1965 Höfner 500/1 "Beatle Bass"
Maker
Höfner
(German, founded 1887)
Date1965
ClassificationsMusic
Description1965/66 Hofner 500/1 "Beatle Bass", no serial number, in Shaded Brown finish. The bass has a violin-shaped, semi-hollow body with an off-white pearloid pickguard. It features a two-piece bridge system with a metal tailpiece. It has two rotary control knobs and three selector switches for controlling tone, volume, and pickup selection.Walter Höfner designed the Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass, also known as the “Beatle Bass” or “Cavern Bass,” in 1955 as an alternative to the traditional upright double bass. It was first shown to the public at the Frankfurt Muiskmesse (Frankfurt Music Fair) in 1956 and has been in production ever since.
The bass’ popularity is most closely associated with its use by Paul McCartney of The Beatles. In 1961, Stuart Sutcliffe, then-bassist for The Beatles, decided to leave the band to attend art school in Hamburg. The band chose McCartney to take over bass playing duties, and he sought to purchase a bass of his own. McCartney went to the Steinway Musikhaus, a music shop in Hamburg, and found the Höfner violin model bass. He was drawn to the Höfner because he felt that its symmetrical shape would mean that playing it left-handed would not look as awkward as using a cutaway guitar designed for a right-handed player. As Höfner did not sell a left-handed version of the 500/1 bass, McCartney had to custom order his 1961 bass. It is believed that this custom-ordered bass is the first left-hand 500/1 model that Höfner had produced.
McCartney later said of this bass: "I remember going along there [Steinway Musikhaus in Hamburg], and there was this bass which was quite cheap. I couldn't afford a Fender. Fenders even then seemed to be about £100. All I could really afford was about £30 ... so for about £30, I found this Hofner violin bass. And to me, it seemed like, because I was left-handed, it looked less daft because it was symmetrical. Didn't look as bad as a cutaway which was the wrong way. So I got into that."
