LeftyBassist.com

And can you give me reviews of it? How does it's sound differ from a Hofner Beatle Bass?

I thought the Hofner Club bass only comes in a righty version

cp

No, it comes lefty as well. I tried one out at True tone music in Santa Monica, CA. The cheaper versions do not come lefty.

I've got a Hofner Club. Bought it a few years ago from GC when they were closing them out.

I don't have a classic Hofner Violin bass for comparison, but I do own a cheap Rogue VB copy. I've read (and heard) that other than the body shape, both offer virtually the same sounds. However, this may seem crazy, but the Rogue destroys the Club in nearly every respect, IMO. The build quality just feels more solid, it's a bit weightier, and the hardware feels better, while the Club feels extremely light weight and fragile. (It does come with a damn nice flight case, however). Tonally, they're pretty close, but the Rogue actually has better definition and clarity, while the Club's tubby fat tones are just more mushier/muddier sounding. This, despite the fact that I've got a lighter set of Labella Beatle Bass flats on it: .039-.096, while the Roguehas the heavier gauge .50-.100 flats. The necks are vastly different too, as the Rogue has a comfier (for me) and wider neck (though it's still narrow comparatively to most other short scale necks I've played), while the Club's is very thin/narrow. Only the pickguard and control plate and knob appointments on the Rogue feel/look cheap, but honestly, the same components on the Hofner are cheap plastic crap too. (They just look better because they're pearloid in appearance and tinted more tan than the white of the Rogue with gold spray topped knobs).

There's a good reason why Hofner jumped into the low cost Asian Hofner knockoff pool by introducing the Icon and Contemporary lines: other companies were selling knockoff instruments that could compare (and, as noted) out-perform the real deal. So as much as I love the classic Hofner tones, I can't justify a $2000 price difference for a niche sound. Hopefully Hofner will release an Icon or Contemporary version of the Club left handed soon.

Thanks Peter!

I like the Beatle bass too, but I've always been a sucker for the Les Paul body shape and I feel like the Club would be a bit bigger and better fit my size than a Beatle bass.

I hope they offer the Contemporary Club lefty too!

I agree with Peter's comparison 100%. I had a Club for a few days (got it with a deep discount from Musicians Friends) and I thought the Rogue sounded a lot better, and the neck feels better. The Club had sharp, protuding fret ends, for example; the Rogues fretwork was flawless straight out of the box. My Rogue is about 5 years old, made in Korea, but I think they are now made in China. . . It's a tone machine. I record a lot with it.

The rogue has a solid block inside in the middle; the Club (and other German Hofners) are completely hollow. you would think that the hofner would have the bigger low end, but it's the other way around. The pickups on the Rogue are really good, hot with plenty of definition (but of course, this still is a semi-hollow body instrument). I really like how these pickups take distortion/overdrive.

The Clubs are gorgeous, but it's so hard to justify the price. If I was in a touring band with a Hofner endorsement, I would galdly play their instruments (after having a tech do a few tweaks). Otherwise. . .

BTW, the Club's body is bigger than a Beatle, but strapped, the feel is very similar. It's not like an Epi Rivoli, for example, which have huge bodies.

No sharp frets on my Club, and my Rogue is also made in Korea. I didn't know about the solid block of wood in the Rogues. No doubt that might contribute to the better clarity.

All this talk compelled me to do an A/B comparison today. I discovered a few things I hadn't before (pickups and wood/finish aside). Please check out the pix and note the following. Rogue's on left and Hofner's on right:

1. The Hofner is slightly shorter than the Rogue, though the fretboard sits slightly lower within the body so the scale length is the same.
2. The Rogue has a reverse headstock wave to the Hofner. I'm guessing the Hofner is correct?
3. The Hofner has neck binding and a zero fret. Binding's also white but with yellowed pickguard/controls, while binding's (on body only) yellowed on Rogue but with white pickguard/controls (I took the pickguard off mine, however).
4. The control plate and knobs/switches are reversed on one or the other (or both). Honestly, both are a bit screwy in terms of how they're set up. The Rogue's control plate features an upside down control plate such that types are above the controls/knobs and can be read when looking down while playing the bass. But on mine switching the treble/bass switches down mutes the bass, while switching the treble switch up functions to add bass and switching the bass switch up functions to add treble (?). I'm not sure if this is correct or not, but it sounds like the switches are either wired wrong opposite or wired such that down is up and visa versa. Meanwhile, the Hofner's control plate features types under the knobs/switches and thus read upside down when looking down from playing position. However, the volume knobs are reversed, as turning the knob closest to the neck affects the bridge pickup, not the neck pickup (?).
5. The Hofner has a tapered tenon, which contributes to the narrower feel of the neck moving up the neck, though measuring the nut width on both was the same: 1-5/8".
6. The Hofner features a bridge that "locks" into the pickguard via a pin. While the intonation on mine is close, the D is a bit sharp. It would be a (bigger) pain in the arse to adjust the intonation on the Hofner as a result, since on the Rogue the bridge is floating and you can simply slide and tilt the whole bridge to adjust intonation (though on mine I still had to slide out a couple of the little brass "saddles" to get it perfect, which you'd have to do on the Hofner as well).
7. The Hofner is much lighter, and thus balances better. The Rogue does have some neck dive, but a decent strap solves that easily.
8. The body width of the Hofner at it's widest point is 12 3/4". On the Rogue, it's 11 3/4"

Tonally, I still stand by my original opinions, though the Hofner's not bad, just different/more vintage sounding? Still, the Rogue's hard to beat for capturing 99% of the classic Hofner tones and better attack/clarity for a fraction of the price.

I am sorry to say it, but my Epiphone Viola, which is almost a Rouge, also totally beat my old Hofner for all the reasons you have mentioned in this thread. It kind of makes me sad for some reason, but I can't disagree.

Thanks Carlos and Peter. The Hofner Contemporary Beatle Bass also has the block in it, I wonder if they compare tonally to the Rogue? You guys ever try the Contemporary basses?

Excellent review PJ, thanks.
I must admit that I have always considered the "Beatle Bass" unsightly and have never desired one because of that (shallow, I know ). I have always liked their tone, at least that of McCartney and Chris Wood.

Like Andrew, when it comes to hollowbodies I have always preferred Les Paul and ES-335-like shapes. I loved Tina Weymouth's tone from her Club bass on the "Stop Making Sense" concert movie. I realize that the soundtrack was overdubbed but I think they used the same instruments they had on stage.

Definitely for me. I just like hollowbody basses in general, but the look of them is a huge appeal to me.

When my Beatle band started in the early 90s I got an Epi Viola, it did the job, and with flats, had a pretty convincing tone. I was "convinced" 'til a few years later when, figuring the band was gonna be more than a flash in the pan, I bought the real deal. Yeah, the Epi wasn't even close. Sometimes ya get what ya pay for.

I had a feeling you'd be chiming in here, Austin. For a guy who makes a living based on authenticity and accuracy, a Hofner's definitely the way to go.

Also, does anyone put rounds on their Hofner or Hofner clone basses?

Here's the new Contemporary Very Thin bass from Hofner. Given it's symmetrical I really hope they make a lefty version.

If your job is to be as accurate to the Beatles as possible, then a Hofner is of course a worthy investment. And "investment" is the correct word considering the difference in price. But I found the tuners, intonation, feel of the neck, feel of the body much better in the Epiphone/Rogue. The electronics were noisier, but otherwise it was better. But who knows, maybe I got a particularly good one. Also, I was using it in an electronic lounge music band through tons of effects etc and never tried it for vintage rock so maybe the Hofner is better for that. BTW I'm glad Hofner is finally making affordable versions of their classic - but I haven't tried one so have no idea how they play/sound.

What a great looking bass! Why oh why, though, do they insist on using those tiny guitar machine heads instead of bass-size tuners on everything?

I've heard so many stories of Hofners feeling wimpy and fragile so I believe them to be true, but I played a righty Beatle bass in a store once that felt awesome. So I believe there are exceptions to the rule with Hofners on their feel, they just might be more uncommon with Hofner than in other brands.

You can add me to that, for the first 5 years or so I thought I was gonna snap the Hofner in two any second, but it has held up just fine 15 years on.
And a word on the tuners; they're small and look cheesy, but they do the job just fine.
Not to be a Hofner "defender", just wanting to give an experienced opinion on the subject matter. Believe me, I'm VERY happy when I switch to the 4001S, or the Jazz.