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Hi all,
Maybe I should have titled this message "even older Hofners"!
I have been keeping an eye on early 2000 to more recent model Thin Presidents and Jazzicas. Hammertone, for example, has had some beautiful ones and still has a few I think, that I look forward to seeing.
The main point of this post: I am wondering about even older models and how they compare (tone, playability, and weight). Some that caught my eye include a 1964 Thin President E2 and a Sudbury Stash President, and similar models. I wonder if any of you have experience with these and would like to share you thoughts.
Best wishes,
George
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10-30-2019 02:20 PM
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George: I'll post a few thousand words later. In the meantime, post pix of the guitars!
Last edited by Hammertone; 10-30-2019 at 11:31 PM.
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A luthier told me that all old Hofners have intonation problems because of a fretboard template/cutting machine that was slightly off. I owned an all-laminate archtop back in the 1960s, but nobody had a clue about intonation then. No truss rods, IIRC. Red beech necks that did not stay straight. At some point the model range became inconsistent, as parts and components were freely mixed. There's variation in the headstock facings and electronics between guitars with the same model number; despite a plethora of photos on the web, I only recently could identify my long gone specimen as a Model 457, probably made in 1963.
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It's very hard to find specs of old Hofner's. It seems like even within the same model, specs change over the years. But unlike Gibson, there aren't a lot of third party resources for information on Hofner guitars.
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Hammertone is the expert but I can chime in, I've got a 1958 Hofner Senator.
It's a 16'' laminated acoustic archtop.
Not the most sophisticated sounding guitar, but it has impressive projection. It does well in gypsy jazz jam sessions.
Hofner used really light and resonant laminates.
The neck is huge - mine doesn't have an adjustable truss rod.
However it's straight, and the action can be a low as I need.
Intonation is a bit iffy in the high register. It's a non-cutaway acoustic archtop, so I rarely play it up there.
At some stage I wouldn't mind putting a DeArmond Rhythm Chief on it.
A friend of mine has a mid/late 50's President acoustic, that one has a solid carved top. That's a great guitar.
Not as loud as my Senator, but it's a more sophisticated sounding guitar.
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I have both a 1956 Hofner 159 with a carved spruce top and a recent Jazzica, and I would say that there is virtually no relationship between the two in terms of tone, playability, and weight.
The vintage one is a bit heavier, has a tight fretboard radius, no truss rod, and a baseball bat for a neck, but has its own special charm.
The recent one is very lightweight, has a comfortable, thinner C neck, and is a professional-grade instrument in every sense.
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If I ever run into an old Verithin for the right price, I’ll grab it, just for the looks:
(Different beast than the modern Verythin - with y - these are fully hollow).
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I've got one of these... somewhere. Buried in the back of a storage unit, I think. Which is absolutely no use to you or me. But it played nicely with flatwounds on it. Decent tone and very good action, I seem to recall.
Except mine had a solid tailpiece, not that lattice type. Better, I thought.
Hofner President electric guitar >> Vintage Guitar and Bass
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Thank you, Hammertone, for asking! Here are pics of the two guitars, both currently listed on Reverb.com, that prompted my original post:
Sudbury Stash President and 1964 Thin President E2:
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...f7gyty3bpv.jpg
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...tnkzfb9sng.jpg
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...94evqny2rr.jpg
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...xsvq4un6er.jpg
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That '65 President looks quite lovely! Especially in the pics from this link on the page you shared: 1965 Hofner President, Blonde >> Vintage Guitar and Bass
Originally Posted by ragman1
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The red guitar is one of the group of Hofners comprising the "Sudbury Stash", as I named them - guitars imported to Canada by Kessler's Violin Shop in the 1990s. I purchased @ 1/4 of these instruments, along with many parts, given my proximity to Subury (a mere 4-5 hour drive) It was one of the fully assembled and finished guitars in the bunch, that I sold to a friend, who never really played it. He finally re-sold it a couple of years ago. It's essentially a Model 456 (laminated maple top) with a non-catalogued red-burst finish (probably a custom-order from a retailer like Pohlert), original floating FUMA pickup (with built-in volume control), and non-original Grover Rotomatic tuners. Great neck on that one - big round c-shape. Very nice guitar, essentially as-new. Originally Posted by gkorm
The sunburst one is a lovely-looking President that looks entirely stock to me, right down to the Hofner Micromatic bridge.
These are great guitars, IMO.
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Nice video. The guitar is a late '50s Hofner Model 455 - an inexpensive all-laminated @16" archtop guitar.
Looks like it has brass frets on a dyed pearwood fretboard.
The comments are correct about not over-investing in this guitar, but I'm surprised that he didn't install a simple $3 pickguard bracket to attach the pickguard to the rims, to restore the simple, rigid, 3-point mounting system.
The other point about old Hofners (and most German archtops) is that their neckjoints are a simple tapered mortice joints, not dovetail joints. Not that this guitar needed a reset, but this makes neck resets very easy and very cheap to do, saves the effort of cutting down bridges, and so forth.
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Hammer Approved! (mostly)
Maybe the damage around the binding and wood at the mounting point for the pick-guard rod, together with the rest of the binding issues might've had something to do with his decision on that.
This is a great video for folks who feel that guitar set-up and repair is over-priced. He clearly has a lot of hard-won knowledge and skill.
I liked the vid a lot. I wish that guy worked my town.
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Hi,
I have this archtop that i'm thinking on selling. I'm not sure yet but I'm a bass player myself so i don't really need it.
I think it's a thinline president (1961-1963) but i'm not sure.
I'ts in good condition, but it has some issues (electronics) and it also needs a good setup.
The trussrod works and the neck relief is fine. Frets are in very good condition, no wear.
The action is too high but the bridge can not be lowered anymore. It needs to be shafed down at the bottom.
Also the action at the first fret is too high. The zero fret needs to be filed down.
Regarding the electronics. The bridge pickup is shorted somewhere inside (500 Ohms) so it needs a rewind.
The switches are ok but the pots need replacement (they are unmovable).
The round gold plates on the plastic knobs are missing.
Also on the tuners a plastic knob is replaced with something similar.
I'm thinking of 400-500 euro's that seems to be a fair price. ( i don't need the top price just a fair one)
I'm not sure if i can ask those questions here on the forum, i just need a little help settin the price and the type..
Thx
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For Americans, almost an alternate universe of player names ...
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Per Drew Morrison, "A few of these guitarists in this ad, probably Deniz, Weedon and Plummer alongside Jack Llewellyn, Ike Issacs & Ivor Mariants were the so called 'The Committee'. They were consulted by Selmer/Hofner during the naming & design process, and they helped with the introduction of the new Instruments in the 1950’s. And said 'Committee' is precisely where the Hofner 'Committee' model name came from."
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'Alternate universe' is right; like Butch said, "who are those guys?"
i should be better informed, ahem. (P.S.: I am not ignorant of ALL of them)
These "Committees" are still sought-after horns today:
Martin Band Instrument Company - Wikipedia
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those german staple mini humbuckers are such great pups!
cheers
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Do you know this book by Mo Foster ?
9781860742859: Play Like Elvis: How British Musicians Bought the American Dream - AbeBooks - Mo Foster: 1860742858
lots of interviews and anecdotes about big names and lesser known british session guitarists.
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mo foster also wrote a great book called seventeen watts ? (the power of a watkins dominator amp)...about the early uk rock/session players..great stories, interviews and pics
cheers
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Absolutely, but I have not read it. A reviewer on Amazon says that it is the same book with another title (perhaps a reissue? ) :
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yes was wondering about that..as your description sounded very much like seventeen watts! Originally Posted by JFranck
cheers
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Hi,
About the Höfner 457/E2 in natural, is it possible that I saw this same exact guitar in somewhere in Antwerp up for sale? If so, What’s the story behind this one? Why is it at a good will?
I look forward to your response!
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Originally Posted by Robbe
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Two guitar version of Finnish trad....
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