Hofner builds a bass for the working man.
My Brice Beatle Bass just came today and she's a real beauty! I swapped out the rounds that came with it for an old set of Chromes I had lying around. She has the deep honky Hofner sound and is built better than my old Hofner was. Stan is right short scale strings won't fit the Brice either. I had to cut the long scale Chromes down to fit correctly. The intonation was almost right on out of the box. The bass just need a proper set-up, like most do to fine tune it for me. I'm not going to change a thing on it. The bridge and tailpiece are just fine as they are. And the price was reasonable too. With the case just I bought for it on e-bay, I'll have a little over $350 in it total, which is all I'm willing to spend on a bass like this. Overall, it's a nice little black Beatle Bass that is a blast to play, well made, and nicely priced. The people over at Rondo Music were very easy to deal with.
I recently went back to playing a Rickenbacker bass. Its like meeting an old friend again
Congulations Randy. My Turser is black too. The little bass is kinda cool in black. Does yours have gold hardware? I've got a just a little less than that in the Turser with the case. But I have a lot less than that with the Rogue and its case.
The Rogue is on sale again thru MF for 199 now if any one is interested in getting one. MF showed the Icon on the page before it in their new sale catalog that I just received. I have also heard that MF is about to gobble up Music123. MF seems to be bent on controlling the music equipment on line world.
Paul I'm kinda dum struck I guess on this one but how does the bridge affect the scale lenght about the fitment to short or medium scale strings on this type bass?
I know that you have to move the bridge on most other violin bass makes if you buy a Hofner tailpiece for one. The Hofner tailpiece is longer so that you have to move the bridge to compensate for the intonation. But I don't see how the bridge can affect what lenght strings you can use?
I looked at my buddies Icon but its a longer body than my any of my Violin basses. So weather the tailpiece was the long one or not was not apparent visually.
But it would seem to be that naturally if the tailpiece were longer then you would not need as long of a string to go from it to the tuning post. So that should be the reason that some people are not being able to use short scale strings on their violin basses when they put a Hofner tailpiece on theirs.
Paul can you tell me the difference in the sound of the taped flatwounds vrs the roundwounds? One more question. I have never had any taped flat wounds or even seen any. So do they have silk wrapped ends as well like other flat wounds do? Thanks.
The Rogue is on sale again thru MF for 199 now if any one is interested in getting one. MF showed the Icon on the page before it in their new sale catalog that I just received. I have also heard that MF is about to gobble up Music123. MF seems to be bent on controlling the music equipment on line world.
Paul I'm kinda dum struck I guess on this one but how does the bridge affect the scale lenght about the fitment to short or medium scale strings on this type bass?
I know that you have to move the bridge on most other violin bass makes if you buy a Hofner tailpiece for one. The Hofner tailpiece is longer so that you have to move the bridge to compensate for the intonation. But I don't see how the bridge can affect what lenght strings you can use?
I looked at my buddies Icon but its a longer body than my any of my Violin basses. So weather the tailpiece was the long one or not was not apparent visually.
But it would seem to be that naturally if the tailpiece were longer then you would not need as long of a string to go from it to the tuning post. So that should be the reason that some people are not being able to use short scale strings on their violin basses when they put a Hofner tailpiece on theirs.
Paul can you tell me the difference in the sound of the taped flatwounds vrs the roundwounds? One more question. I have never had any taped flat wounds or even seen any. So do they have silk wrapped ends as well like other flat wounds do? Thanks.
I'm not going to change a thing on mine! This little Brice is as close to the Hofner as I've ever played since I sold mine. The tailpiece on mine is nice and solid, so no need to change there. The bridge on the Brice is IMHO, better than the Hofner's. It's a little bit longer so the string spacing isn't as close as the Hofner, which I really like. This bass is what I originally though the Hofner would be like when I bought it some 20 years ago. I just bought a Fender vintage strap for it and it's not that neck heavy at all. At least no more than the Hofner was, so I'm real pleased. This one's a keeper. And I didn't spend that much money to boot! BTW Dan, my bass has chrome hardware, but they also have the black version with gold hardware too. As well as the flamed sunburst w/gold HW.
I recently went back to playing a Rickenbacker bass. Its like meeting an old friend again
Congratulations on your new bass Randy. What kind of tailpiece does it have? Is it the squigglie thing like my other violin basses? My Turser came with Gold hardware, no choice in the matter.
Neck heavy is one reason I changed the pegheads over on the Turser. The Rogue was not neck heavy. But the little pegheads do lighten up the headstocks quite a bit.
The Rogue bridge is more Hofner like than the Turser. The Turser is longer too.
I looked for quite a while for proper straps. I wanted one with a shoulder pad but with the inch wide narrow strip the rest of the way down. I wasn't looking for a perfect exact Paulie match. I didn't care for a dogclip scarring up my basses. I finally two in the proper colors. One in brown leather and the other in black leather.
I added and additional brown pad to the brown one and sheep skin one to the black one.
Not that you need it for these two basses. But its good for other basses and to keep the straps from ever trying to slide on your back. A strap thats two to three inches wide all the way down tends to stay in place better.
Neck heavy is one reason I changed the pegheads over on the Turser. The Rogue was not neck heavy. But the little pegheads do lighten up the headstocks quite a bit.
The Rogue bridge is more Hofner like than the Turser. The Turser is longer too.
I looked for quite a while for proper straps. I wanted one with a shoulder pad but with the inch wide narrow strip the rest of the way down. I wasn't looking for a perfect exact Paulie match. I didn't care for a dogclip scarring up my basses. I finally two in the proper colors. One in brown leather and the other in black leather.
I added and additional brown pad to the brown one and sheep skin one to the black one.
Not that you need it for these two basses. But its good for other basses and to keep the straps from ever trying to slide on your back. A strap thats two to three inches wide all the way down tends to stay in place better.
Yes, it is the same. But I think the one on mine is quite nice. I think I like it better than the Hofner tailpiece. The Hofner tailpiece you hook the string under it. The Brice tailpiece has holes that catch the ball ends like a regular solidbody bridge does. BTW, the Hofner strap can be used with strap buttons. You don't have to use the dog clip end. Those straps are expensive though. When I had my Hofner, I used the Fender vintage strap with it and it did fine.
I recently went back to playing a Rickenbacker bass. Its like meeting an old friend again
More and more used Icon's are popping up on Ebay lately.
I was going to sell my Hofner Club, but have since changed my mind. It's really a lovely bass with awesome bottom end, and the finish is the closest to my favorite Ric finish Autumnglow. It's grown on me so much, I am now considering adding a 500/1 to the heard.
Paul, I to would be interested in your thoughts on the tapewounds. I have never used them, and just purchased a set of LaBella's. Every manufacturer has the same gauge on the E at 115. I am curious about the tension on these strings.
I was going to sell my Hofner Club, but have since changed my mind. It's really a lovely bass with awesome bottom end, and the finish is the closest to my favorite Ric finish Autumnglow. It's grown on me so much, I am now considering adding a 500/1 to the heard.
Paul, I to would be interested in your thoughts on the tapewounds. I have never used them, and just purchased a set of LaBella's. Every manufacturer has the same gauge on the E at 115. I am curious about the tension on these strings.
Buy it before someone else does.
Just to change the subject for a second, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year. I pray that 2007 will be better than 2006. As happy as I am about my new basses, 2006 has ended kind of rough for me. I'm glad to see it finally go.
I recently went back to playing a Rickenbacker bass. Its like meeting an old friend again
Well Randy, the only one that I've ever actually bought any strings for is my 66 Violin bass. It has had three different sets on it since I got it in 71. I currently have a set of Earnie Ball round wounds on it.
These basses still have a pretty deep tone on them even with round wounds. Thats why I've never put any flats on them. I've always attributed it to the neck pickup on them. Since not all basses seem to have a neck pickup. But then again I'm a confirmed finger bass picker too.
My old one even has single coils and its deep, deep, deep tone too. Since its a full on hollow body with open F holes its like a living thing when you play it thru and amp. Its got about a 2 and 1/2 inch deep body if remember correctly with out digging it out.
Its not that it creates a feedback like a bunch of squells though at all. It will just set and hold whatever note your on forever. My bigger hollow body that is clone of the Hofner 500/6 Verithin will do that too but not to the extent that the old bass will.
It feels very cool when you feel all of that air rush out of it between your fingers. I took off the guard on it to better let the air rush in and out. Since the guard partially covered the lower F hole.
Both the Rogue and Turser have their stock sets of round wounds. The Rogue has red silk wrap ends and thats my wife's favorite color.
I have heard that the Thomastiks Flats have Red Silk End Wraps but I don't know about the Roto's. I have heard that you can get a set of GHS black tape flatwounds for 27 bucks.
Very inviting cost compared to the Roto's but again no info as of yet on the silk wraps. This would be a nice research project for some body. Hint, hint, LOL..
These basses still have a pretty deep tone on them even with round wounds. Thats why I've never put any flats on them. I've always attributed it to the neck pickup on them. Since not all basses seem to have a neck pickup. But then again I'm a confirmed finger bass picker too.
My old one even has single coils and its deep, deep, deep tone too. Since its a full on hollow body with open F holes its like a living thing when you play it thru and amp. Its got about a 2 and 1/2 inch deep body if remember correctly with out digging it out.
Its not that it creates a feedback like a bunch of squells though at all. It will just set and hold whatever note your on forever. My bigger hollow body that is clone of the Hofner 500/6 Verithin will do that too but not to the extent that the old bass will.
It feels very cool when you feel all of that air rush out of it between your fingers. I took off the guard on it to better let the air rush in and out. Since the guard partially covered the lower F hole.
Both the Rogue and Turser have their stock sets of round wounds. The Rogue has red silk wrap ends and thats my wife's favorite color.
I have heard that the Thomastiks Flats have Red Silk End Wraps but I don't know about the Roto's. I have heard that you can get a set of GHS black tape flatwounds for 27 bucks.
Very inviting cost compared to the Roto's but again no info as of yet on the silk wraps. This would be a nice research project for some body. Hint, hint, LOL..
The regular GHS Flats are not bad strings at all. I've never tried the tapewounds though. The rounds that came on my Brice were nasty. I yanked them off as soon as I got it. It has a real nice tone for such a little bass, especially through my Ampeg. And it dosen't feed back when I crank it up unlike my old Hofner. I just bought a hard case that UPS just delivered that is nice too. Overall a nice little package. This will be my last bass for a while, as I am running out of room to put them all!
I recently went back to playing a Rickenbacker bass. Its like meeting an old friend again
I bought it off E-bay Dan. It's a real nice little form fitting case. Well worth the money IMHO. Having something with Hofner on the headstock isn't that important to me anymore now that I have the Brice. The Rickenbackers were a different story though. I just feel at home, so to speak, playing a Rick. Since a Rick was my first good bass so many years ago. I tend to like things that are familiar to me, which led me back to the Beatle Bass. But I wasn't going to fork out the extra money for the name on a bass like that. The Brice suits me just fine, and I've had lots of nice compliments on the tone of it too. To me it sounds just as good, or better than the Hofner did.
I recently went back to playing a Rickenbacker bass. Its like meeting an old friend again
Dan, I just bought some LaBella tapewounds.
I haven't tried them yet, but the silk ends are a deep purple. I have never seen the Roto's.
I also have some Black Diamond flats on my J bass that have some very interesting silk ends.
E string is yellow, A is blue, D is black, and G is green. Great sounding strings but pretty funking wrappings.
I haven't tried them yet, but the silk ends are a deep purple. I have never seen the Roto's.
I also have some Black Diamond flats on my J bass that have some very interesting silk ends.
E string is yellow, A is blue, D is black, and G is green. Great sounding strings but pretty funking wrappings.
Buy it before someone else does.