logo.jpeg - 8KbVISITORS' GALLERY

The pages where other people's Hofners are featured.

 

HOFNER GUITARS & BASSES - "CT" CONTEMPORARY & "ICON"/"IGNITION" SERIES

 

 

 


In common with just about every other guitar manufacturer in the World in recent years, Hofner has set up manufacturing facilities particularly in China, but also in other Far Eastern countries. This has resulted in the production of more affordable instruments than the German-made guitars, but still maintaining much of the charisma and quality associated with the Karl Hofner name. By means of these new facilities, the Hofner Company has been able to make their products much more attainable by the many players who have always aspired to owning a Hofner.

Two Hofner product ranges are produced in the Far East: the Contemporary or "CT" Series, and the Ignition Series (originally known as the Icon Series).

The Contemporary Series consists of mid-price guitars and basses designed for hard professional and semi-professional use. They generally are modelled on the classic Hofner designs from the past, but with thoroughly modern features and construction standards. Features such as polyurethane finishes rather than nitro-cellulose, and sustain blocks in the small-bodied archtop instruments have been adopted in order to provide an instrument more suited for present-day working conditions. When the range was first introduced back in 2005, only solid guitars were available - the Colorama and Shorty models. These were soon joined in later years however by the "CT" Violin Bass and then by Hofner Club and Verythin versions. The year 2010 saw the introduction of full-bodied archtop jazz guitars. 

The Ignition Series has been developed out of the Icon Series, which was made available for the US and Canadian markets in mid-2006. Aimed at a more budget-conscious level, the Icons spread very quickly to many other countries, due to the growth of global internet trading. The most popular in this range was inevitably the 500/1 Violin Bass, but during the later part of the decade, versions of the Club guitar and an impressive archtop Jazz guitar (the H5) were also available.

Examples of the Contemporary and Ignition/Icon ranges are provided below. This does not pretend to be a fully comprehensive list, as Far Eastern Hofner guitars are departing a little further away from the main topic of this "Vintage Hofner" website. I do believe however that the Contemporary "CT" Series in particular is now becoming such a significant part of the Hofner Company's history that it cannot be ignored on a website that attempts to tell the story behind the Karl Hofner name.  

Click on the underlined heading for each guitar to view photographs of that particular example.

 

THE HOFNER "CT" RANGE GUITARS:

 

1. ARCHTOP GUITARS:

 

THE HOFNER J17 ARCHTOPS (2010 to Present Day)



2. SEMI-ACOUSTIC GUITARS:

 

THE HOFNER VERYTHIN (2006 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT CLUB (2007 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT RESONATOR GUITAR (2011 to Present Day)

 

 

3. SOLID GUITARS:

 

THE HOFNER CT GALAXIE SOLID GUITAR (2009 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT COLORAMA SOLID GUITAR (2005 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT SOLID CLUB GUITAR (2011 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER HCT-"V" SOLID GUITAR (2011 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT SHORTY TRAVEL GUITAR (2005 to Present Day)

 

4. BASS GUITARS:

 

THE HOFNER CT SERIES 500/1 BASS GUITAR (2006 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT SERIES H185LS SOLID BASS GUITAR (34" Long Scale) (2009 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT SERIES GALAXIE SOLID BASS GUITAR (30" Medium Scale) (2009 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT CLUB BASS GUITAR (2009 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT VERYTHIN BASS GUITAR (2010 to Present Day)

 

THE HOFNER CT PRESIDENT BASS GUITAR (2011 to Present Day)

 

 

C. EXAMPLES OF HOFNER "ICON"/"IGNITION" RANGE GUITARS:

(NOTE - The "Icon" Brand Name was used to denote those Far Eastern-made instruments produced for the US market between 2006 and 2009. From 2010, this range is marketed worldwide under the "Ignition" Brand Name.)

 

THE HOFNER ICON B-BASS GUITAR

 

THE HOFNER IGNITION BASS GUITAR

 

THE HOFNER ICON SERIES H5 JAZZ GUITAR (HOFNER PROTOTYPE)

 
THE HOFNER ICON SERIES MODEL 459 6-STRING VIOLIN GUITAR (HOFNER PROTOTYPE)

 

 

Keeping up with the Times!

 

 


Return to THE VINTAGE HOFNER GALLERY PAGE