1965 Hofner 500 1 Beatle Bass

Hofner 500/1 Beatle Bass 1965 full front view

Comments	Today we’re looking at a very nice 1965 Hofner 500 1 Beatle Bass. Originally introduced as the Hofner Violin Bass, this model gained an unshakeable association with Paul McCartney and the Beatles. Its comfortable short scale, light weight and distinctive woody tone made it very popular with bass players. Eventually, however, solid body basses proved to be the only thing that could withstand the heavy artillery of the volume wars – things like the Marshall 100 watt stack. Still, these basses have a great place in less extreme volume settings. As Hofner says in their current listings for the ‘Liverpool’ violin bass “The Hofner 500/1 violin bass was designed by Walter Hofner and launched at the Frankfurt Music Messe in 1956. It has since gone on to become one of the most recognisable electric bass guitars in the music world in terms of both looks and sound.” This example is in great condition.
Serial Number	N/A; these basses at this time did not bear serial numbers. However, this example dates to 1965 based on hardware and construction.
Pricing	$2350.00 CAD with original case. SOLD
Neck	Maple neck with bound rosewood fingerboard, black headplate and applied plastic Hofner logo. 30 inch (76cm) scale length and 42mm nut width.
Frets	Original frets with minor wear.
Body	Classic Hofner violin shaped body, with spruce top and maple laminate back and sides.
Finish	Original gloss nitrocellulose lacquer sunburst finish in good condition. The burst is a light brown, almost in tea tones. There is lots of natural lacquer checking, mostly on the spruce top, but no missing finish.
Hardware/electronics	All original hardware. Separate nickel plated tuners with pearlescent buttons, gold-top teacup control knobs, slider selectors for pickup selection, nickel plated tailpiece and pickup covers.
Playability/Action	This bass plays well and has been recently set up in our shop.
Case	Original grey hardshell case included.