Höfner files for insolvency

[ajkula66]

1 hour ago, scrumpymike said:

Funny that, I always think of her as playing a Gibson Les Paul Triumph but that's probably because I gigged a pair of '70s Triumphs for years  in the late '80s-early '90s. Mind you it was like having a tree-trunk hanging round your neck. Which is why that mere slip of a lass Tina changed to something lighter. The Hofners would certainly fit the bill weight-wise.

 

I own a '72 Triumph...😀

 

Along with a '70 Les Paul Bass which is even heavier. 5.5 Kg vs. Triumph's 4.75. Yet Suzie Quatro played one of those back in the day.

 

 

[kodiakblair]

47 minutes ago, ajkula66 said:

Yet Suzie Quatro played one of those back in the day.

Females don't suffer from male weakness.

 

She's had two kids. Don't know about you but I was 9lb 3oz at birth; that's "too heavy" for most fellas on here 😀

[LeftyJ]

Höfner posted an update on their socials today to clarify one or two things:

 

Dear musicians, Höfner fans & friends,
some of you may have already heard: our company has been going through a difficult period - especially since the introduction of the US tariffs - and filed for insolvency on Thursday, 11 December 2025.

 

We would like to clarify a few things: We are not discontinuing production, distribution or our media channels. In Germany, there is a three-month period before the actual insolvency procedure is opened. This period offers the opportunity to consolidate the company and restructure it for a better future.

 

Within this period, we will continue to build and sell our instruments and the Höfner team is doing its best to provide you with the support, service and warranties you expect.

We would like to express our appreciation to all of you who continue to support us even in these difficult times!

 

Thank You!
The team at Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG

[NancyJohnson]

I am finding it a bit bonkers that people are spending Paul McCartney's kids inheritance to save this (failing) business.

 

As far as I know, he bought his Hofner basses in the '60s and despite the free publicity they've had for the last 60 years, I don't believe he's been offered, or they've made, a signature model.  Now we've got people suggesting he bail the business out.  Why on earth would, or should, McCartney do this?  This would like Chris Squire bailing out Rickenbacker or @cetera rescuing Spector.

 

 

[prowla]

4 hours ago, ajkula66 said:

I'm well-aware of most of these basses being used by her, but whenever I think of TW I picture her with a Hofner for some reason, possibly because that's what she was playing when I saw them in '82 (I think ?) as well...

 

2 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Funny that, I always think of her as playing a Gibson Les Paul Triumph but that's probably because I gigged a pair of '70s Triumphs for years  in the late '80s-early '90s. Mind you it was like having a tree-trunk hanging round your neck. Which is why that mere slip of a lass Tina changed to something lighter. The Hofners would certainly fit the bill weight-wise.

 

...whereas I think of her as playing a Mustang.

[prowla]

13 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I am finding it a bit bonkers that people are spending Paul McCartney's kids inheritance to save this (failing) business.

 

As far as I know, he bought his Hofner basses in the '60s and despite the free publicity they've had for the last 60 years, I don't believe he's been offered, or they've made, a signature model.  Now we've got people suggesting he bail the business out.  Why on earth would, or should, McCartney do this?  This would like Chris Squire bailing out Rickenbacker or @cetera rescuing Spector.

 

 

 

TBH, I think @cetera is propping up the Spector business!

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, prowla said:

 

 

...whereas I think of her as playing a Mustang.

 

Yes... I associate her with a mustang too.

[Marti T]

Fran from Wave Pictures is famous to the people that turn up to see them 🤩

He has been playing the same old hofner every time i've seen them, which is more than any other band I've seen over the last decade.

He's a fine player and the band are a phenomenal 3 piece.

More people should go to see them

 

[2pods]

That's the model I was loaned years ago.

Is it a Galaxy ?

[Marti T]

32 minutes ago, 2pods said:

That's the model I was loaned years ago.

Is it a Galaxy ?

I think it is a galaxy

[tauzero]

20 hours ago, ajkula66 said:

I own a '72 Triumph...😀

 

Along with a '70 Les Paul Bass which is even heavier. 5.5 Kg vs. Triumph's 4.75. Yet Suzie Quatro played one of those back in the day.

 

Did she? I've seen here with little else than Fenders (mainly J but the odd P).

[ajkula66]

16 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Did she? I've seen here with little else than Fenders (mainly J but the odd P).

 

She was a Gibson gal in many respects. LPB, EB-2, Ripper...planty of evidence online.

 

In all fairness, she always did maintain that her '57 P-Bass was her main recording instrument.

[Mediocre Polymath]

I've been looking through the lists of Hofner players people have shared on here, and there's something that I think is worth saying. I'm not sure if I know how to say it though.

 

TLDR: I think it's entirely possible for lots of popular people to have played a company's instruments over the years without the company itself ever having been popular. 

 

To elaborate, like all human-made things, basses are imbued with a certain aesthetic and cultural value by the context in which they're made, the market they're made for and the times they are made in.

 

The Hofners of the 1960s were the work of a company playing catch-up. Hofner were a maker of traditional musical instruments trying to respond to public demand for modern electric basses and guitars. They knew the old world far better than the new one, and so their designs were a curious compromise between traditional instrument aesthetics and the Cadillac gloss of contemporary Fenders. 
 
To the aspiring rock stars of the time, therefore, Hofner – and other similarly positioned makers like Framus and Harmony – were always a bit lame and old fashioned. My dad, I think, is pretty typical for the era – he started playing around 1970 on a Framus Star Bass that he couldn't stand. He hated the way it looked, the way it sounded, the crappy bridge he could never get to intonate correctly, the sky-high action and the cramped broomstick of a neck. 

 

As soon as he'd saved up enough money, he went out and bought a second-hand Gibson EB-3 (sadly passing over a late 1960s Jazz in the process ...sigh). 
 
Thing is, instruments don't spoil like milk. They stick around, and as they age and the cultural context around them changes, they start to acquire different connotations, to be imbued with diffent values by the people who play them. 

 

An instrument like a Hofner Club Bass would have been far from cool when it was new, but by the late 1970s, when Tina Weymouth picked one up, it's very uncoolth had made it into something quirky and interesting – an outsider's instrument for an oddball band. 

 

I believe the vast majority of Hofner players (Sir Paul excepted) that have been mentioned in this thread didn't start playing those instruments until they were already old and discontinued (or at least the designs were old and unfashionable).

 

Playing a Hofner has often been a kind of contrarian statement, a way to look different and to imply a degree of nonchalance about one's craft – playing an old, cheap instrument as a way to suggest a degree of arty unprofessionalism (putting yourself far distant from Stanley Clarke and his Alembic). 

 

If Hofner tried ramping up production in response to one of these high profile players, the cool factor would vanish. Those instruments were only cool so long as they were uncommon and forgotten. The moment someone starts actively marketing them to the cool kids, they would immediately become uncool again.

 

Hofners were popular, but I don't think Hofner themselves ever really were.

[Stub Mandrel]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Iogrk4uDJko

[tegs07]

I guess because this is a bass forum that the discussion is about bass and electric bass in particular, however for me when I think Hofner I think high quality acoustic instruments, particularly cello’s, violin, viola etc.

[EBS_freak]

I've always had a soft spot for the violin bass. But not had the need enough to ever buy one. It would be an ornament. OK, I'd like that ornament... but you know, it's kinda a lot of money to have just sitting there.

 

Not being 5 string rules it out. And it's not versatile enough for a one bass does it all for covers from various artists. For me, the J bass has always been the go to for that.

 

 Every other Hofner I've seen have been pretty meh, or just downright rubbish. And if you are going to do it, you're going to have to go German as opposed to the cheaper Ignition versions - which just don't look right compared to the flagships. Just been on Hofners site to read more about the Ignition basses... and had to smile when I read this - "Hollow body construction for the modern, deep-resonating Violin Bass sound." - Modern?!

 

So when you look at it, pretty much the only thing going for them is the Macca link. Given Macca's age and popularity of that band - and fading interest (not saying they aren't popular, they just aren't as captivating to new generations), I'd say that if somebody hasn't bought a violin bass by now, they aren't.

 

I hope they don't go under. But I do hope it gives them the chance the reinvent themselves to be more... vintage. How about a nice vintage 5 string violin bass? I'd be all over that.

 

Anyway, have some Tom Petty pics - 

 

[EBS_freak]

On 19/12/2025 at 17:57, NancyJohnson said:

I am finding it a bit bonkers that people are spending Paul McCartney's kids inheritance to save this (failing) business.

 

As far as I know, he bought his Hofner basses in the '60s and despite the free publicity they've had for the last 60 years, I don't believe he's been offered, or they've made, a signature model.  Now we've got people suggesting he bail the business out.  Why on earth would, or should, McCartney do this?  This would like Chris Squire bailing out Rickenbacker or @cetera rescuing Spector.

 

 

Not a signature model... but they did do this for him -  

 

(it's probably hanging off some lamp post nowadays)

Edited 3 hours ago by EBS_freak

[EBS_freak]

On 18/12/2025 at 05:05, Cato said:

I wonder if the McCartney association is as much of a curse as a blessing for the violin bass.

 

 

 

I doubt it. Mark King kept Status with an order list for years. As he did for Jaydee. Need a cash injection? Build Mark a new model... out comes the doctors and lawyers and their chequebooks.

[scrumpymike]

9 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

 

 

Anyway, have some Tom Petty pics - 

 

Thanks, much appreciated. The Hofner and Wilburys are a pretty good match vibe-wise, although the only video I can remember showing TP playing bass with The TWs featured a Danelectro Longhorn.

[EBS_freak]

5 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Thanks, much appreciated. The Hofner and Wilburys are a pretty good match vibe-wise, although the only video I can remember showing TP playing bass with The TWs featured a Danelectro Longhorn.

A mime to Jeff Lynne's bassline! (who did the Wilburys bass work on both albums)

[scrumpymike]

I was about to comment on the massive pay-off to Hofner arising from the random purchase of a violin bass by the then unknown Macca. On reflection though it probably wasn't that random. IIRC, Stuart Sutcliffe played a Hofner Senator bass, which Macca may well have enjoyed noodling on during idle moments between shifts in Hamburg while Sutcliffe was otherwise engaged with girlfriend Astrid. Although the Senator had a much bigger body, it probably had the same neck so the violin bass would have presented Macca with that nice playable neck on a much less unwieldy body.