I do find it interesting that this little bass earned such a reputation. When you say a low-end Hofner copy, it sounds redundant, since Hofners were originally the cheap basses (they cost a third of what Fenders cost when Paul bought his.) Now they charge like $2800 for their high end model. Do you know how many good sounding Fenders I could get for that kind of coin? I'm willing to find out, if anyone wants to give me the money.

While I have never really cared for the violin bass, I am guilty of having owned one of these Kents for a time (see link below). I just thought it was the ugliest (and hence coolest) bass I had seen up to that point, and it cost a cool hundred bucks. It sounded horrible, but some kind soul had at least put on a replacement set of Schaller tuning machines, which justified the cost a bit.

http://www.myrareguitars.com/robergekent.html

Have you tried any of them at all? I do agree they look kind of cool, but after trying out one in a music shop, I found out that I never gonna think about buying one. The general geometry and the shape of the neck made it just unplayable for me.

On the other hand, I know some people love them, (hi Mike, are you around now?) so if they fit you, it may be just what you are looking for.

M.

Lefties only Morten....

Love my Hoffner!

Mike, I totally agree! My first bass ever was a righty Hfner converted to lefty, simply because the body is symmetrical, so no probs in turning it over to lefty. Since a few weeks I play a Hfner Contemporary Series 500 and the sound and feel are just great, although I'm planning to change the strings into d'Addario halfrounds. The factory strings aren't that good. Man, it's so beautiful to see that bass laying in the violin bass case, it fits like a hand in a glove! LOL

Sean ;)

I'm a BEATLE fan, and a bass playing fan.

The HOFNER basses that I have played are/were
22 fret 30 inch scale ... width at the 22nd
was about a 1/4 inch wider than at the nut.
(These are guesses)
My problem is NOT that my hands are too big
to play them, it's when I switch back to a
34 inch scale with some width I feel like a
new born giraffe.

FEB 07, 1964 Ric's :)

One nice thing about the shape is few jerks call it a guitar ;)

Beatle Bass has a distinct sound to it, approaching uprighty-ish (?). It will fit different players & genres better than others. I dare say it fits a Classic Rock band better than a Ric fits an Old Standards band, but that's just an opinion.

I'd read that part of the pricing difference between Euro & American instruments in the 60s had a fair bit to do with differences in currencies, labour rates, & import duties. McCartney's choice might also have been steered by difficulty in finding a left-handed Fender.

Word is they sound best strung with D'Addario Chromes (& get Medium not Short scale; the tailpiece). IMO the bridge design is horrid; primitive action & intonation adjustments.

It's a different instrument to play. Very close string spacing might put off some; I widened mine to equal my Ibanez SR 5 string's spacing.

Definitely try one before buying. It doesn't hurt to try a few as some Chinese quality control isn't the best.

Howdy Jordon,

I'm onto my second "Low end Beatle Bass" I hate this instrument class thing, But thats just me I suppose.....
Both of mine have been made by Shine (Saein) who have this sort of big music city where they build Guitars for Epiphone, Ibanez, Gretch to name but a few........
Well anyhow I love ... hate... love mine ...they do respond to chromes very well in fact, But you'll get away with most flats (Dave is right about mediums though) cos they are shortscale but not....... unplugged the lower you go the more they rattle (wires) I taped all mine, But once plugged in nothing excepting a Hofner will give you a better Beatle sound.......I use mine with a Vox simulator and the first time I played I thought I was Macca.......
The bridge is err unique ??? but it works amazingly well though intonation is a bit trial and error (mostly error with me).
The tailpiece is quite fun,.... a little tip when re stringing is to leave a string on then fit the other 3 it stops the tricky little bugger falling apart.
As for playing ......every thing seems a little small and guitary it's like getting out of a Jag and into a Mini..... I dont mind this cos it's amazing what you can make a Mini do, plus I find it a great help when working on nailing a bassline.... (I've never nailed a whole one in my life LOL).... but thats just me again.
sure I fall out with mine and swear I'm gonna sell her but I do that with most basses.....
They always get noticed too, so if you want to get noticed.......Then this Melon is the right Melon for you sir.....
They are quite portable too I've took mine all over , even to work and twanged the hell out of it in my works truck,

Hope this has helped

Leroy

Thanks for the help everyone. I have played the Jay Turser, and some other obscure brand (stadium I think) and I loved them both. And for the record, I hate the term Beatle bass. I love the beatles, but I hate the tone he goes for witht he violin bass, I prefer it when he plays the ric. Right now my wain bass is an Epiphone ET 280, I own a p bass and have been playing it almost eight years and have grown to hate it. I want a violin bass because they are tiny and light, and you can get really unique sounds out of them if you get creative with the amp. The band Deerhoof is actually made me decide I wanted one, I love the bass sound they get. Sorry for rambling but I didnt want to seem like another one of those silly kids who's goal is to rip off Paul.

*Apologies for the horrid spelling, I haven't slept lol.

If you're not married to the idea of a violin
shape, maybe
you might like to take a look at the Eastwood Club
Bass, another Hofner copy with a more conventional
single cutaway style. Same hardware and
electronics.

I've heard nothing but good about Eastwood and at
$500 you can't go too far wrong.

I've played an original 1960's vintage Hofner
500/1 that belonged to a bandmate, and owned a
500/8. Originals were OK, nothing special.

I've also played the recent budget Hofner Icon
Series reissue and it wasn't horrible at $430
w/case.

J

If your feelings extend to hating the term 'beatle bass', this could be the right style for you.

But it never hurts to keep one's options open. Key factors I see to 'that sound' are strings, pickups, hollow body, & bridge (how it couples to the body surface). Other hollows with similar bridge might also be your style. Just an idea.

I've checked out several other hollowbodies as well. I would prefer something similar to the club, but as ridiculous as it is I want the cheapest possible option. There is a good chance I can get the Jay Turser in a trade, otherwise its back to square one.

Jordan,

I've played a couple of the Jay Turser ones;
they're not bad.

Hofner makes a "copy" of their originals, which is
to say they have contracted with an Asian company
to make copies under the Hofner name. These are
probably the best, but they are almost twice as
expensive as the Turser.

If Samick made one, that would be my first choice,
other than the Hofner "copy." However, since they
don't, I'd go with the Turser.

Kelly

Trade is supposed to go down tomorrow. Ill post results.