Hofner Senator bass

Written by archtop girl on Wednesday, 21 October 2009

Say Hofner bass, and most people think of the violin-shaped Beatle basses. This one's a Senator, however; the design on the headstock puts it at post-1964, I believe. I progressed to this from a fairly horrible Eko acoustic bass - with bent neck, much glueing and an awkward action - and bought it on eBay nearly two years ago. It fits in with my archtop collection, but it was more than an aesthetic choice: I like the lightweight hollow body (my crookedly-healed collar bones, broken by falling off horses as a kid, ache after too long with a heavy solid-body) and it's got a great vintage sound.

It's been gathering dust somewhat since I got the double bass last Christmas, but the Senator and I are getting reacquainted again on a kind of folk-garage-punk project with an old mate. Not only is it easier (given my incompetence) to play quickly, and more appropriate to stick through a bit of reverb, it's also a lot less hassle to cart around. For which I am duly thankful.