Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Anyone know about Vintage Hofner Guitars.?


bubinga5
 Share

Recommended Posts

Happy Jack is yer man for this

All I know is the President was the top line model for both guitar and bass, and they don't seem to be worth as much as you think they should be (compared to Gibsons, Guilds etc)

Lovely looker :i-m_so_happy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The President wasn’t the top-line of their big bodied arched tops, that was the Committee or ultimately the far rarer Golden Hofner.

I still have a couple of Hofner six strings and I also owned a President acoustic very similar to this one for many years (blond, same trapeze tailpiece etc).

The presence of a trussrod tells you it’s 1960 onwards. The serial number suggests it’s 1963.

Beautiful guitars once you get the intonation nailed. Mine was in similar condition and sold a couple of years back for around £450 iirc, although mine didn’t have the original Selmer case so yours should go for a little more.

Link to a Hofner dating site here (not in a First Dates stylie you understand) 😁

http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/ramsay/date.htm

 

 

Edited by Deedee
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Deedee said:

Link to a Hofner dating site here (not in a First Dates stylie you understand) 😁

http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/ramsay/date.htm

Thanks for posting that - I have my grandad's Hofner Senator and didn't know how old it was. It's no 2809 so that makes it 1956, nice to know.

He gave it to me when his arthritis got too bad for him to play, but he used to sing to me and my sister when we were little and it's one of my most cherished possessions.

 

IMG_20190607_101117074_HDR.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That Senator looks in beautiful condition.

With regards to dating Hofners generally, using the number alone is not an exact science. Often you need to look at several things along with the number to establish the date e.g. pickup type, headstock inlay, trussrod or not, type of tailpiece etc. 

'The Hofner Guitar - A History' is a great book by Gordon Giltrap & Neville Marten and a must for lovers of the brand. It covers trying to date the instruments along with info on each model and interviews with famous users. I have a copy from when it was first published in 1993 but as per the link below it has since been updated and republished.

https://www.giltrap.co.uk/cds/f/Related_Books_/1013

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Deedee said:

That Senator looks in beautiful condition.

With regards to dating Hofners generally, using the number alone is not an exact science. Often you need to look at several things along with the number to establish the date e.g. pickup type, headstock inlay, trussrod or not, type of tailpiece etc. 

'The Hofner Guitar - A History' is a great book by Gordon Giltrap & Neville Marten and a must for lovers of the brand. It covers trying to date the instruments along with info on each model and interviews with famous users. I have a copy from when it was first published in 1993 but as per the link below it has since been updated and republished.

https://www.giltrap.co.uk/cds/f/Related_Books_/1013

 

 

I have a copy of this which I will happily send to anyone willing to put a fiver in the next Macmillan collecting tin they see...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Deedee said:

'The Hofner Guitar - A History' is a great book by Gordon Giltrap & Neville Marten and a must for lovers of the brand. It covers trying to date the instruments along with info on each model and interviews with famous users. I have a copy from when it was first published in 1993 but as per the link below it has since been updated and republished.

https://www.giltrap.co.uk/cds/f/Related_Books_/1013

 

 

That's not a bad reference, but I much prefer Michael Naglav's book Hofner Guitars Made In Germany. The text is in German, but much of it carries an English translation on the same page.

There's a matching volume that has a wider field, Schnepel & Lemme's Elektro-Gitarren Made In Germany. Again, the text is in German, but the book comes with an accompanying booklet with the complete English translation.

In each case, what makes these books so useful is the [cliche alert] German thoroughness with which they have been researched [/cliche alert] and the very detailed photographs.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We really need to see a side pic of the heel to see if the 'Hofner heel split' has hit this one - due to the cantilever design of the bottom of the neck & the fact that the stress ran along the grain of the heel.  The majority of old Hofners I have seen have had this repair.  Repaired properly it affects nothing.

G.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...