Hofner Contemporary 500/1 Beatle Bass

Well my new Hofner Beatle bass was delivered a couple hours ago. The suspense is killing me. I want to open the case but it's been in the teens here today. I need to be strong to let the bass gradually acclimate to room temperature. Tomorrow I guess

You lucky dog. Mine needs work. I just don't trust to many people with it. Have fun when you do get it out!

Congrats! Good practice-waiting on opening the box until the temp equalizes.

Well, how did it go? Was it what you expected?

He must be charging the battery on the camera, as we post. Tap, tap, tap...

Nope. He's just enjoying the new bass.

Sorry about not replying to this sooner but I just got a chance to play this bass extensively. First of all I got rid of the rounds that came with it. Much to my surprise, it sounded fantastic with them, but my main reason for getting this bass was to get the old-school thump and McCartney sound. With my NOS Rickenbacker/Maxima flat wound strings, this baby sings

If you've ever tried Pyramid flats, those come as close to feel as these strings do. I got very lucky to find out about these. There's a guy on the RickResource forum who found a bunch of complete sets. They've been discontinued since either the late 60s or early 70s. I bought the one set but I'm ordering 3 more just to have. They're AMAZING!

Tony C, I don't know if you're much of a flats kind of guy but have you ever tried these?? Anyway, back to the Hofner. The fit/finish is great on the Contemporary. I love the zero fret. Fret ends are nice and smooth. Nice flamed maple back. I did remove the pickguard and I think it looks a lot better. I can't find a fault with the bass itself. The hardshell case, on the other hand is pretty cheap. But, it's better than a gig bag. I took a couple of quick pics of her. The wife is insisting that I keep it under the bed so that she can wrap it for Christmas....well, she's not home right now so I took it out

I'm very impressed and happy with this bass. It's light, and I'm loving the short-scale.

Beautiful!!

Beautiful! And, very nice without the pickguard. I'm sure we'll hear lots more about it-after you 'really' get your hands on it.

thanks guys....thankfully Hofner put out an "affordable," if you'd call it that to the original German Hofner. I'm sure the real deal is closer sounding to McCartney's since it's a true hollow bass. The Contemporary has a center block that is supposed to improve sustain and create a more, well "contemporary" sound, as the model suggests.

I've never played an original Hofner so I don't know the difference. But to my ears, I can definitely nail his sound with this bass and with flats. $589 is a LOT of money to pay for a Chinese made bass, and believe me I agonized about it...but in the end, they did an amazing job with this bass. The pickups are German Hofners like on the real deal, which I guess would drive up the price. Anyway, more review to come after Christmas. I have to learn how to record and post sound clips.

Dang, I've been playing the Hofner Contemporary Beatle bass and I can't get comfortable with it. I'm a big guy and play this with a pick. The tone is to DIE for but the lack of rounded body contour is really bothering my right arm. Unfortunately this has to go

Dang, hate to hear that.