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Hofner 500/1 Violin Bass
Burns Black Bison Bass
Fender Precision Bass
Steinberger XL-2
Warwick Thumb five string
Gibson EB-0 Bass
Fender Coronado II Bass
Danelectro Longhorn Bass
Yamaha SB-Series bass
Music Man StingRay – pre Ernie Ball
Fender Jazz Bass
Wal Pro 1 & Pro 1E Bass
Gibson EB-2 Bass
Vox Phantom IV Bass
Jaydee Supernatural Classic Series 1 Bass
Gibson EB-1 Electric Bass
Rickenbacker 4000 Bass
Framus Star Bass 5/150
Fender Mustang Bass
Gibson Thunderbird IV Bass - Non Reverse
Alembic Stanley Clarke 'Small Standard' Bass
Epiphone Rivoli Bass
Rickenbacker 4001 CS
Fender Transition P-Bass
Ampeg AEB-1
Squier Katana Bass
Gibson Grabber G-1 Bass
Ibanez ATK 300 Bass
Modulus Graphite Flea Bass (FB4)
Fender Bass V
Yamaha Attitude Limited II Bass
Warwick Corvette FNA Bass
Ernie Ball Music Man Piezo StingRay Bass
Gibson EB-3 Bass
Guild B-301 Bass
Fender Telecaster Bass Series 1
Wal Custom Mach II – Gold Plated Fretless 5-string
Zemaitis M/F Custom Bass
Hofner Senator
Gibson Les Paul Triumph
Fender Slab Body Precision
Music Man StingRay 5
Burns Shadows Bass
Vaccaro X-Ray Bass
Fender Telecaster Bass Series 2
Stuart Spector Design SSD NS-4 Bass
Dobro D Deluxe
Rickenbacker 4003
Fender Precision 1957
Hofner President Bass 500/5
Burns 5-string Bass
Music Man Cutlass Bass
Fender Jazz Bass Pre-CBS Custom Colour
Vigier Excess Bass
Supersound SCB Bass
Burns Marquee 5-String Bass
Ovation Magnum I/II
DeArmond Starfire Bass
Warwick Fortress Flashback
Our picture shows the most popular version from 1962
BASS EXPO Could there be any better way to celebrate the glory of the bass guitar than with a series of profiles of some of the most iconic instruments ever to grace stages and recording studios across the globe? We don't think so. Kicking off our series of bass profiles is the four-string that a certain mop-topped Liverpudlian used to take the world by storm in the early 1960s...
PRODUCED: 1956 – current
ORIGIN: Germany
TYPE: Hollow violin-shaped body, 4-string
BODY: Spruce top, flamed maple back & sides, fully bound
NECK: Maple, glued-in neck, 22 fine frets plus zero fret
SCALE LENGTH: 762mm (30-inch)
FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, white dot inlays
HARDWARE: Chrome trapeze tailpiece, rectangular pearloid control plate and matching scratchplate (often removed), rosewood bridge has slots in the top to take four small lengths of fret wire to act as crude string saddles, small guitar-sized open gear tuners
PICKUPS: Two Hofner ‘staple’ units on this 1962 version
CONTROLS: Two volume controls and three slide switches
FEATURES: The rosewood bridge has slots in the top to take four small lengths of fretwire to act as crude string saddles, although the body and headstock are bound the fingerboard is not
FINISHES: Brown Sunburst
COMMENTS: By the time that Paul McCartney popularised the Violin Bass it had already undergone several changes. By 1961 most notably the oval control plate was replaced by a rectangular one, extra switches were added and the smooth black single coil pickups were replaced by the staple ones we see here.
Initially these two new pickups were placed close together towards the neck but by spreading them apart as here. At the outset there were 20 frets, then 21, but when it reached 22 the bass finally came of age and has remained in production ever since. Along the way it’s been called the Beatle Bass and the Cavern Bass, had gold fittings, ebony fingerboard and even active circuitry but that’s just gilding the lily in our opinion. Classic is best.
