Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Let me recount my experience with my Hofner Icon. I ordered Pyramid flats and installed them. All was well except for the G string -- it absolutely would not tune harmonically -- that is, the farther up the neck I played, the sharper the note was. Plus, I had a terrible chorus effect on any fretted note above the fifth fret. I e-mailed Pyramid and also posted here and on TalkBass. Those using Pyramids reported no such phenomenon. But on a whim, I swapped out the G for a TI Jazz flat that I had left over from an old set that I used on my Lakland. It was a XL, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Problem solved! Bass nicely in tune on all strings and the TI actually sounds better than the Pyramids. Finally, someone posted that they, too, had experienced the "chorus effect" and found that the string was touching the wooden part of the bridge as it descended to the tailpiece. He filed down the bridge and the effect went away. Because I use the Icon maybe once a month, it still has the mismatched Pyramid TI "Set." I suppose I could have a bad G from Pyramid. But for now, the strings will stay as they are. I highly recommend TI flats for any bass.

Ghs makes a tape-wound set I had on my Rogue. I liked them, but I love everything GHS Makes! Light Flates on my Ricks for years

I don't know which strings McCartney has on his Hofner but they have dark green silk. This must narrow it down.

Don't Pyramids have dark green silk? I had read over on the RIC forum that John Hammel had stated that Pyramids had too much tension for Paul's liking, and that he had used Rickenbacker flats on the Hofner and the Rickenbacker for many years. But since they could not find the Ric flats any more, he now used TI's. But AFAIK, the TI's have red silk, not green. Since I've never used the TI's, I don't really know.

If I get another Hofner, it will be the Contemporary version. Since the SIT's would be too long for the short scale, I would either put TI flats, or D'Addario groundrounds on it, since they come in short scale lengths. Unless I could get SIT to make me a custom set of short scale Power Flats. I like the strings to be nice and mellow sounding, yet have a little low mid growl when needed.

Could they maybe be black silks like on LaBellas? I have the Beatebass set on my Hofner and dig them.

tennis_nick wrote:Could they maybe be black silks like on LaBellas? I have the Beatebass set on my Hofner and dig them.

I see on the Just Strings website that there are three different La Bella Beatle Bass sets, which are you using?

jps wrote:

tennis_nick wrote:Could they maybe be black silks like on LaBellas? I have the Beatebass set on my Hofner and dig them.

I see on the Just Strings website that there are three different La Bella Beatle Bass sets, which are you using?

There's one that has "Beatle Bass" in the name, I use those!

tennis_nick wrote:

jps wrote:

tennis_nick wrote:Could they maybe be black silks like on LaBellas? I have the Beatebass set on my Hofner and dig them.

I see on the Just Strings website that there are three different La Bella Beatle Bass sets, which are you using?

There's one that has "Beatle Bass" in the name, I use those!

Like I said, which set!

http://www.juststrings.com/labellaelect ... ofner.html

rickfan63 wrote:Don't Pyramids have dark green silk? I had read over on the RIC forum that John Hammel had stated that Pyramids had too much tension for Paul's liking, and that he had used Rickenbacker flats on the Hofner and the Rickenbacker for many years. But since they could not find the Ric flats any more, he now used TI's. But AFAIK, the TI's have red silk, not green. Since I've never used the TI's, I don't really know.

TI's (great strings BTW - both the Jazz Flats and the Jazz Rounds) have red silk, but Paul's '63 Hofner definitely has strings with dark green silk. I was fortunate enough to examine the bass closely so I'm sure about that. They are definitely short scale, as the silk is in the right place. Maybe he went back to Pyramids?

You can see it clearly here, at about 02:58, for 5 seconds.

A .40-.100 set on a 30" bass tuned to concert pitch can't be too much tension, can it?

Hofner bass strings have dark green silks on them. I saw two Hofner basses at Mandolin Bros and the both had dark green silks. Could be ?

The strings on my Höfner have a much darker silk than those.

These are dark. The flash lightened them up a bit.

That makes sense, but those looked more teal than the forest green they should.

I don't think they want anyone to know what strings he really uses. McCartney has always been very shy about appearing to endorse anything he uses. Plus, he probably dosen't know anyway. They could very well be Hofner strings though. They are made by Pyramid for Hofner I think. So perhaps they don't have the tension they regular ones have? I've never tried them, as they are way too expensive for my budget.

I have two Hofner basses. A German V64 and a Contemporary Cavern bass. I use the La Bella Deep talking bass strings on both and they sound amazing. Believe me I have tried a lot of other brands and for that classic Hofner sound I would recommend these strings. You can go to www.bassstringsonline.com and the owner Jason will set you up.. They are the only place to get bass strings... Thanks, Lou