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The pages where other people's Hofners are featured.

 

HOFNER GUITARS: 2000 to Present Day

With Many Thanks to Nate Lamy of Hofner Canada for his invaluable assistance with the details provided in this Gallery.

 

NOTE: FOR HOFNER "CT", "ICON", & "IGNITION" GUITARS CLICK HERE



Frankfurt Mussikmess March 2009.

 


The current range of Hofner guitars and basses is very impressive and compares well against the old favourites of the 1950's and 60's. Indeed, the style and feel of these new instruments is very much the same as those sold earlier by the Hofner Company, but in fact the overall quality is even better; so much so that I personally own several post-2000 guitars and basses. Never let anyone tell you that the old ones are the best.......that is definitely not true!

I have come to the conclusion that the history of the 21st century guitars and basses has the same rights as the earlier models to be documented, so...........here goes! 

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

 

A. FULL-BODIED ARCHTOP JAZZ GUITARS:

 

THE HOFNER JAZZICA / J5 (1989 to 2008)

One of the great designs which resulted from the employment of Klaus Schöller in the Hofner factory from 1986 onwards. (Herr Schöller is now Chief Executive of the Hofner Company.) This guitar was a revolution in archtop design when it first appeared in early 1989. A highly tapered body width provided ease of playing the guitar, the rounded jointing of the neck to the body at the 16th fret aided access to the fingerboard, and the "slash" type soundholes and stunning finishes on offer certainly caught the eye! A carved solid spruce top was used and this, together with the mounting of the Shadow Attila Zoller pickup off the body top by attaching it to the end of the fingerboard (floating pickup), provided the correct acoustic properties for a Jazz guitar. 

In 1991, a Jazzica Special model was introduced which, being a blonde finish, was provided with binding around the rear body edge. (The original Jazzica had no binding on the body back, presumably as this would not have fitted in aesthetically with the dark gloss finishes chosen for it and the overall style of the guitar.)

The Jazzica Custom model is a development of the Jazzica Special, with rear body binding, floating Hofner pickup, ornate headstock design, and blonde, occasionally brown sunburst, and violin varnish finishes on offer.

A 24-fret fingerboard has been used on the Jazzica throughout its production run. Soundhole plugs were supplied with all models in order to reduce feedback at high amplified volumes. 

The Jazzica was not present in the 2009 and 2010 Hofner Catalogues, but don't be surprised if it reappears in the future........

 

THE HOFNER NEW PRESIDENT / P55 (1998 - Present Day)

A much more conventional jazz guitar than the Jazzica above, the New President (or P55 as it known in the US) was introduced at the Spring 1998 Music Fair. Again this guitar has a carved solid spruce top, together with laminated flame maple back & sides. The high specification was continued with an ebony fingerboard and pickguard, and all fittings were gold plated. A single "floating" Hofner pickup, which has the looks of the old 1963 "diamond logo" units, is cantilevered from the end of the fingerboard, and control pots are pickguard mounted in order to not effect the acoustic properties of the body top. Initially, all guitars were blonde finish, but from around 2003, "antique violin" finish (shellac varnish) was also available at extra cost. For the first three or four years of production, an inlaid fleur-de-lys was provided in the back of the guitar body, similar to some of the top quality archtops of the 1950's, 60's, and 70's.

Initially the model was fitted with a 24 fret neck. Examples made since around 2006 have 22 frets.   

 


THE HOFNER VICE PRESIDENT (1998 to 2003)

The Vice President appeared in 1998, at the same time as the New President model's introduction. It had an identical body to the President model, i.e. full-depth, fully acoustic with a solid carved spruce top and flamed Anigree (African Maple) back & sides. However, it had nickel-plated fittings instead of the gold-plated ones on the New President, although some Vice-Presidents were sold with gold-plated parts. Two Schaller mini-humbucking pickups were fitted. The neck pickup was fitted in the same way as on the New President, but the bridge unit was mounted directly onto the body top, along with the two volume controls, two tone controls, and a three-way switch. A nickel "Lyre-Style" tailpiece and a conventional plastic pickguard were fitted. From around 2002,  the lovely genuine mother-of-pearl block inlays found on the early Vice President model's ebony fingerboard were replaced by double and triple position dots on a rosewood fingerboard, and the slotted fret-wire saddle bridge replaced the initially carved saddle bridge. Finish options offered were initially sunburst and black. In effect, the Vice President harked back to the days when Hofner, together with all the other major manufacturers, produced their Jazz guitars with plenty of electrical gear screwed directly onto the body tops.

 



THE HOFNER PRESIDENT CUSTOM (2011)

A limited edition range of electric archtops that follow the trend of the Vice President model in harking back to the old President model supplied to Selmer London back in the 1950's and 1960's. All versions have a spruce top and birds eye maple back & sides. The highest spec'd version has the large "frondose" headstock as used on the Committee, Deluxe, and Golden models of the past, with mother of pearl block fret-board markers. The intermediate spec has a normal sized headstock but still with the block fret markers. The final version has a small headstock and dot fret markers. A limited edition run of intermediate spec guitars with custom finishes and strip-type fret markers was produced in late 2011.

 



THE HOFNER CHANCELLOR (2004 - Present Day)

Hofner's top-of-the-range archtop, utilising all-solid timbers in the body construction - solid carved spruce top and solid flamed maple back & sides. (The Chancellor is the first and only archtop guitar in the history of Hofner to be built with carved top, carved back, and solid rims.) The body itself is a large 17" in width with a high-waisted design shape, a very open cutaway, and elongated F-holes. As with the other recent Hofner jazz guitars, the neck meets the body at the 16th fret. An ebony fingerboard with 22 frets is used, and all metal parts are gold plated. There are additional and thinner layers of white and black purfling on the top and back of the body, as well as on the rims. 

Standard finishes throughout the construction period have been violin-varnish (shellac) and natural blonde, although one or two special finishes have also been supplied more recently on a one-off basis. Initial Chancellors were supplied with a simple carved ebony bridge, but currently the guitars are provided with both a tune-o-matic style steel saddle Schaller bridge and with the carved type.

Prototypes of this model appeared at the various trade shows in 2004, with production examples being available by 2005. Whilst the two prototype instruments had the same cosmetic appointments as the New President, production models used a more angled pickguard similar to that introduced on later New President guitars. In 2007, this was replaced with a new design unique to the Chancellor. 

Initially, production Chancellors were fitted with beech binding. Then a group of violin finish Chancellors was fitted with black binding and a reddish-burst violin finish. Following that, a group of violin finish Chancellors was fitted with beech binding and a much lighter brownish violin finish. It appears that each group of Chancellors produced to date has its own unique finish.

 

THE HOFNER CHANCELLOR CUSTOM (2011)

In 2010/11, Hofner prepared four Chancellor guitars for showing at the April 2011 Frankfurt Trade Show. These had all the constructional attributes of the usual Chancellors - all solid carved timber body construction, ebony fingerboard, mother of pearl inlays, etc - but they were fitted with two humbucking pickups directly mounted onto the body top. In addition, the opportunity was taken to finish them in the solid colours used on some of the other Hofner models during this period: i.e. white, black, green, and orange. This choice of finish has lead to the production of very striking instruments, particularly IMHO the white and black versions which are fitted with gold-plated hardware.

 

 

 

 

B. THIN-LINE & SEMI ACOUSTIC ARCHED TOP GUITARS

 

THE HOFNER "JIMMY BRUNO" SIGNATURE (2004) 

An archtop guitar named after American Jazz guitarist Jimmy Bruno. This model was developed in 2003 and 2004 to be issued as a very limited run, but was never rolled out because Jimmy chose to move to Sadowsky guitars for an endorsed line. Hofner examples are consequently very rare.

The guitar was essentially a New President with a shallower 2 ½" body side depth, violin finish, 22 frets instead of 24 frets, and body-mounted volume and tone controls. A small ebony pickguard, similar to that used on Benedetto guitars, was added. 

Several prototypes were built, half being fitted with Hofner's floating mini-humbucking pickups, and half with full-sized set-in humbuckers. A single "Jimmy Bruno"-branded Seymour Duncan pickup was fitted in the neck position on some of these. The rest had Hofner-branded full-sized humbuckers made by Schaller.

Most examples in existence have carved tops with Hofner's standard single brace on the bass side. As the project moved forward, Hofner added bracing to at least one of these instruments. Knob placement varied slightly as well.






THE HOFNER THIN PRESIDENT (2004 to Present Day)

The Thin President guitars took over from the Vice President model in 2004. Several major changes to style and basic specification have been made, (actually resulting in four different models but all using the same name), and these are described in the examples given below:




THE HOFNER VERYTHIN (2000 to Present Day)



Just as with the Thin President above, several different styles of the Verythin model have been available since it superseded the Hofner Nightingale in 2000. It was intended to be a modern-day revival of the famous 1960's and 70's Hofner Verithin/4575 model. (The name had to be changed very slightly from Ver"I"thin to Ver"Y"thin for copyright reasons.)

The most important features of the Verythin are the twin body cutaways, and the very thin 30mm (1¼") body depth. Unlike the old Verithins, the 21st century version has a solid sustain block inside the body, which of course makes the guitar now a true semi-acoustic. 

This is not the first time that Hofner has revived the Verithin, however. The Hofner T2S, T4S and T6S, which were produced in the late 1970's and into the 1980's, were essentially updated Verithins (and are great guitars by the way!). They were replaced by the Nightingale in 1986.


THE VERYTHIN CLASSIC (2000 to 2010)

 The first version to be rolled-out was the "Classic". This guitar was well specified, with an ebony fingerboard, inlaid with mother of pearl block fret markers, and gold hardware. A laminated spruce top with heavily figured anigree (African Maple) back and sides was shown off to best advantage by the standard natural finish, and in the old Verithin tradition, a Lyre tailpiece was used. In a break from convention however, "slash-shaped" soundholes were used, a design feature borrowed from the Jazzica. 

Electrics at first glance appear to be conventional - four rotary controls plus three-way pickup selector, but Hofner chose to incorporate their "Clean Contour" effect worked by the tone controls for each pickup, as had been pioneered on the superseded Nightingale model.  This allows for a single coil or twin coil sound on each pickup. Hofner's mini-humbucker (Type 514) was fitted throughout the Classic's production period. The 514 unit is made exclusively for Hofner by Schaller.

The first Verythin Classics came with 24 fret necks but very soon after, the specification changed to a 22 fret neck. The very first production guitars did not have the "Clean Contour" effect, and had a simpler w/b/w binding/purfling scheme on the face of the guitar and single white binding on the neck.  The specification was quickly changed to w/b/w/b/w on the face, and w/b/w on the neck. The first guitars came with "teacup" knobs, which were changed to standard Gibson-style amber top-hat knobs. Early Verythin Classics had "double diamond" headstock inlays. By 2002, Hofner had standardized its headstock overlays on all models to the lilies-of-the-valley inlay and stopped using the "double-diamond" and "dagger" inlays. 

Around 2006, Hofner slightly increased the depth of the neck set on the Verythin Classic, and began sinking the pickup mounting rings slightly into the body of the guitar to allow for a greater range of pickup height adjustment They also replaced the Schaller roller bridge with a Schaller tune-o-matic bridge. 

The Classic was offered in natural and sunburst finish. Natural is by far the most common finish, and the sunburst option was discontinued during 2002, and re-introduced in 2009.  Four or five Verythin Classics were produced in black finish as well between 2000 and 2002. A limited run of Verythin Classics were offered with a violin varnish for a short period.

 

  • 2000 HOFNER VERYTHIN CLASSIC
    This 2001 Hofner catalogue photo shows the "double diamond" headstock logo, "tea cup" knobs, and the 24 fret neck of the very first Verythin Classics produced.

  • 2000 HOFNER VERYTHIN CLASSIC - NATURAL FINISH
    The first production Verythin Classic, which was signed off in the Hofner workshops on 4th January 2000. The guitar has had a few changes made to it over the years, in particular the ebony bridge base and control knobs, but it still demonstrates the main features of a very early Classic. This is actually the very same guitar as shown in the catalogue photo above!

  • 2001 HOFNER VERYTHIN CLASSIC - SUNBURST FINISH
    The alternative finish to the more usual natural blonde on the Classic. The "double diamond" headstock logo is still present, but the control knobs are now the Gibson-style gold type.

  • c2001 HOFNER VERYTHIN CLASSIC - BLACK FINISH
    Catalogue-style artwork showing one of the very rare black finished Verythin Classics. This particular guitar has a non-standard inlaid ebony bridge base-plate for some unexplained reason.

  • 2003 HOFNER VERYTHIN CLASSIC - NATURAL FINISH
    A later Verythin Classic, more typical of the majority of Classics made, with a 22 fret neck, "lilies-of-the-valley" headstock detail, and gold Gibson-style knobs. My own guitar, with its natural blonde finish and gold-plated hardware.

  • 2009 HOFNER VERYTHIN CLASSIC - SUNBURST FINISH
    A Hofner publicity photo showing the brunette finish that became an option again on the Classic in 2009.

  • 2010 HOFNER VERYTHIN CLASSIC - SUNBURST FINISH
    This could well be the last Verythin Classic to be made (October 2010). This one is a real stunner, with beautiful flame evident on the body back and neck, together with ebony tuner buttons and truss-rod cover.




THE VERYTHIN VINTAGE (2001 to 2003)

The "Vintage" was basically a "Classic", but was equipped with the traditional Hofner rectangular control console, and also was finished in Antique Violin Varnish. The Vintage was therefore the first Hofner model to be so finished, with Violin Varnish being adopted for the archtops over the next few years. The three slide switches on the console were on-off for each of the two pickups, plus a series/parallel switch for the neck pickup.

The Vintage was replaced by the Verythin "JS Signature" in 2003/04.

 





THE VERYTHIN STANDARD (2002 to 2008)

A more affordable version of the Verythin was brought out in 2002. The "Standard" dispensed with the gold plating and used nickel-plated hardware, and was also fitted with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard with simple double dot fret-markers. Single layer binding was applied throughout. However, the adoption of highly figured anigree (African maple) for the body top (instead of the Classic's rather conservative spruce) as well as the back & sides, together with stunning transparent amber and cherry finishes possibly made this the most attractive of the Verythin versions. In addition, a stop tailpiece was used instead of the Lyre-style; again moving further away from the 1960's look.

Conventional, unbound f-holes similar to those on the New President were used. These revealed the use of a very thin laminated top on the instrument, thinner that the spruce-laminated top on the Verythin Classic. Gibson-style top-hat knobs were used.

The electrics on the Standard were initially two mini-humbuckers (Type 514), but around 2006, these were changed to Hofner's full-size humbuckers (Type 515) to provide an even more traditional US-semi look. The "Clean Contour" circuit provided on the Classic was not fitted to the Standard.

The last version of the Verythin Standard was made in very limited quantities. The fingerboard had single dots with triple dots at the twelfth fret. The solid spruce block was replaced with a solid mahogany block. Hofner slightly increased the depth of the neck set much as they had on the Verythin Classic. The guitar was available in a natural finish (called by Hofner "Amber" because anigree often has a darker colour than the maple of the neck), and a transparent red (which was more tomato than cherry). A few were ordered with sunburst finish.

 

  • 2001 HOFNER VERYTHIN STANDARD PROTOTYPE
    The photo of this prototype was taken in November 2001, just before the new "Standard" version of the Verythin was announced in the following year. It would appear that at that stage, Hofner were still considering equipping the Standard with a Lyre tailpiece, just as had been the case with the "Classic" and "Vintage". Also on the linked photo page is a picture of Dieter Fischer examining the guitar. This was used in the 2003 Hofner Catalogue.  

  • 2002 HOFNER VERYTHIN STANDARD
    A Transparent Amber finish "Standard", courtesy of Bill Heggie in Scotland. The mini-humbuckers and the double/triple fret marker dots of the earlier Standards can be seen.

  • 2003 HOFNER VERYTHIN STANDARD
    ....and a Transparent Cherry Red finish guitar, again courtesy of Bill Heggie.

  • 2006 HOFNER VERYTHIN STANDARD
    A photo of one of the later Standards, showing the full-size humbuckers and the single/triple fret marker dots. This one is owned by Nate Lamy in Canada.

  • 2006 HOFNER VERYTHIN STANDARD
    Another of Nate's guitars, this time with black pickup surrounds, control knobs, and selector switch tip.

  • 2007 HOFNER VERYTHIN STANDARD - SPECIAL RED FINISH
    A custom semi-transparent red finish was used on this particular guitar.

  • 2008 HOFNER VERYTHIN STANDARD - SPECIAL BLACK FINISH
    A mirror-like black finish, with special gold-plated hardware.

 

THE VERYTHIN "JS" SIGNATURE  (2003 to 2010)

Named after Jazz Guitarist and Hofner endorsee, John Stowell, this guitar took over the violin varnish crusade from the Verythin Classic. However, the "JS" is a single pickup guitar, with ebony pickguard, tailpiece, control knobs, and tuner buttons. The Type 514 mini-humbucker is fitted in the neck position and controlled by a single volume and tone control mounted on the body top. Early versions have the pickup mounted directly onto the top of the guitar and later versions have the pickup floating, mounted off the end of the neck.

The "JS" has gold-plated hardware, ebony fingerboard, and mother of pearl fret-marker inlays, and is also available in natural finish as well as the shellac varnish. Simplicity combined with quality is the order of the day with this guitar.

 




THE VERYTHIN EVOLUTION 3 (2009 - 2010)

Hofner's three-pickup Verythin, produced for a short period in 2009 and 2010 as a reminder of the three-pickup Hofner 4575 model produced in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The Classic's main features were adopted, without the gold-plating, and the three mini-humbuckers were controlled by a master volume rotary control, two tone controls, and a three-way pickup selector. Each tone control has a centre notch (position 5), with conventional control over the bridge and neck pickups taking place from 1 to 5, with blending in of the middle pickup occurring between 5 to 10.

A lovely rich brown sunburst was the standard finish. Pearloid buttons on the tuners of the production guitars seem to have replaced the metal buttons of the early examples.

This guitar was replaced by the similar three-pickup Verythin "Custom" in the 2010 catalogue.

 

 

 

THE VERYTHIN CUSTOM (2010 to Present Day)

This guitar is very similar to the Evolution 3 described above, but with "sickle" style soundholes, reminiscent of those on the 1950's Hofner 459 and 464 models, together with simple dot markers instead of the Evolution's mother of pearl blocks.

 

 

 

THE VERYTHIN SPECIAL (2010 to Present Day)

Again, a slightly less ornate Verythin as an alternative to the previous Classic. Simple dot markers and nickel-plated hardware replace the MoP block fret markers and gold-plating. However, the Special has the retro "sickle" soundholes, and ebony fingerboard, and also a master volume control in addition to the individual pickup volume and tone controls. Available finishes for the Special are Dark Cherry and Sunburst.

 

 

 

THE VERYTHIN SINGLECUT (2010 to Present Day)

This guitar harks back to the 1960's Hofner 4562......a single cutaway 30mm deep body! However, this new model has a Bigsby vibrato unit fitted as part of the standard specification, an ebony fingerboard, "sickle" soundholes, and Hofner's new solid colour finishes. The Singlecut is currently available in either solid black finish or light blue.

 

2010 HOFNER VERITHIN SINGLECUT

 

 

THE HOFNER CLUB RE-ISSUES (2007 - Present Day)

2007 was the 120 Year Anniversary of the Hofner Company. In order to commemorate this occasion, the company produced a small number of limited edition models; one of which was a re-issue of the 1959 Hofner Club 40 used by John Lennon in the early days of the Beatles. The re-birth of the Club as a current model had begun!

Numbers of the "John Lennon Club 40" were limited to 120, but these guitars proved to be so popular that Hofner commenced making a two-pickup Club 50 model in 2008, and this model remains in production today. Obviously the John Lennon Club 40 was finished in blonde, as that was the version owned by the man himself. Initially, the Club 50 was only produced in blonde, but from 2010, a brunette version was available.

The guitars have a laminated spruce top with flame maple back & sides. As with the original 1960's Clubs, the body is totally hollow, without a sustain block being fitted. 



THE HOFNER CLUB 40 RE-ISSUE (2007)

 

THE HOFNER CLUB 50 RE-ISSUE (2008 to Present Day)

 

 

C. SOLID GUITARS

 

THE HOFNER "V" SOLID (2011)

Fingers crossed, but it would appear that Hofner are considering bringing back a German-made solid guitar into their catalogue! The last solids made in Germany were the Reference Series solids which were discontinued in 1996 when production moved away from Bubenreuth.

 

THE HOFNER SOLID CLUB (2011)

Another prototype under consideration in 2011, developed following the success of the Chinese-made HCT-CS10 solid guitar. Solid mahogany body, with solid flame maple cap and scraped wood bindings. The "flared-top" headstock is very reminiscent of a certain bass guitar....

 

 


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