A Blast from the Past
by John Montalbano
A Hofner is one of those basses that is great for any session player's arsenal. That Beatlesque thud that Paul McCartney made famous is familiar to one and all, and with the progression of music since those days, it has found its way into many applications of modern music. Sometimes that overtone-less, unsustained boom is the best solution for the track.
If you don't already have a Hofner, now it's a matter of what is in your price range. You can still come across a vintage Hofner here and there, or you can buy a German-built Hofner brand new in the $1500 to $2000 range. If you are looking for that tone with a minimal budget, Hofner has released their Icon Series B Bass for under $400.
A friend of mine who had picked up a Hofner Icon Series kept telling me that I HAD to try it. I was working on a tune that I thought it would be appropriate for, so he brought it over. Exactly as I expected, it had the look and feel of a Hofner Beatle Bass.
I have tried many but never owned a Hofner before, so it is not as if I would know every nook and cranny of the real thing, but there are some significant differences in detail from the German-made bass. The hardware and pickups are certainly different and the finish is not as rich as an original. Of course, it's a quarter of the price!
The bass was originally purchased with a terrible setup and round-wound strings. After a setup and a set of flat-wound strings, it was as playable as any bass of its type. I actually found it to be more comfortable than some of the other Hofners I have played. The neck was a bit slimmer and the balance was reasonable. Like any violin-style Beatle bass, you really need to use a strap to play it. All of the hardware was functional and the electronics didn't cause any difficulty. The neck was straight and it had no trouble staying in tune. It is all about the sound and playability. Sound-wise, it was exactly what I expected. The Hofner sound was there and there was no struggle to get it. I ended up balancing the two pickups and used a tube driven DI into the board and presto!
The Hofner Icon B Series is not the real thing, and for under $400 you can't expect it to be the real thing. As more vintage Hofners are snatched up by collectors, doomed to a life in a glass case or as a mere line on someone's homeowner's insurance policy, Hofner still makes the high-end German models in the $2000 range. The Icon B Series surely is a great way to put the Hofner sound into your arsenal on a shoestring budget. www.hofner.com
