From: norbertkosky69@gmail.com   
      
   In early 1961 a young, unknown musician named Paul McCartney bought a   
   left-handed Hofner bass, called simply a 500/1, from a Steinway shop in   
   Hamburg, Germany.  It was hardly the most sought-after bass in the world, but   
   it was affordable and had one    
   unique quality.   
      
        "I couldn't afford a Fender," Paul has said in Andy Babiuk's book Beatles   
   Gear.  "I found this Hofner violin bass, and it seemed to me like, because I   
   was left-handed, it looked less daft because it was symmetrical.  So I got   
   into that.  That became    
   my first bass."   
      
        Pete Best, who was with Paul at the time, further explained that "He   
   didn't just buy it off the peg.  He got it custom-made."   
      
        These days, a 500/1 just like Paul's is among the rarest of collectibles   
   you could hope to find.  Very few of them were made, because during that   
   period, Hofner's specs were changing at such a rapid pace that after a few   
   short months, this version    
   no longer existed.  Beatles lovers have nicknamed it the "Cavern" because, of   
   course, the Cavern was the Liverpool club where the Beatles cut their teeth.    
   Much easier to find are other versions of the 500/1 similar to Paul's but not   
   the same -- as of    
   1963 riding the wave of Beatlemania, Hofner's UK importer Selmer started   
   selling 500/1s that it called the "Violin Bass" (and fans call the "Beatle   
   Bass") -- but if you're going for the holy grail, below are the necessary   
   specs.  Caveat Emptor!  Fakes    
   abound.   
      
   [Snip of necessary specs.]   
      
   -- from Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)