Best strings for a Hofner bass.

[WRGKMC]

I've finally nailed down the best strings for my Hofner Bass. Took me about 6 different sets in the past year to zero in on what's best for it.

 

Hofner's have a short scale neck but they require a 34" string. Many 32" short sale strings are too short and have thin cores which make them too flexible. Many 34" will fit but the cores are too thick which makes the strings too stiff. (found that out with the last set of half rounds I purchased) The bass sounds best with the strings built specifically for that bass. They have a looser tension and more flexibility then normal 34's and more tension then 32's which wound up being too flabby and buzz allot, especially the low E which winds up sounding dead.

 

The Gauge is key too. I tried heavier gauges and the bass sounded good but was very fatiguing to play very long. I could barely get through a couple of songs and it felt like may hand had been through a meat grinder.

 

I finally tried the Labella 760FHB2 39-56-77-96 Hofner strings are the ideal gauge that provide the best playability vs tone. I tried their Hofner 45~100 or 50~105 awhile back and they were real close, sounded great but a bit clunky for any kind of speed. The 39~96 are ideal. they may not last as long but that doesn't matter much to me.

 

I haven't tried the other two which were Pyramid or Thomastik Infield. I cant see spending $75 ~ $85 for a set of bass strings, especially with the amount of playing I do. $35 is steep enough for my wallet. .

 

The funny thing, after all the trials and errors I was lead to using that brand and that gauge as being the ideal match through necessity in getting the best feel and tone and I just happened to google up what McCartney prefers and it happened to be that exact brand and gauge.. Go figure.

[WRGKMC]

I did about a dozen recordings with those strings this weekend and I can definitely say wow. The best part is the consistent loudness between strings and the notes going up the neck. I didn't have to deal with tweaking the bass to even up the string volumes. I simply put some light compression on there and played.

 

I could also tell the string tension wasn't over working the tuners. The thicker strings felt like they were causing abnormal wear on those small tuning gears. With this lighter set the tuners don't bind, they tune up and down smoothly. .

 

The playability was the best part. I could do all my normal riffs effortlessly and I could play with my right hand fingers at high speed without stumbling over strings too flabby or too stiff. They all had the same tension so switching strings required no major readjustment to my playing, it was simply move over and continue to attack the strings with the same snap.

 

I may have to try these on my other short scale Gretch bass and see what happens. I normally use round wound on that one but if there's that much difference I can live without that extra brightness. I've used thin bass strings before and mainly didn't use them because they lacked bottom end but these had all that plus the kind of mids you expect from a Hofner.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I finally tried the Labella 760FHB2 39-56-77-96 Hofner strings are the ideal gauge that provide the best playability vs tone. I tried their Hofner 45~100 or 50~105 awhile back and they were real close, sounded great but a bit clunky for any kind of speed. The 39~96 are ideal. they may not last as long but that doesn't matter much to me.

 

 

I'd have to dig out the information, but I think I have 40/60/80/100 gauge strings on my Rogue VB-100. They're flats - I'm pretty sure they're Rotosounds, but again, I'd have to check to be positive...

[WRGKMC]

I've used thicker Labella flats and the tones were good with those too but these are just too good to be true. I'm mainly a guitarist but have played bass professionally for many years. You have to play bass allot to keep in shape and I mostly use it for recording now so I may play it allot one day then put it up for a week.

 

My mind knows what to play and I can play it but with heavy strings I fatigue quickly. These strings give me those big tones without the heavy lifting. I can jump half way up the neck to do some tasty accents and not have to worry about man handling the stings with a gorilla grip to keep them held down.

 

The evenness of tension between the strings and the fact that the loudness of the notes along the entire fret board is wonderful. I was trying out a set of half wounds prior to these and the top strings were really stiff compared to the lower strings. I could get by with it because of my skill level but I really had to work hard to play anything amazing. These are like butter. I can even wiggle the strings pulling end to end like an upright bass to get vibratos happening.

 

All this leads me to the conclusion these Hofner basses were really made for thin strings. The hollow chamber resonate well with them. Mine's a club bass by the way so the chamber is larger and has no F holes. Very similar tone and I don't doubt the Violin basses would sound just as good.

 

Next I just have to find some real Hofner Pickups and get rid of the cheap Chinese Knockoffs. Its an Ignition bass which is their budget line. I did get a great deal on it though. Bought it from the wholesaler in China for $200 which isn't bad. They normally sell for $350. I already got a regular Hofner bridge on it, The original was a bit cheesy. I replaced the fret wires on the bridge for a little more string clearance and it fits the body fine. I think with the better pickups will get better tone and I'll eventually replace the cheap frets they have in these. I had to work it quite a bit to get rid of some High spots that were giving me some annoying buzz. These strings fixed a good deal of that too.