Fretless Bass Guitars

Hofner Fretless Bass Guitars

When most of us heat the name Hofner we think of the 500/1 Beatle Bass made famous in the early 1960's. And that is where it ends for most people, many bassists included. The Hofner violin bass made famous by the early Beatle days, the 500/1 was a short scale fretted semi-hollow body known to some as the Craven Bass or 61. It grew to be a staple and the masthead of the Hofner Bass linage. From these beginnings rose the 5001/1 fretted and fretless bass. Although many bass players don't delve into the violin bass as the versatile bass it truly is; tossing the light weight instrument into the dark corners of Rock and Roll, it has its virtues in both sound and playability. Despite this the Hofner bass remains under the musical shadow of the Fender Jazz fretless or the Carvin 5 string fretless bass.

But if your a fan of such talent as bass soloist Ralf Gauck, a virtual symphony on the Hofner 5000/1 who has done so many recordings with artists like Thelma Houston, Frankie Avalon and Robert John. Rock might have cemented the Hofner name in music history in the United States but the Hofner fretless bass tradition goes further back than the Beatle violin bass. Every instrument they have built since their beginnings holds true to the fretless tradition, as fretless is in the very genesis of Hofner.

The Hofner company was founded in Germany in 1887 by Karl Hofner, a trained luthier who had the reputation of a master violin maker. The company became the largest manufacturer of stringed and fretted instruments in Germany. The Hofner reputation for the finest production of stringed instruments was known throughout Germany and beyond. Even after the 1st World War the word outside Germany was spreading fast that Hofner was an excellent craftsman designing richly beautiful instruments with incredible timbre. Hofner gained the notoriety partly due to the talent of the craft and partly because Karl Hofner possessed the business and marketing skills that would enable him to lay the cornerstone for the company's illustrious reputation for fine fretless and fretted instruments. Hofner was building more than just instruments, he was building a legend.

By 1921 Hofner's place in the worldwide export market was strengthening with the addition of Karl's two sons Josef and Walter to the company's staff. This formidable marketing team soon increased the companies reach satisfying demand worldwide. Hofner began its modern tradition after the setback of World War 2. The factory then moved to it's new home in Bubenruth where the luthier stayed for almost a half century, turning out the next generation of guitars and basses. CT Series basses, Spruce Top Club Basses and Verythin and Archtop Guitars. After a series of company takeovers the original Hofner Company resides once again under the leadership of old Hofner management in the German city of Hagenau.

Hofners team of master luthiers travel around the globe looking for only the finest tone woods and hand select ervy piece to ensure the correct growing conditions are present. The wood selected must meet a very strict set of criteria crucial to the musical instruments design. All wood used in Hofner manufacturing is air dried for at least 3 years and the wood for their Master Series instruments can be in protective storage for over 20 years. This wood seasoning procedure, says Hofner "offers the player many valuable benefits including: improved tone, greater frequency response and less chance of cracks or movement of the wood during the instruments life."

Over the years the Hofner designs and innovations improved fretless basses as with the Groove bass. Groove bass innovations and graduations included Bartolini pickups, active electronics with buffer preamps and exiter treble booster as well as gold plated hardware. The Slap bass includes single Piezo pickups for every string increasing the clarity of note to note exchange.

All Hofner basses are hand made. Each year a select range of Hofner gitars are available in their unique hand applied Violin Finish. These limited edition instruments are numbered and signed by one of Hofner's master luthiers. To date more than two million stringed,fretted and fretless instruments, from student to master models, have been exported globally from the German factory.