If there had been no McCartney would Hofner still be around?

#2
Good question. My wild guess is there’d be no Höfner today if not for McCartney.*

But it’s a good thing that anyone wanting a lightweight short scale bass has the Höfner option today.

Tom Petty used a Höfner Club for Mudcrutch 2. :) Well at least in the videos.

*Although, if McCartney had never happened, maybe some other superstar would have chosen a Höfner violin bass. Once McCartney became big, you probably wouldn’t choose that bass because it was so identified with Macca.
 
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#6
You're asking two questions: Hofner--as a company--is a long-established German instrument maker (orchestral strings, acoustic and electric guitars, electric basses). They'd probably be around with or without McCartney.

The more pertinent question is: Would the Hofner violin bass still be around if it weren't for McCartney? Possibly not, I think, as the pervasiveness of Fender may have relegated it to being a 50s/60s novelty, like quite a few other unusual designs from the era. (Although the other Hofner basses that didn't get a direct McCartney boost are still around...)

However, as commercially lucrative as it was/is, there's a dark side to the McCartney association. In many cases, the violin bass has been relegated to a nostalgia piece by people who want 'a piece of Paul.' That, in turn, has pushed Hofner to mostly make replicas of the old 500/1, rather than advance the design.

The 500/1 is, for many reasons (none of them having to do with the Beatles!), my favorite bass. But it could stand some updates: a more readily adjustable bridge, larger tuner shafts, and a more flexible control panel. The control panel is a good example of how consumers froze this bass in amber: According to Hofner, the company tried to update the controls at some point, and customers demanded it be returned to the original limited switching arrangement. So even the company knows it's silly, but unfortunately, the customer is always right (except when it's not).

That said, I've rewired the control panel on my violin bass so that it offers much more tonal flexibility and excellent pickup blending options. In a perfect world, Hofner would update a few aspects of the 500/1's design themselves, while still offering offering a few retro models for collectors/Beatles fans.
 
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#7
fermata said:
You're asking two questions: Hofner--as a company--is a long-established German instrument maker (orchestral strings, acoustic and electric guitars, electric basses). They'd probably be around with or without McCartney.

The more pertinent question is: Would the Hofner violin bass still be around if it weren't for McCartney. Possibly not, I think, as the pervasiveness of Fender may have relegated it to being a 50s/60s novelty, like quite a few other unusual designs from the era. (Although the other Hofner basses that didn't get a direct McCartney boost are still around...)

However, as commercially lucrative as it was/is, there's a dark side to the McCartney association. In many cases, the violin bass has been relegated to a nostalgia piece by people who want 'a piece of Paul.' That, in turn, has pushed Hofner to mostly make replicas of the old 500/1, rather than advance the design.

The 500/1 is, for many reasons (none of them having to do with the Beatles!), my favorite bass. But it could stand some updates: a more readily adjustable bridge, larger tuner shafts, and a more flexible control panel. The control panel is a good example of how consumers froze this bass in amber: According to Hofner, the company tried to update the controls at some point, and customers demanded it be returned to the original limited switching arrangement. So even the company knows it's silly, but unfortunately, the customer is always right (except when it's not).

That said, I've rewired the control panel on my violin bass so that it offers much more tonal flexibility and excellent pickup blending options. In a perfect world, Hofner would update a few aspects of the 500/1's design themselves, while still offering offering a few retro models for collectors/Beatles fans.
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Very well said and I believe this is the answer. Being a guy that grew up loving all things Fab, I purchased a 500/1 back in my playing days. I loved the little bass. Didn’t spend too many nights on stage with me though as it just didn’t have the range I was used to. It was a novelty to me used when we played Dear Prudence for the visual aspect. It was relegated to my music room wall for five years when another star crossed McCartney guy offered me near twice what I paid.... I agree, if Macca hadn’t brandished the Hofner as his trademark bass, we likely would be seeing them in the same way as Danelectro’s and Silvertones and such.

Edit... I don’t recall manufacturers doing much as far as artists endorsements back in those days. In fact I remember reading a piece once where the Beatles requested a tour of the Rickenbacker facilities on an early US tour and were turned down. Chalk that one up as one of the poorest business decisions of all time.
 
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#10
I apologize for being didactic, but if you admit the possibility of anything in the past occurring differently than it did, you must admit the possibility that everything thereafter may also have occurred differently. Maybe some other mega-phenom would have arisen and chosen a Hofner - nobody knows.
 
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