Hofner Icon Series Violin Bass Sunburst
The Hofner Icon Series Violin bass is of course based on a violin shape with an orange sunburst varnished finish that really brings out the grain of the Spruce front and Flame Maple back and sides. The three piece neck is also constructed from Maple with a Rosewood fretboard containing 22 frets. The neck is particularly narrow, although quite deep and sports Mother of Pearl fret inlays. There is a Tortoiseshell scratch plate suspended above the front by attachments in several places. The machine heads are of the old open vintage style and seem quite up to the job.
The bridge is made from wood with moveable metal saddles and a height adjustment, while the string retainers are a complicated brass construction. Each chrome finished pickup has its own volume control, and there are three two-position slide switches. The first of these switches between Rhythm and Solo, giving a slight overall volume increase when in the solo position. The other two switches turn the bass and treble pickups on and off. Being light the Hofner Violin Bass guitar is comfortable to strap on and the narrow neck makes for fast fretting.
The Hofner Violin Bass has an iconic association with Paul McCartney. Who can look at this guitar and not think of a mop-topped McCartney in his high necked suit? Any manufacturer who has produced a guitar that has remained essentially unchanged for over fifty years must be doing something right.
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