This was the ultimate archtop produced by Hofner. The instrument incorporated the finest woods and veneers, and indicated the standard to which German craftsmanship could aspire.
The guitars were produced in very limited numbers, and are now regarded as the Holy Grail of Hofner archtops. They are therefore much sought after. The Thinline model, introduced in late 1959, is extremely rare with only sixteen guitars listed.
1959 FEATURES
The only Golden Hofner that I know of for this year is the one featured in the Gordon Giltrap book, owned at that time by the guitarist Bert Weedon and fitted with black single coil pick-ups. Selmer’s early catalogues did show a Golden Hofner having the black pick-ups. I would suggest that this model would be very hard to come by. There is currently one of these rare guitars featured in Steve Russell’s Web Site.
Headstock
Large frondose type; black background; double circle and half ring to raised top section; HOFNER Logo; rose and leaf with two vertical diamonds between; all in MOP. fan shaped detail above nut in MOP; single layer pearloid binding.
Machineheads
Individual closed backed; gold plated with engraved motif.
Pearloid floral shaped knobs.
Gold plated posts.
Gold plated heavy bushes.
Gold plated tuners.
Gold plated cogs.
Neck
Eleven piece; flamed maple with mahogany and ebony central strips; ebony fingerboard with flower and leaf inlays in MOP, set in ebony or rosewood panels(8 number);three layer binding W/B/pearloid.
Scale length
650mm.
Truss rod
None.
Frets
Nickel plated jumbo frets.
Top
Solid spruce, specially selected for grain.
Body
Highly flamed maple back, book-matched; highly flamed maple rims; multi-layer binding.
Dimensions ; 540 x 455 x 78mm.
Natural finish only.
F holes
Three layer binding; W/B/W.
Pickguard
Clear acrylic.
Bridge
Ebony; height adjustable; compensated with adjustable fret wire inserts.
Tailpiece
Gold plated lyre type; engraved; hinged and fixed to rim with four pins.
1960 FEATURES
All as detailed for 1959 but having the following variations.
Truss rod
Steel rod, 5mm diameter and 375mm long, threaded for a length of 20mm at head-stock end; hexagonal nut at lower end complete with 1.5mm thick washer.
Two layer bell shaped cover B/W, fixed with three screws.
Pickguard
Clear acrylic, painted gold on underside.
1961 FEATURES
All as detailed for 1959 but having the following variations.
Truss rod
All as above.
Pickguard
Clear acrylic with gold perimeter stripe and Hofner logo.
Generally all as for Golden of the same year but body dimension 540 x 455 x 50mm. Records suggest that this model was produced only in 1960, but as stated earlier, a few late 1959 guitars exist.
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© Ramsay McKinnon 2006.