I bought this EKO viola bass years ago second-hand. It is one built by the london firm Brandoni from spare Eko parts. It was on offer from someone who also offered to sell me a Rickenbacker electric 12, but changed their mind. A pity, but I can't blame him.

As a bass, it's actually considerably better than the Höfner that it is copied from, as the bridge is fully-adjustable. It's also got a bigger body than a Höfner. I've recently discovered the correct name is VIOLA bass, rather than Violin, due to the body being bigger than a normal violin body - presumably the same size as a viola. Whether this is true, or whether the Höfner Violin bass is the same size as a violin, I don't know.

It gets used mainly for playing in a jazz group, as it has a more double-bass-like sound. It has the same "thuddy" sound as the old semi-acoustic gibson basses, and is a lot more darker than the Jazz copy bass. It still has the same bass strings on it as when I bought it in 1992...

The original Ekos looked somewhat different. Actually, Eko did all sorts of weird and wonderful guitars based on the viola body - such as an electric 12. I've recently had to pull it apart and resolder some connections due to it misbehaving at Topaz whilst recording there, and I've found that the pickups are quite basic, with a bar magnet glued across the bottom of each individual pickup coil.

If you look at the link for the Eko above, you'll find that none other than Les Claypool of Primus enjoys playing one of these basses. This apparently excites my bass-playing Primus-fanboy friend Martin.