Round-wound strings on Hofner (hollow) basses

[Willie G. Moseley]

Seems like most folks who purchase a Hofner Beatle Bass or Club, etc.( at all price levels) have been talking about using flat-wound strings, but is there something i should know if I want to use round-wounds? How would the sound differ, considering the body construction, scale, etc. Thanks in advance; I just got a present-day cheapo Club that's a lot of fun to play but it came with flatwounds. 

[tbonesullivan]

IIRC, they have a somewhat weak neck joint, depending on the era and where made. The original "violin bass" as used by McCartney had a puny neck tenon and a floating fretboard. So the main thing to worry about is the tension of the strings. Unfortunately actually finding that out for a given set of strings can be a pain in the ass, due to how much flatwounds vary in construction.

[BruceM]

There's a guy in Tomah, Wisconsin, Barry Clark, who claims to be the biggest Hofner dealer in the USA.  I bought a cheapo Club from a guy in my neighborhood about 6 years ago.  I liked it well enough for what it was, but ended up selling it to my brother's neighbor, a 13 year old boy.  The guitar fit his hands well as he was learning.

I then began to see Barry Clark's instruments on Reverb, he's got a large Reverb store with lots of instruments listed.

Fast forward to 2 years ago, and I decided to stop in to his store, which was a converted house-turned-music-store on the main drag of Tomah.  I used to hang out in Tomah occasionally because I'd ride the nearby Elroy-Sparta bike trail twice a year throughout the 80s and 90s, and there was a good supper club there.

It was a weird stop because I was road weary after a 5 hour drive from my parents place in central IL.  Barry is in his 80s now, and it took him awhile to figure out why I was there.  I ended up buying a Club 500/2 bass, which is the mid-line single cut.  I still have the bass, and I like it quite a bit.  Barry did not have adequate time to set up the guitar, and I didn't check it well before I left.  The bridge was messed up and needed a replacement part, so I stopped in on my next trip.  He did the work in the week I was traveling, and restrung the guitar with round wound strings, which he insisted were required for rock music.  I like the round wound sound better.  He was right.

Weird things about his shop and the trip:

His wife suffers dementia and wanders around the store.  She was confused by me.  I had just spent time with my Dad, who suffered dementia as well, so I told them their apologies for her behavior were not necessary.

He's got a large garage type warehouse where he houses inventory, and was bragging about a shipment of 300 Hofners he was about to receive from Germany.  He's got some really nice instruments there.  Look up Barry Clark guitars on reverb.

He's from England, and he recorded his first album at Abby Road Studios somewhere around 1969.  He was quite proud of that, and pulled out his photo album to show me pics.  I had been there a half hour by then and was ready to leave, so I didn't stay long

Barry was the lead guitarist.  What's the name of his band, you might ask?  None other than the legendary Pussy.  Yup, you heard that right.  Pussy.

Enough said.  Here's some classic Pussy music:
 

 

[Gabe]

I purchased my Hofner Violin Bass 500/1 online from Barry Clark in 2021, with flatwound strings.

As I ordered it with white slider knobs and it was delivered with black slider knibs and there were some other problems he gave me a significant refund, even more than I asked for, and I consider that good customer service!

To be honest I like the sound and the weight and the playability of that bass guitar better than my Cruise bass with round wound strings.

YMMV.

 

Gabe 😀