lovely EKO violin basses on the site in the past, and from what I hear they're well worth a look if that's what you are after...... LINKY EDIT - [url="http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk/"]http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk/[/url] Edited September 5, 2009 by metalmickey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Hofner Contemporary, or the Epiphone. Both Fantastic Value. I picked up my German Made Hofner 'Cavern' for similar money, so i'm a smug twat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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