Höfner HCT 500/1 CV Violin Bass CT SB

The Cavern contemporary violin bass differs from the standard model by placing the pickups nearer the neck for that classic Paul McCartney tone of the early to mid 60s. The genuine German made pickups mean its tone is not that far away from the premium entirely German made basses, and it comes strung with flat wound strings for the trademark Beatles thump.

There is a centre block, so it isn't fully hollow like the German basses, but this is supposed to contribute positively to the sustain and it doesn't make much difference to the weight. This is still a very light bass. String it with roundwounds and you can get a modern tone so it's arguably more versatile.

Players used to long scale basses might find the narrow neck a little cramped, but if you're used to short scale it's fast and can make playing fast passages easier. The immaculate finish is extremely close to the German basses and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference at a glance.

This Cavern version is the only one of the Contemporary series that has a blank truss rod cover, which gives it a classier look. I'm not keen on the black knobs, although the German basses in the 1970s had these. A few pounds or euros spent on the replacement classic tea cup knobs is worth it in my opinion.

Overall this is a great value bass that's far from a one trick pony and above all is great fun to play.

I always wanted the cool-looking beatle bass but for me the german ones were always been too expensive for what this kind of bass could give to you in terms of versatility. But when hofner made this east-manufacture bass I could give a try. Of course the finishes are not that good but it's something you can go through. The only really lack are the seats where the strings touch the bridge. I had to work on them because they weren't large enough to hold properly all the strings. Good intonation till the highest frets. Pickups are german made. The sound is exactly the sound you expect and it's the reason why you could buy a bass like this, and that's the only thing that matter, in addition to the cool shape of the bass (if you like it). It's not a cool or a bad sound/shape, it's THAT sound/shape. If you don't like both, it's not the bass for you!