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Description: | Despite its name, the H��fner 500/1 Violin Bass body is actually the shape of a double bass or viol. Designed in 1955 by Walter H��fner, the 500/1 earned icon status and the nickname "Beatle bass" when one was purchased in Hamburg, in 1961, by the 19 year old Paul McCartney. Because of the symmetry of the violin bass, it could easily be played by left or right handed musicians: McCartney played a left handed version. Its hollow body made it lighter than other bass guitars and gave it a warm, deep tone, similar to that of the double bass. The Selmer Company, based in Charing Cross Road, London, began importing H��fner guitars from 1958. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ | Publisher: | Horniman Museum and Gardens | Rights holder: | Horniman Museum, London | Subjects: | Identity and Icons Youth Culture and Fashion | Temporal: | 1962 | Source: | Horniman Museum | Identifier: | http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/rser... | Go to resource |
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