HofnerHCT Shorty Bass Guitar - Black

£130 for a completely playable portable bass. Love it. Arrived on time in rock solid packaging with a nice little gig bag and cheap amp lead. Played fine out of the box. Strings were ok, nice clean tone out of the amp, the tone control doesn't do much. Neck needed some oil. It is a 30 inch short scale neck, Which is exactly why I bought it, as I immediately put piccolo strings on it. Sounds great. Lovely rich sound. Only criticism: the tuners are cheap and nasty. The E string tuner is stiff, I put a touch of silicone lube on it but its still notchy to tune up, but to be fair, it does seem to be holding tune now the strings have played in for a couple of hours. I will probably replace the tuners on the next string change. I have the shorty guitar as well, which I am equally impressed with. Neither guitar nor bass are exactly recording studio standard, but there again, neither am I :)., Will keep an eye out for neck warp etc and update if any issues

I bought this simply for being compact and light to manage. The sound was great, considering the price. It had also been set up well out of the box.My main slight irritation is that if you are sitting down, the bottom curve of a standard bass would normally be possible to rest on your thigh in a way that allows your arms to be comfortably poaiioned for playing - the bottom curve of this bass sits on my right thigh in a bit of an awkward way, such that it feels like the bass is offset too far to my right so wher my right arm fingers meet the strings also feel too far to the right. Of course this is only an issue when sitting and playing.Additionally the pick up positioning means there is no good place to rest your right hand thumb when playing with fingers.Im wondering whether I should have gone with Ibanez mikro bass instead. However, I seem to have adapted to the pecularities of this bass and so not too bothered now. Plus was cheap, so wasnt really expecting much. At least the sound is great!

This instrument plays really well however its not comfortable to play as the neck nosedives to the ground even with a good shoulder strap! The guitar is not balanced

This is a really great little bass for the money, particularly if you are looking for something to practice on from the comfort of your sofa or where space is limited. If you are used to full size basses it's a bit of an adjustment moving from full body to small body, as you are not sure where to rest your forearm, and the shorter neck throws you out at first if you are used to playing without looking for the dots :) Once you find your playing position, however, it's surprisingly nice to play. The bass arrived very quickly and was well packed. It came already set up with a nice low action and there was no buzzing anywhere along the neck. It was easy to tweak the intonation (which actually wasn't far off anyway). It has a comfy neck and it's nicely balanced overall. It might be hard to use live compared to a full size bass, as it is so light, but if that was what you wanted it for you would probably find a way. The bass comes with a nice little gig bag, lead and allen keys. An awesome starter package, or a great second instrument for practicing with.

I love the shape and the feel of this bass. sound quality is ok for the price. Tuning buttons feel wrong and don't fit the bass look at all. They feel cheap and I will replace them. Strap locks needed as it is very headstock/neck heavy. Having said this I am very happy with it but do feel that the case [or an option at least] should be included due to it's size and shape. Would I buy it again? Yes as a starter bass player every time.

Ok. I have a number of very expensive bass guitars, but wanted a little handy one to keep by my desk at work for a bit of on the fly practise. Acoustically, it sounds just fine. I did spend about an hour setting up the action and intonation when I received it, as I found that octaves were VERY out of tune. Once I'd plugged it in to an amp, I was astounded at the tone this little beauty possesses! It's a lovely bright woody sound, and I'm really happy with it.Only downside is that if you're used to full scale basses, such as my Music man or P bass, it can feel a little awkward, as there's nowhere comfortable to rest your forearm when playing. Still, for the price, and if you have an hour to set it up properly with a decent tuner and Allen key, get in there!! It does sound great!

Excellent little bass.Extremely light with a clear sound and a nice, fast neck.It definitely is a budget bass and typically this means that a change of strings and a good set-up are pretty much a necessityHowever out-of-the-box - this one is quite good!My only complaint I'd have would be there's no weight in the body, so it will typically lean on the neck side if you let it relax.This isn't really a problem in itself, but the strap keeps falling of the left-hand post because of it's awkward placement.Get a set of strap locks and you're set though!

I am impressed with the Hofner Shorty Bass. I wanted to get a beginners, occasional use, bass. Primarily to make use of the bass feature of the Rocksmith computer game.I also considered the Epiphone EB-0 and questioned whether a single pickup in the bridge or neck position is best. Ultimately though it was the Shorty's diminutive size and price that won me over. It's even smaller than my Telecaster and Les Paul Jr.The Epiphone EB-0 might be seen as a cut down EB-3, but there is no comparison to be made with the Shorty Bass - it is quite unique. With the exception of its 6 string sibling of course.The single pickup on the bridge sounds good and the build quality is good and solid. The bass comes with a good quality padded bag. In all I agree that this instrument could be used for gigging. Although note that you need to buy a strap, as none is supplied.