John's Hofner Bass

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:57 am

Yesterday a friend gave me a guitar book as repayment for some set-up and repairs. I was surprised to see a photo of a bass that reportedly belonged to John Lennon. It said that it was used on a number of solo recordings made in 1970 and 1971. It looked like a Hofner Beatle bass, but it had a 'scroll' headstock like a violin. The caption pointed out that this was a rare feature on Hofner basses. I've certainly never seen one before. I checked the photo credit and it said Christie's. Has anyone else seen this bass or know anything about it? I've been a Beatle fan for over (30) years and have never seen this instrument before.

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:17 am

Randy,

I can't help you with that, but have a question. Does that book say anything about John's sonic blue Strat, or what happened to it?

Thanks,
Kevin

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:25 am

From your description of the scroll headstock, it sounds like it could be an early Gibson bass or an Ampeg bass like Rick Danko used to play with The Band. Gibson's first electric bass guitar was a solid body in the shape of a violin, with a scroll headstock. Jack Bruce played one of these in the recent Cream reunion shows. The Ampeg bass isn't violin shaped, but has some fancy woodwork and a scroll headstock.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:28 am

Kevin: The book wasn't Beatle-specific. I read just yesterday in another thread that John got out "two classic Fender guitars" during the 'Double Fantasy' sessions so that Rick Neilsen (of Cheap Trick) could see them. He knew Rick was a collector who would appreciate his older Beatle-era relics.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:42 am

Ethan: Nope. It was a Hofner. Exactly like a Beatle Bass but with a different headstock. I've got a '62 reissue, so I'm pretty familiar with these instruments, but this one's different.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 10:27 am

In the 60s and 70s there were plenty of Japanese violin-shaped Hofner knock-offs with scroll headstocks around.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 10:47 am

Ronn: As soon as I figure out how to use my scanner, I'll post the picture. It sure looks like a Hofner (with changed knobs) and that's what the caption said it was. I don't know why Lennon would have used this bass on solo recordings (especially since Klaus Voormann is credited). I have lots of questions regarding this 'mystery bass'.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:17 am

I had a Crown Beatle bass, pretty much exact, except for a scroll headstock. It was a '60's model, methinks.

That was a very inexpensive bass, however, I couldn't imagine John with one.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:24 am

The photo looks like it was used in a Christie's auction (and they are credited for the photo). I would think that this lends some creedence to the caption. The book seems fairly well researched and contains a number of celebrity-owned instruments that I've seen elsewhere. I think it's very odd that I've never heard of this scroll-headed model or this instrument after so many years as a fan.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:31 am

Maybe Gary at North Coast Music might know. He goes to the factory a lot.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:49 pm

I have never seen a Hofner Violin Bass with a factory scrolled headstock, but there were options that existed for different types of decorative inlay on the pegheads....definitely custom order stuff here, like floral patterns and the diamond-style seen on some of the earliest 500/1s made in 1956. They are 'out there', but quite uncommon...

It could very well been a Hofner with a replaced neck too, YMMV.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:15 pm

Guys: Closer inspection reveals that this isn't a Hofner. The book is wrong. The book, imaginitively entitled 'Guitar' by Terry Burrows (2003) says:

"Hofner 500/1 Violin Bass (1957)- The model shown here with its custom-carved 'scrolled' headstock actually belonged to John Lennon. It was used on a number of his 1970's solo recordings."

The oddest things about the neck, besides the scrolled headstock, are the neck markers. Every Hofner I've ever seen has dot markers centered on the fingerboard. This neck has the dots along the top edge. The neck is also bound. I once had a cheap Hofner-copy from Italy (EKO?) that had similar dots and binding (but a conventional flat headstock). The control panel is the right shape but too big with different screw locations. The tailpiece is also similar to Hofner but wrong.

So John may not have owned a Hofner bass, but did he actually own this misidentified piece of junk? Who knows...

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:56 pm

"Gibson's first electric bass guitar was a solid body in the shape of a violin, with a scroll headstock"

I've never seen one with a scroll headstock! Got pic?

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:12 pm

If the bass has a scroll headstock and dot neck position markers located along the top edge of the fretboard with a violin shape body then it was made by Arai-Diamond (Aria) in Japan.

Most of them were imported into North America under the Univox brand name.

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:18 pm

Here's is a photo. Is this the bass you're talking about?

It also came in three tone Sunburst.