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jiel « Very cool! »
Published on 05/09/11 at 04:51I bought this Hofner Ignition bass at Thomann in 2010. I think I paid €225 for it.
At this price point, I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the "real" 500/1 or even with the Contemporary version... but it's definitely not a down-market bass: It's easy to play, decent finish, vintage sound... In short, as a longtime Beatles fan, I'm not disappointed.
USE
I can only confirm what others have written in the forums and other reviews, this bass was conceived for guitar players! I can understand that for Paul McCartney, originally a guitar player (which he still plays, even on many Beatles songs), apart from the price, which certainly was important factor back then, this adaptation ease must have certainly played a role when he chose this bass. I'm also a guitar player, I only played bass occasionally, and I was never comfortable playing it. But in this case, it's a real treat!
SOUND
You obviously need to love "round and "warm" sounds. That's what I was looking for. Listen to the first Beatles albums, it's not too far from that.
However, as everybody says, you absolutely need to change the strings! I just did and can confirm that it's like night and day.
I didn't get the Hofner set at Thomann because I think it's price is prohibitive (are the strings made of gold?), instead I got a short scale flatwound set by GHS from an Ebay seller, which cost me 21.50 euros.
OVERALL OPINION
It's been six months since I've been playing this bass at home and I don't regret my purchase.
In the end, I give it only 9/10 because it's not the best bass guitar out there, but given its price...
At this price point, I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the "real" 500/1 or even with the Contemporary version... but it's definitely not a down-market bass: It's easy to play, decent finish, vintage sound... In short, as a longtime Beatles fan, I'm not disappointed.
USE
I can only confirm what others have written in the forums and other reviews, this bass was conceived for guitar players! I can understand that for Paul McCartney, originally a guitar player (which he still plays, even on many Beatles songs), apart from the price, which certainly was important factor back then, this adaptation ease must have certainly played a role when he chose this bass. I'm also a guitar player, I only played bass occasionally, and I was never comfortable playing it. But in this case, it's a real treat!
SOUND
You obviously need to love "round and "warm" sounds. That's what I was looking for. Listen to the first Beatles albums, it's not too far from that.
However, as everybody says, you absolutely need to change the strings! I just did and can confirm that it's like night and day.
I didn't get the Hofner set at Thomann because I think it's price is prohibitive (are the strings made of gold?), instead I got a short scale flatwound set by GHS from an Ebay seller, which cost me 21.50 euros.
OVERALL OPINION
It's been six months since I've been playing this bass at home and I don't regret my purchase.
In the end, I give it only 9/10 because it's not the best bass guitar out there, but given its price...