Höfner is again making a large bodied fully hollow bass - 500/18

[Alanko]

First of all, Cimar J's are great basses, far better than what their market price would lead you to assume.

Ironic that Cimar instruments are a bit neglected as they are Ibanez! You can pay X for an old Ibanez Blazer or Y for the Cimar version. All because of a headstock decal...

[uwe]

Chris, your overtly germanophile leanings worry me deeply.

[uwe]

First of all, Cimar J's are great basses, far better than what their market price would lead you to assume.

Now about the Höfners. I had image issues with the 500/1 - didn't want to look like a fan - and it's not a good bass imho. But the 60s large-body Höfners are different. They are the best hollow body basses I know. They have fantastic acoustic qualities. Really. If you had played one note on my 1960 500/3 you'd be smitten.

As for Hoyer, Klira and Framus, most of them were junk, in my experience. For years I wanted a red Hoyer London bass because it's so cute, until I actually played one and the GAS has evaporated.

To me, the Höfner just never looked "rock", to this day I prefer a Ric, a WAL or even a Yamaha in the hands of Paul McCartney.

Of course not all the German instruments were junk - people like Jan Akkerman played them after all and he could have played anything. But to us in Germany they had no rock'n'roll - an Angloamerican invention - allure, while anything American was deemed cool, British guitars like Burns were at least considered cult'ish and even the Hos from our former Axis friends in the Pacific had the benefit of an exotic aura.

[Granny Gremlin]

Ah, another post war collective syndrome; selbstgroytuer.   

[Dave W]

Don't knock Klira, or godofthunder's wrath will descend upon you.

[Chris P.]

I'll think about the Waffen SS.

I guess every bass has it's charm. I never played a Höfner on stage with my former rock band the La La Lies, but on the other hand: a Thunderbird with my acoustic bass ukulele duo would e a bit too much.

The problem with the big cheap European brands of the sixties and seventies is the diversity in series. Like Uwe said: Framus made cheap beginner's stuff but also high quality stuff like the Akkerman. Same with Höfner: big, gold hardware, fancy inlay, fancy woodworks archtops versus the vinyl covered solid bodies. Same with Dutch Egmond. I guess most people could afford only the cheap ones and have bad memories.

[uwe]

There was something very post-war about them. And while the famous American models were introduced at the same time or even earlier, they had something grandiose about them. Playing a Framus or Höfner (and no one I knew in Germany did so voluntarily) was really like being stuck with a Volkswagen Beetle when all you craved for was a tail fin Buick. There was a reason why all these companies went broke in the 70ies and beyond.

[ilan]

I would agree that solid body Höfners were junk, they were poorly designed low-grade Fender-influenced guitars. But the hollow-bodies were different. Nobody else made basses with violin-family construction. Gibson's EB2 looked similar but had a center block and sounded very different (you know what I think about their sound. And they definitely don't rock). The Senator, President, Committee, 500/3, 500/5 basses didn't look rock'n'roll - but you can say the same about a burst Les Paul. So it's an image thing.

[westen44]

Hofners and VW Beetles being criticized in the same thread.  That's too harsh for this early in the morning. 

[Chris P.]

Of course everybody wanted a Fender or Gibson like The Americans.

Still there's something stylish, European and sophisticated about hollow European guitars and basses. Let's say a P versus a Verithin is Corvette or 'Stang (*) versus BMW 507, Austin Healy, ...


(*) Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang; not Warwick Corvette and Fender Mustang.

[clankenstein]

Whose verithin then?

[Chris P.]

Not the ugly Healey Sprite with the frog eyes. The normal Healey is one of the prettiest cars around.

[uwe]

It was largely image, true. And what you saw on the record covers and at live concerts.

I have a Höfner 500/1 (and a Framus and a Hoyer) myself, it's a construction all of its own with a sound all of its own. It's a joy to play, but as a 16 year old in 1977 you would have broken my heart forcing me to play one where people could see me with it! 

[Pilgrim]

Not the ugly Healey Sprite with the frog eyes. The normal Healey is one of the prettiest cars around.

Semi-officially known as the "Bug-Eye Sprite".  Great, classic sports car that operationally is the epitome of the saying "It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow."

[westen44]

To me, the Höfner just never looked "rock", to this day I prefer a Ric, a WAL or even a Yamaha in the hands of Paul McCartney.

Of course not all the German instruments were junk - people like Jan Akkerman played them after all and he could have played anything. But to us in Germany they had no rock'n'roll - an Angloamerican invention - allure, while anything American was deemed cool, British guitars like Burns were at least considered cult'ish and even the Hos from our former Axis friends in the Pacific had the benefit of an exotic aura.

I like all those brands.  Also, under the right conditions I think they can all look rock.  But in terms of just sound, whether in the studio or on stage, I think Paul McCartney sounded the best playing a Ric.