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BGRA: Hofner a Div of Boosey & Hawkes 500/1 Vintage 63 Re-Issue Beatle Bass
| Manufacturer |
Hofner a Div of Boosey & Hawkes |
Model |
500/1 Vintage 63 Re-Issue Beatle Bass |
| Reviewer |
Jon Casselman 36 yrs Playing Experience |
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| Experience |
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Item owned |
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| Review Date |
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Price paid |
$2,195.00 Cdn includes vintage case |
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Neck Type | 3 piece maple-beech-maple 30" scale |
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Fingerboard | Dark Rosewood fingerboard unbound with 22 frets. |
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Body Type | Beautiful flamed german maple sides & back with spruce top. Double bound, Semi-Acoustic body. |
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Finish | Antique brown sunburst, bindings/pickguard/control panel are colored yellow-cream recreating that aged look. |
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Pickup(s) | Passive vintage 63 single coil nickel plated staple pickups. |
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Controls | Two volume controls (one/pu) Three switches, two are for pickup on/off, third is the rhythm/solo switch. |
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EMail : casselman@home.com
I've owned a number of Hofner Beatle basses over the past 30+ yrs. I've
found the 63 re-issue to be the best of all of them. The quality of the bass
has continued to improve, even though each bass is built by hand in Hofner's
Hagenau plant is southern Germany. Hofner has continually improved their
instruments as has technology permitted, but they've been able to maintain
the old craftsmanship ways of building their instruments as well.
I've found with most people over the years that you either love these basses
or you hate them, There seems to be little in between. I love the weight of
the bass, it weighs only 5 pounds.
The bass is a short scale but it does not give you that limited feeling that
many short scales basses do. The neck is long and narrow, at the nut it's 1
5/8" wide and at the 12th fret it measures a further 1 7/8" wide. String
spacing measures 1/2" center to center. This is great for anyone who has
difficulty getting around a wide neck like that of a Fender Precision. This
neck is fast and easy to get around.
These basses are pretty versatile instruments but lets face facts, they are
not suitable for every type of music. If you want to play slap bass, death
metal or heavy rock then pass on this bass. But for most other types of
music it'll fit right in.
Hofners come standard from the factory with Pyramid flat wound strings. Now
these are the same strings Hofner has been using for the past 40 yrs.
However due to the scale of the bass and the use of flat wound strings your
sound can get a little on the thumpy side if your not carefull. I've always
perfered Pyramid round wounds on my Beatle basses. They're crisper and will
provide the player with extra edge.
In 1997 Boosey & Hawkes purchased Hofner GMBH, which was still a family
owned and run business. Since then Boosey & Hawkes have made a significent
investment in the company to make sure that Hofner survives another 100 yrs.
This is a beautiful instrument and I love to play it when ever I can. It
plays, looks and feels great. It is always a conversation piece when ever
it's out of it's case. If you're tired of the norm, then check out a Hofner
500/1 Vintage 63 Re-issue.
Finally, the bass comes with a vintage style green felt lined german made
case. This is an OK case, but it really does not offer very much protection
for the instrument, especially from the elements. Also it does not hug the
instrument like it should so the bass can bounce around inside the case. I
sold my vintage supplied case and replaced it with a new hard shell case
from EMMC (New York). These cases are 10 times better then the ones supplied
with the bass I highly recommend them as I do the Hofner 500/1 63 Vintage
Re-Issue.
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| construction |
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| playability |
| (100%) |
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| appearance |
| (100%) |
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| sound |
| (90%) |
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| value |
| (80%) |
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| overall |
| (95%) |
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