Cat Burrito Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I stumbled across this on another forum & wanted to share it. I've been staggered by just how good the Chinese Hofners are & this goes some way towards explaining the Hofner ethos. [font="Arial Black"]It is worth bearing in mind that the Chinese production plant is wholly owned by Hofner, a most unusual situation, that few other manufacturers have bothered to achieve. They have done a huge amount of work developing the plant and training the staff, often in Germany, to ensure that China has become an extension of Hagenau. Many other manufacturers just put the work out in China to whoever offers the lowest tender, something that Hofner has completely avoided. The Chinese plant is one of only a handful to have received both a grade A production certificate and a grade A export certificate from the government. The fact that Hofner is building bodies and necks in China and then taking the components to Hagenau demonstrates their faith in their own manufacturing processes while allowing them to offer you a first class instrument at a reasonable price. True there are still a lot of cheap poor quality instruments coming out of China, generally aimed as beginners guitars and sold in packs around Christmas time, but these have nothing to do with Hofner and what they have achieved over there.Hofner has definitely entered a new era in manufacturing and brought the company alive with a good range of interesting guitars at prices to suit everyone. We need to get used to this and worry less about exactly where parts were made and concentrate more on the models they make, encouraging them to explore further with both retro and new models. They have the capability to do this now but will be hampered if we all keep on about where the body was made or who screwed the pickups on etc. Personally I applaud them for taking the difficult route and setting up a wholly owned and tightly controlled Plant of their own when they could have taken the easy option and just subbed the work out to any old factory. This really is a new era for Hofner and I think it is going to be at least as exciting as it was back the early 1960s.[/font] Well, I'm loving mine! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I was looking at getting one of these a while ago as a light weight solution for longer gigs but couldn't find a decent youtube video of them that wasn't demoed using a plectrum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I've been staying out of this so far, but all I'd say is ... try a real, German-made Hofner. I have no doubt the Chinese ones and Epiphones have their good points, but they aren't the real thing, and as soon as you try the real thing you'll understand what I'm driving at. As to the pick thing, the string spacing is tight on Hofners, far more suitable for pick playing than for fingerstyle. Obviously you CAN play them fingerstyle (like wot I do) but it requires a very different feel to playing a Precision or a Jazz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clauster Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I've just had a quick look at the Hofner website and googled some prices. Are these chinese made models the CT series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 [quote name='clauster' post='1169858' date='Mar 20 2011, 07:34 PM']I've just had a quick look at the Hofner website and googled some prices. Are these chinese made models the CT series?[/quote] Yes they are. I'm mainly sporting the Verithin as opposed to the Beatle bass. Re Johnson's post, I don't doubt it [b]but[/b] my Beatle Bass was the same price as the Epiphone and is well made. I expect it was just an unlucky example. All my experiences have been very positive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 Mine is the B series Hofner so around the £230 mark. The Verithin is Contemporary Series so around £550. Both great and I've yet to see a duff one. My mate has started stocking them in his shop & the QC has been high. Were these recent examples you tried? Perhaps I've just been lucky then The ones you've seen would have been Chinese Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 I'm very happy with mine. Being tall it looks better than a traditional Hofner hanging off me. It doesn't feel short scale either. Mine is well set up & strung with flats. No sharp frets or dead spots. It's light, well balanced & a lot of tone from the German pickups. Something a bit different too & it doesn't feel in any way budget Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downtown Freddy Brown Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 I ordered a resophonic guitar off Amazon. The pic of the guitar showed no headstock name. The company that offered it said I could have any name on it I wanted. I opted to just take it as it came. To my surprise when I received it the headstock said Hofner! The part number was HCT-RG-SB. I looked it up on Hofner's web site and there is no reference to it at all. I assumed it was a knock off for $420 Cdn it is one hell of a nice looking and playing instrument. I couldn't be happier. During my search I came upon this web site telling me it may indeed be a "Chinese Hofner". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Whoah! Serious Lazarus thread ... Downtown Freddy, the HCT part of the part number stands for Hofner Contemporary Series, which means built in China under licence (you probably say "license") from Hofner. I assume that the licensing system means that Hofner retain at least some input to the design & manufacturing, possibly even an element of supervision. Doesn't really matter these days, Chinese instruments are so well made generally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil.c60 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 You wouldn't have thought a thread like this would come back to life until Easter.......... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Shue Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I have recently purchased a Hofner HI-CB Club bass that is “Made in China”, from Andertons, UK. For the price, compared to the “Made in Germany” model, I must say that the quality of the workmanship and finish is most impressive. Haven’t compared a German made model with my China made model, but I am very happy with the action of the “out of the box factory set up” and the sound and playability of the bass. One disadvantage of the bass is the location of the strap button located at the back of the neck bass (rather than on the side like most long scale basses), which makes the bass body tilt away from the player, that makes it more challenging locating the fretboard positions for a less experienced player like me. However, this is probably because it is a short scale bass and the size and shape of the bass, and has nothing to do with the “Made in China” aspect. I have no hesitation recommending the “Made in China” version of this bass. Congratulations to Hofner for managing the quality control of its guitars that are made in China, and it’s also a reflection of the standard of workmanship that is coming out of China these days - similar to the “Made in Japan” experience of the past decades, such as with Fender guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) If the information in the OP is correct about Hofner owning the plant and everything being manufactured to the standard and tolerances they set then there's no moral or physical reason why they should be any difference. A chinese millimetre is the same as a german one, and a CNC machine in china works identically to the same machine situated in Germany. There is some tat coming out of china, and as aforementioned a lot is deliberately aimed at budget prices and markets. However, there is no reason whatsoever why a quality item made in china should be inferior to a quality item from germany. Are people's memories that short? I recall in the 70s folk would scoff at Japanese cars, and before you knew it they'd taken over the world with a quality product at a keen price. Well, its happening before our eyes again and still people don't get it. Their heavy machinery and recent civil engineering structures are already some of the best in the world bar none. In terms of military naval technology and its application they've very quickly overtaken every nation in the world other than the US and UK (and it could be argued they've already surpassed the UK). Hell, they had a decent civilisation, buildings and technology while we were still living in caves and wearing animal skins. There's no reason why they shouldn't make a decent guitar if so mone paid them to do so. Edited January 26, 2020 by Bassfinger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 3 hours ago, Michael Shue said: IOne disadvantage of the bass is the location of the strap button located at the back of the neck bass (rather than on the side like most long scale basses), which makes the bass body tilt away from the player, that makes it more challenging locating the fretboard positions for a less experienced player like me. However, this is probably because it is a short scale bass and the size and shape of the bass, and has nothing to do with the “Made in China” aspect. I moved mine to the upper bout in a 'normal' position - there is plenty of wood for the screw to bite into. I carried out some exhaustive tests first, of course, to make sure. I knocked it to see if it sounded hollow and screwed it to a bit that didn't 🤨 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trueno Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 My Hofner Ignition Club bass was excellent value for money. I sold it recently because it didn't suit me and I never played it. Regarding the strap, a Fender leather vintage style strap worked a treat and looked great. The strap ends are so thin that button placement doesn't really affect it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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