Höfner Guitars introduce the limited edition Höfner Eco Violin, featuring composite material fretboards.
Related Feature:
The Best Bass Guitar Brands
This limited run bass comes with two different looks, both being the result of the company’s current drive to research working renewable alternatives to rosewood and ebony.
Some months back, the company announced that they were testing new materials for guitar fingerboards. This research was in response to the diminishing supply of Rosewood and Ebony wood that continue to dwindle. Many countries have restricted the harvest of these popular tonewoods in their effort to preserve the trees for future use.
Obviously, Höfner is not about to stop using traditional tonewoods for their fretboards all together, rather they are looking to provide environmentally friendly alternatives. Their research resulted in the development of a prototype that they called “Necuron-840” fingerboard. Although not specifically mentioned, it does appear that this composite material made it to their limited edition violin bass production.
Aside from the composite material fretboard, the company used non-endangered wood for the other parts of the bass in keeping with the “eco” theme. The top of the body is made of spruce, while flame maple were used for the back and sides. The neck is built using a combination of flame maple and beech wood.
The Eco Violin Bass comes in two different finishes, black, and ivory. The black model comes with a dark ebony-like composite fretboard, while the ivory model takes the composite design further by applying a blue finish on the fretboard. This gives the ivory model a distinct look that highlights the composite fretboard.
It follows the traditional specs of the other German-built Violin Basses, having a scale length of 30″, Nut width of 42mm and carrying a total of 22 frets. Build quality is basically the same, with the only difference being the use of sustainable and renewable materials. It also comes equipped with Höfner Staple Pickups.
Although they are called Limited Edition models, the two new Eco Violin Basses are available for the same price as the standard German-built Violin Bass, at €2430,00. Both the Black and Ivory Eco Violin Basses are now available, you can head over to Höfner Guitars.
Related Article:
Check out our roundup of light-weight Portable Bass Amps!