Carlo Robelli Hofner Style Beatle Bass Reviews 4

Carlo Robelli 4 string. Model # unknown but it is a copy of Hofner 500/1 violin shaped Beatle bass like McCartney uses. Discontinued model distributed by Sam Ash Music, Inc. and imported by them as one of their house brands. Like many of the Carlo Robelli instruments it has great playability as well as excellent fit and finish.

Bought off Craig's List used for $250, these originally sold new for around that.

I had been looking for a Hofner beatle bass for a while and was considereing buying a Hofner Contemporary at around $750 and had also looked at the Hofner Icon's for $369. The other copies by Jay Turser, Rogue, Epiphone and Brownsville all felt heavier than the Hofners and somehow missed the mark with some other features as well, especially with the heavier diecast tuners which throws off the feel of the neck. The Carlo Robelli played and sounded great and as I really didn't want to lay out the money for the Hofners if I could find something used that fit the bill, it worked out perfect. It feels the closest to the original 500/1 Hofner of all the copies I looked at.

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Short scale 30' copy of Hofner 500/1 bass. Well made hollow body instrument,with a mahogany set neck. It has a spruce top with maple sides and back. Glossy black finish with spruce grain detectable through the lacquer on top. It has cream colored binding all the way around. 2 humbucking pickups with black covers and mountings. Mother of pearl perloid pickguard and control plate. Hofner style controls and markings with black metal tailpiece, nicely made rosewood floating bridge and open gear tuners similar to originals with white mother of pearl buttons and round wound strings. Unbound dot neck with a nicely figured rosewood fingerboard.

Overall it has a very classy look with the black paint, black chrome hardware and cream binding, sort of like a LP Custom version of a Hofner. McCartney tone is right on the money for such an inexpensive bass also. With over 50 guitars and basses in my collection this filled the slot for the time being. I will use it on the older Beatle numbers we play as part of our show.

Tommy Romeo - Bassist for Southern Point rated this unit 4 on 2009-12-28.

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