HOFNERS OLD & NEW

THE SECTION OF THE VINTAGE HOFNER WEBSITE WHICH DEALS WITH THE MANY GUITAR AND BASS GUITAR MODELS PRODUCED BY HOFNER FROM THE EARLY 1950'S TO THE PRESENT DAY.

A very rare instrument indeed - a 1950's Hofner 463 Plectrum Guitar, courtesy of J.L.Myers, Nashville, Tennessee.






Is this the 8th President ever made?
 - 1953 Hofner President Serial No 1508.







Jill & The Boulevards recorded with Norrie Paramour and Noman (Hurricane) Smith at Abbey Road Studios in 1962. Read their story in the Early Bands section of this website.







A fine selection of 1960's Futuramas being played at a Shadows Club Meeting in N.E. England by Laurence Dickinson, Margaret Butler, and Watson Brown.
There is a section on the old Futurama guitars HERE on this website.

SECTION 1: VINTAGE HOFNER GUITARS

• THE HOFNER GUITAR GALLERY:

  Just about every Hofner model and model variant is illustrated in this gallery. It is therefore intended as a tool to help you identify your own Hofner.

  ARCHTOPS AND SEMI-ACOUSTIC GUITARS	1A: Selmer Distributed Models	1B: European & US Market Models
  SOLID BODY GUITARS	2A: Selmer Distributed Models	2B: European & US Market Models
  BASS GUITARS	3A: Selmer Distributed Models	3B: European & US Market Models
  FLATTOP & CLASSICAL GUITARS	4A: Selmer Distributed Models	4B: European, & US Models
  CUSTOM-BUILT, MODIFIED & ODDBALLS	5: Selmer UK, European, & US Models
  HOFNER COLLECTIONS	6: Selmer UK, European, & US Models
  CURRENT HOFNER GUITARS & BASSES	7: Boosey & Hawkes Models

• HOFNER GUITAR FACT FILES:

  Individual topics to assist in dating and identifying Hofner models particularly in the Selmer range, but also with some topics of use hopefully to owners of non-Selmer models.

  The Golden Hofner	Hofner 12 String Flattops
  The Hofner Committee	The Hofner Colorama
  The Hofner President	The Hofner Senator
  The Hofner Congress	Hofner Electric Hawaiian Guitars
  The Hofner Shorty	The First "Club 40" Model ?
  The Sudbury Stash	The Hofner/Carvin Connection
  Hofner Guitars Made in Spain?	Selmer and the Bigsby Vibrato Tailpiece
  Hofner Wiring Diagrams 1	Hofner Wiring Diagrams 2
  Hofner Guitar Amplifiers	Selmer Guitar Cases
  Hofner Guitar Pickups - A Guide To Dating	Hofner Classical Guitars - NEW!!
  Dating Your Hofner from "Pot Codes"	Find Your Hofner Archtop's Body Date

• FEATURED HOFNER GUITARS
  A detailed look at some of the Hofner guitars that I own or have owned in the past.

  1958 Vienna Classical	1955 President Acoustic
  1979 Country & Western 12 String (Model 492)	1959 President Semi-Acoustic
  1958 Congress Acoustic	1963 Verithin Semi-Acoustic
  1957 Senator Acoustic	2003 Verythin Classic
  1959 Senator Acoustic	1965 Ambassador Semi-Acoustic
  1961 Colorama II	1963 Artist Solid Bass
  1962 Colorama I	1959 Committee Acoustic
  1961 V3 Solid	1964 Committee Brunette Electric-Acoustic
  1959 Club 60	1965 Committee Thinline Blonde
  2004 Hofner "Shorty" Travel Guitar	1962 Hofner Solid Bass Guitar
  NEW!! - 1958 Hofner 497 & 2005 Hofner HZ27 Classical Guitars - NEW!!

  
  

• FEATURES

The Futurama Guitar Story	John Lynch Guitars
The Futurama Visitors' Gallery	The Music Ground Collection
Ramsay McKinnon's Hofner Guitar Project
NEW!! - The Hofnerhounds Meeting, October 2007 - NEW!!

• NOSTALGIA

Famous Hofner Users	Memories of an Old Hofner Player
Not-So-Famous Users

 

• HOFNER & SELMER IN PRINT

Selmer & Hofner in Melody Maker	Selmer, Hofner, & Beat Instrumental Magazine
The Selmer Guitar Catalogues

 

• HOFNER GUITAR REGISTRATION

The chance to have the details of your Hofner published on this website, with the added bonus of helping us all understand the development of certain models.

Registration Form for Committee, Golden Hofner & Deluxe	Owners' Register of Hofner Committee, Golden Hofner & Deluxe Guitars    (+Link to Serial No./Detail Tables)
Registration Form for President & President "66"	Owners' Register of Hofner President & President "66" Guitars   (+ Link to Detail Tables)
Registration Form for Verithin & Verithin Bass Models - !!NEW!!	Owners' Register of Hofner Verithin & Verithin Bass Guitars (+ Detail Tables)
Registration Form for Congress, Square Dance, & Four Square Models - !!NEW!!	Owners' Register of Congress, Square Dance, & Four Square Guitars (+ Link to Detail Tables)
Registration Form for 500/1 Violin Bass	Owners' Register of Hofner 500/1 Bass Guitars (+Link to Detail Tables)

• LINKS

The Hofner Links Page

SECTION 2: PRESENT-DAY HOFNER GUITARS

• THE CURRENT HOFNER RANGE

Introduction & Current Archtop Guitars	Current Solid Guitars	The Hofner Sienna Range of Acoustic Guitars & Bass
Current Bass Guitars	Current Classical Guitars	Visitors' Gallery - Current Hofners

 

• FEATURES

The Hofner Workshop - Hagenau, Germany	Hofner Endorsees - Famous Current Users
Hofner at the London Guitar Show - May 2006	Hofner at NAMM California Winter Show - Jan 2006
Hofner at the MIAC Show, Toronto, Canada - Aug 2006	Hofner at NAMM California Winter Show - Jan 2007
Hofner at the Frankfurt MusicMesse Show - March 2007	Hofner at the London Guitar Show - May 2007

 

- For links to the Selmer, Watkins/Wem, Bird, Fenton-Weill, Grampian, Dallas, and Elpico Amplifier Sections of the Vintage Hofner Website.

NOTE: 

I have recently taken my e-mail address off this website because I couldn't cope with the number of Hofner-related queries, and run the website at the same time! However, Ramsay McKinnon has offered to help with queries and advice on Hofner guitars (archtops & semi-acoustics only please) from now on. His email address is below:

In addition, Stephen Candib, author of "Die Hofnering", is available to answer questions regarding Hofner instruments generally, old and new. His email address is below:

HOFNER GUITAR CATALOGUES CAN NOW BE DOWNLOADED FROM

THE OFFICIAL HOFNER WEBSITE:  http://www.hofner.com

HOFNER COMPANY CONTACTS

Hofner Germany Egerland St. 38 91083 Baiersdorf-Hagenau Germany Tel No: +49 (0) 9133 77580 Email: hofner@hofner.com		Hofner USA PO Box 580713 Pleasant Prairie WI 53158 Tel No: +1 262 942 4811 Email: rob.olsen@hofner.com
GNC Music Ltd. Unit 4, Boxted Farm Berkhamsted Road Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP1 2SQ   UK Tel No: +44 (0)7977 402016 Fax No: +44 (0)1442 270338 EMail: graham.stockley@hofner.com		Hofner Canada 417 Roehampton Avenue Toronto, ON Canada M4P 1S3 Tel No: +1 416 440 4031 EMail: hofnercanada@ca.inter.net

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JOIN THE HOFNER HOUNDS INTERNET DISCUSSION FORUM
- THE place to discuss all aspects of Hofner guitars with fellow enthusiasts.




CLICK TO VISIT THE HOFNER HOUNDS FORUM

and..........to discuss European guitars in general, visit Hofner Hounds' Sister Site:

THE VINTAGE EUROPEAN GUITAR FORUM 

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OPTIMA STRINGS 24 CARAT GOLD -PLATED GIVE  YOUR HOFNER A TREAT! Contact : Andrew Morgan (UK) Bob Cocozza (USA)

                     

 

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The Kaisers - probably the most successful 60's-retro band in the UK, who use Hofner instruments extensively.

Flashback - Another UK band that uses old Hofner guitars for what they were intended........gigging!! (Yes, that is the Cavern Club in Liverpool!)

 

© Steve Russell 1999-2008
All rights reserved