Hofner bass question

[cheyenne]

Not a Rickenbacker topic, but I know a few of you have Hofner basses.

Can you suggest some low tension strings that work well on a Hofner? I have a friend who has one, and it plays a little high with the strings feeling extremely "stiff"to me. I told him he really needs to try some different strings / guages, and would ask you folks for some suggestions.

It has flats on it, but he's not against trying roundwounds.

[woodyng]

dr sunbeams,if they are available in a short scale. i just heard some live concert footage of Sir Paul playn his hoffie,and it sure sounds like he is using rw's now-it really cut through nicely! the dr's are nickle,roundcore,and fairly low tension. i use 'em on most of my basses.
edit when i had my greco beatle bass,i had pyramids on it,but they were pretty hi tension flats....

[teb]

I have Thomastic Infeld Jazz Flats on one and Labella flats on the other one. They are under much less tension than the original Hofner (Pyramid I believe) strings, sound about the same and are much easier to play. They also might be less likely to eventually cause the need for a neck re-set, which is fairly common on older Hofners. I could never find anything to be gained by using the original strings except sore fingers (which has pretty much been my observation on Pyramid 12-string sets as well). I also have a set of RotoSound tape wounds that aren't bad, though I like the others better.

At the moment, there is a quick mp3 clip of me messing around on the fretless Hofner in my web closet. This is the bass with the Labellas and it's pretty amazing how much deep low end they can put out. Most of the clip is with both pickups. The final section is just the neck pickup to dull it down to a somewhat more string-bass kind of sound.
http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/M ... r%20FL.mp3

[sloop_john_b]

TI's.

[iamthebassman]

LaBella makes two different "Beatle Bass" sets, I use the heavier set with great action but you might wanna try the lighter set if you're at all concerned. Whatever you get, just remember the whole "short-scale plus tailpiece" thing.

[cheyenne]

OOOKKKK,,Ronn.

What exactly is the "short scale plus tailpiece thing"?

[iamthebassman]

It's something most folks don't think of when they're buying their first set of strings for a Hofner.
Most short-scale strings are too short for a Hofner bass. They're made to fit a bass with a Fender-style bridge. But the Hofner has a couple inches of string length behind the bridge, back to the tailpiece. This causes the silk winding, at the tuner end, to start ahead of the nut instead of past it. And of course long-scale strings are too long. So, check the string against your bass before buying. Or, buy a specifically designed-to-fit string.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

I have Hofner's own set of bass strings for the 500/1 on mine...

They are actually Pyramid's?

[cheyenne]

Thanks for the tips, all good information to know.

[iamthebassman]

Yes, Hofner's strings are made by Pyramid. Don't pay the higher price for "Real Hofner" strings, they're the same.