Paul McCartney first saw the German-made Hofner bass, nicknamed the "violin bass" for its body shape, in the Steinway shop in Hamburg during the Beatles' pre-fame days in 1961. It is likely that he asked the shop to order a left-handed version from Hofner.
"I couldn't afford a Fender," McCartney recalled later.
"Fenders even then seemed to be around £100. All I could afford really was about £30. Always teetering on the edge of not having much - so I didn't really want to spend that much. So… 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. So I got into that. That became my main bass."
The Hofner 500/1 bass became McCartney's signature instrument. Soon it was unofficially known as the Hofner Beatle Bass. McCartney usually played his Hofner with the Treble Switch off and the Bass switch on, according to the book "Beatles gear" by Andy Babiuk. He usually selected the Rhythm/Solo switch to Rhythm.
In 1963, McCartney acquired a second Hofner 500/1 bass. It is in many ways similar to his first, in fact the most noticeable visual difference is the placements of the the pickups and the style of the Hofner logo. In 1964, McCartney was also presented with a custom made violin base by Selmer, the British distributor of Hofner. This special version had gold-plated hardware.
McCartney used the violin bass for many performances and recordings with the Beatles and still uses it today.
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