Hofner Icon Series Vintage Violin Bass Sunburst 

The bass has two knobs--one for each pickup--and three switches. The rhythm/solo switch serves as a tone adjustment/boost, while the other two switches turn on and off the bass and treble pickups. In my bass guitar, the "treble on" switch actually turns on the bass pickup, and vice versa. It's confusing to someone playing who doesn't know this, but once I realized what controls do what functions on the bass, the label for those controls was somewhat irrelevant.

The hollow body makes the bass incredibly light, and the thin short-scale neck plays both fast and smooth.

I got the black model bass, and it is beautiful. The finish is flawless, and all the details are perfect. I had to tighten the input jack to keep in from falling in when I first got it. The black finish looks very fancy, and distinguishes itself from being a Beatles copy.

For the price, this bass is an amazing deal. I never want to stop playing it, and would choose it over many far more expensive basses any day.

I can't recommend this bass enough. It truly shines with some flatwound strings (I put Rotosounds on mine). The tone of the violin bass is all its own, yet can still be highly variated with the controls. I am a guitar player at heart, and the short scale neck allows me to play bass riffs with the same speed and fluidity that I would on my favorite Les Paul.

I'm switching to bass because my left hand has developed problems that won't let me form cords on my regular guitars, and I love playing guitar.  This is light weight and easy to play.  I'm enjoying it.

I'm not a pro on bass (but have played guitar professionally for years), but I like this one.  Nice tone, especially after changed strings to flatwound.

I have no idea.  I'm on a fixed income but I thought this bass was very affordable.  I'm a little disappointed that the recommended strings that didn't fit it.  It takes "short scale" strings, so the strings recommended did not fit.  I had to order the correct strings separately.

I've already stated my disappointment in the incorrect strings, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy with this bass.  I'm having a lot of  fun with it and I think that's what really counts.

No tone knobs and weird switching arrangement, but if they made it different it wouldn't be like the original German model.

Everything on this bass is very well put together, but the fret ends were a bit sharp, so I used masking tape on the neck and took 0000 steel wool to the frets.  Solved the problem with all of 10 minutes worth of work.  It would be nice if they came from the factory in perfect condition, but for this price what can you expect?

It's a great playing, great sounding, lightweight hollowbody bass for $430.  You can't get a better deal than that.

Okay, I've owned this Hofner for six months now (Made in Indonesia), and I've put it through rehearsals and gigs.  It's by far the cheapest bass I own, and yet has become my absolute favorite.  The neck is marvelous: narrow and round, and combined with the short scale makes it a dream to play on.  If you're used to a P-Bass or Stingray neck, this neck is going to seem awfully small, but give it 20 minutes and you'll have a hard time going back to your baseball bat neck.  I actually much prefer the Hofner neck to my J-Bass' neck.  The lightweight hollowbody is great on the shoulder, especially for those 4-set gigs.  The finish on the new Indonesian models (they used to be made in China) is browner; more traditional and more like a German model.  The tone out of the pickups is just fantastic, whether you're playing with roundwounds or flats (I've opted for the latter, but I put the bass through it's paces for a month with good roundwounds on it just to check it out).  The tone is deep, very well defined, and works great for everything except slap-and-pop.

Now for the heresy part: I've had the opportunity to compare this Icon side-by-side with it's much more expensive German cousins (two '63 reissues, one '62 reissue, and one '68 original).  I actually prefer the Icon.  The neck on the German-made '63 reissues was slightly chunkier, the neck on the '62 reissue was substantially chunkier, and the '68 was pretty close to the Icon.  I've got pretty large hands, and I normally go for chunky necks, but the Icon has the best neck of any bass I've ever owned, and I've owned all the major players at some point or another.  Moreover, I actually like the Icon's sound much better - it's more defined and has more top end and clarity than any of the German ones.  I'm not sure if the laminated wood of the Icon makes the top vibrate less than the solid wood of the German Hofners, but the Icon is also a lot less prone to feedback.  Now, if you're a pro bassist wanting to add a Hofner to your arsenal and your livelihood depends on other's perceptions of you, you should probably get the German model, because snobbery plays a big role in musicians' perceptions (I'm just as guilty of that as the next musician).  But, short of that, I strongly encourage anyone who is looking at getting a Hofner to try this baby out.  It blew me away.  My Jazz, Precision, Gretsch and MusicMan are sitting in their cases, while I take my Hofner to all my rehearsals and gigs now.  Fortunately, even though my bandmates aren't immune to the snobbery factor, either, they all much prefer the sound of the Icon.  This is an exceptional deal.  Just watch out for those fret ends.

Well, I'm not a very experienced musician when it comes to differentiating features and quality, but I found that this bass guitar was not lacking a lot. It features a knob for bass intensity and a knob for treble intensity. It also has a solo/rhythm, bass, and treble switch. The solo/rhythm switch does absolutely nothing. It's a waste of space. The bass is gorgeous!

I think it's made of good quality stuff. It doesn't really sound like the signature Hofner sound, but I happen like its sound. I recommend playing it without a pick for a softer sound (that obviously works great with flatwound strings).

The price is great and the sound is about decent. It's a great value, but if you buy it at Sam Ash, they'll package it with a hardshell case for $429.99!

Get it if you're new to music and you want to sound like you sound like Paul McCartney. It looks pretty, so why not?

I have a recording studio and a lot of instruments. The Icon bass may not suit every style of music, but I love the sound it makes, and none of my other basses sound like it. It's a nice, full, acoustic-like sound.

When it arrived, the set up was as nice as I could have wanted; easy to play, and it tuned up perfectly. Maybe it was set up by Musician's Friend, or maybe it cmae from the factory as is, but I played it for hours, and it was inspiring and downright fun to play. I can think of several projects where it will be my bass of choice.

I ordered the black finish and couldn't be happier. I didn't want a Beatle clone, I just wanted a different sounding, fun bass to play. My friend said it looks like it's wearing a tuxedo. It does have an elegant, distinguished look, and the sound is incredible... maybe not just like the $2600 model, but I don't like to compare instruments... they are all different, and that's why I continue to collect them.

The light weight, the short scale, the narrow neck... it is a "different" bass, but then, it can do some things that other basses can't.

The pickup switching is a little tricky, but once you get it, it'll make some wonderful sounds, Beatles to bossa nova and beyond.

For the price, I feel that I got a fantastic bargain.

It's hard to say how an instrument will wear over time. I imagine that, at this price, the components are not the highest grade, but I am pleased with it so far. I intend to use it in my studio, so it will not have to endure much abuse.

The most fun I've gotten from an instrument in this price range... truly remarkable.

Many of the reviews that I read when considering this purchase, were obviously written by people who had particular expectations, and were perhaps not open to judging the instrument on its own merits, choosing instead to compare it with the tone, quality, looks, and basically, replication of the original Paul McCartney bass. Well, I never got to try Paul's bass, but I hear that he had some intonation problems with it. I've got a good one.

I own some very expensive instruments, and yes, there is a difference; but I am sure that I will enjoy playing this one as much as any of the others which I have chosen to keep in my collection. This Icon bass is a very welcome addition... and I am elated that it comes at such an affordable price.

I think if this was my first bass, I may have never tried another; it's that hard to put down... and it would certainly have saved me money over the years.

There are sounds it will not get, so you should consider your music style, if this is to be your only bass... you may prefer this as a second instrument.

If you, like myself, enjoy uniqueness and variety in instruments, this is a huge bang-for-buck deal.