Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 10:54 PM
Dave Pomeroy writes about the overlooked Italian "violin" bass in the latest issue of Bass Player:
With the Beatles' worldwide success and the musical explosion that followed, many instrument manufacturers scrambled to make their own versions of Paul McCartney's Hofner 500/1 "violin" bass, forever to be known as the "Beatle Bass." Paul's legendary 1963 Hofner is one of the most influential bass guitars of all time, though it was actually Paul's second Hofner (his original '61 model was stolen). His '63 500/1 has been written about extensively, so I thought I'd pay tribute to the "violin" bass tradition by checking out one of its Italian cousins, the EKO 955/2. Thanks to Nashville session bassist and groovemeister supreme Mike Brignardello, I was able to compare this EKO and his 1965 Hofner Beatle Bass side by side.
» More