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These are my favorite basses of all the Hofners because it has the Blade Pickups. With everyone trying to be Paul McCartney and trying to get their basses to look like his, these are often overlooked. However, the blade PU Hofner has a lot of deep end and a hotter output vs. the staple type. These basses construction is much superior from others of this era because of the strap button on the neck. This metal button may look like a typical strap button but actually it is a Metal Nut that is threaded onto a Bolt that goes through the bass with another nut inside the cavity. Great tuners that appear to be sealed but easily opened to place a dab of gear grease every 5-8 years. Great piece of wood both on the backside which is Maple and the top which is a veneer spruce top. Just an overall great bass. This is a lost era with Hofner now making basses in China and the German basses having the Staple type pickup. If you can get your hands on one of these 60s basses, do yourself a favor..............BUY IT.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I own this bass plus two actual Hofner "Beatle Basses" (which are 100% German manufactured). Although this utilizes some authentic Hofner parts, the tone is nowhere near the Hofner tone you know and love. The round-wound strings need to be immediately replace by flat-wound if you want to even approximate the Hofner sound. Once that's done, you need to re-set the action as the strings, even the factory installed roundwounds, are set so low you'll get frustrating buzz every time. The bass has a sustain bar built into it which makes this bass heavy. It is semi-hollow as a result, and, therefore, feels nothing like a true Hofner bass. It feels like a solid-body and that is a major step backwards for a Hofner bass. Lastly, the control panel resembles a 1970's issue Hofner bass (white panel, black knobs) and the headstock is strangely not an authentic Hofner curve. It looks good and it is stylish. I say it's a good value if you are looking to get a semi-authentic Hofner and/or you want to have the Hofner look. Also, the American flag *is* catchy and I bought mine for aesthetic purposes, not for some "USA! USA!" mentality (I would have preferred this to be the Union Jack, but, hey, I take what I can). However, a bass can't live by appearance alone. I've used this playing live and recording. Live - it sounds *okay*. The bass struggles to sound like a genuine Hofner but you can tell the tone is falling somewhere between what it ought to sound like and sounding like a Fender. In recording sessions, if I really tweak the heck out of the settings on my pre-amp or EQ, I can get the bass to sound more like what my authentic Hofners sound like and should sound like, but it's a lot of work and a lot of frustration if you don't get it just right (then you get some nasty overdrive). If you've played an authentic Hofner, you know it requires little to no adjustment; you get the sound you expect upon plug-in unless you've messed with the control panel and/or your amp/playback device. This bass, well, good luck finding the settings in short time. I've received compliments on the looks and the price. For those two reasons, again, I find the bass a good value. I do not find this a good value sound-wise. Those who want an entry-level Hofner, you'll do well with this -- just change the strings immediately to flat-wounds or tape-wound (short scale) and get a strap designed for Hofner basses. If you don't use a strap like Sir Paul uses, you'll find the bass falling forward and difficult to play. 2/5 stars for sound. 4/5 for looks. 4/5 for value.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
I have owned several Icons and have never been dissappointed with any of them other than a few minor issues like sometimes the tuners bind and turn hard. I learned that with the correct strings they sound absolutely faithful to the McCartney Beatles sounds and can sound like about anything you want. Same is true in spades with this CT model. Looks more perfect as compared to the Germans but with a little heavier/solider feel and much heavier/solider neck feel when compared to the icons. The sound is great even with the round wounds that it comes with I have not yet put the halfrounds on it but it will only make it better when I do. It took me about ten minutes to get a perfect setup on it out of the box--had to lower the bridge about one full turn each side and added about a half turn to the neck. Harmonics were right on out of the box (this has been true of every Hofi I have bought). If you harken back to the glory days of rock this is a great bass to own and play. I get more positive comments from listeners/audience with this bass than my fenders or schecters ever got, and trust me, they are not all Beatles fans!Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This Hofner Bass is an excellent value for the money. The tone it produces sounds incredible it has that fat bass sound of Sir Paul McCartney and the Beatles. It can sound a little like a Rickenbacker too. I owned two Rick basses (very heavy) and two original German made Hofners (very light) and this one holds up to both of them. It's heavier then the original Hofners because of the center sustain block which is an improvement over the complete semi-hollow ones. It does not feel like a toy and I highly recommend checking it out before spending a couple of grand on the originals. I mostly played the Fender P bass over the years at gigs and in studio. They also sound great and are very durable but heavy and unforgiven to the back and shoulders.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is a great instrument. Visually, it's perfect. Technically, it has the ability to produce modern tones as well as the familiar Hofner thump. Overall, the coolness factor is off the scale!!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned