Hofner Guitars

Made in Indonesia, not in China, which is enough for me. The features can be read in previous reviews. Overall, it looks and feels nice. No rough edges on the wood, no glue drips or any other such blunders that you usually expect on an instrument at this price point. In short, it has that German look. USE Short and adjustable neck. When you are used to classic basses, it's a bit surprising because the bearings are a bit different, but after a while switching back the other way around is disturbing. It's easy to get used to its ergonomic design. In terms of weight, it's so light that it's a bit disconcerting. I had a Rick 4001 and I had always the impression of lugging around a concrete block. SOUND The sound is what I've been looking for 25 years. Although forking out 2000 euros isn't that alluring. It's round, warm and without too much sustain. I took up the pick again, yes, I did, don't laugh. That's the way it sounds best! I play an old Roland Cube 100 or a 350W Fender Bassman TV (it's not mine, I don't have that kind of money). Or connected directly to the console, for recording, with several plug-ins. Its THE sound I wanted and now I have it. What should I complain about? What about for slap? Well, no, it's to play bass, you know, that round and deep sound you can hear on rock and roll and many pop songs. OVERALL OPINION I've been playing it since February 2012. I put my other bass aside and now this one has become my favorite one. First of all because it's beautiful. And because, frankly speaking, for this price, I keep saying myself that in the worst case scenario, I could hang it on the wall as decoration, but no, it's incredibly easy to play and it sounds fine. I love it. I often find myself just playing it softly, unplugged, caressing it. It's addictive. The original strings are useless. I replaced them with Höfner flatwound and there's no comparison. They are very expensive, but they are really worth it. I also changed the pots, to replace the hideous original black ones. And I removed the pickguard, unfortunately the small screw holes are visible. Although you can't see them 6ft away. The tuners seem a bit cheap and they don't inspire much confidence. That said, the guitar stays in tune, but I plan to replace them with some Höfner, even if I have to do a bit of drilling. It's obviously a must have for Beatles fans. It's a looker onstage. I know what I'm talking about: When I play guitar I use a Rickenbacker 330 and a 350, and it's similar, the nods are unmistakable. And the sound... Sigh. I'll keep it. In a moment of madness, I'd buy another one, in black. To have a couple. Just take a look at the pictures, guys.

I really wanted a Gibson 335 and hankered for years; then the 80s arrived and suddenly all the old and unloved semi acoustics were being touted about by the new British Invasion so anything was game. I spied my E457 on a back wall of Kingfisher Music in Fleet UK and asked about it. Apparently it was on sale or return as the shop didn't stock Hofners and the Hofner rep was just passing. I asked to hear it and the guy put it thru a Mesa Boogie of all things! but thank God he did cos this thing rocks! It is not your typical country/Jazz beatbox, it has attitude and a beautiful range of plugged and unplugged tones. It can double as a acoustic as it has great projection and clarity. The Pups are microphonic and it will squeal if too loud/gainy but in a controllable and musical way - in fact ppl buy gear to try and achieve this nowadays! Finish is beautiful, neck sublime and it is a rare beast. I bloody love mine! If you add some chorus you will get that Billy Duffy/Cult LOVE album sound with ease. In fact it is very similar in tone to a Gretsch White Falcon!

I currently own at least 20 compressors of all types and qualities, from rack units down to several I've built myself. First I'll say, this is NOT another MXR clone. MXR compressors have high gain and extremely bright sounding. The Hofner has a vintage tone which is warm and balanced. It can be cranked up to crush a clean guitar signal very effectively, but that's not necessarily where this pedal shines. This compressor is great when placed in front of a drive pedal. If the drive is set for medium the compressor boosts it to sing with violin like sustain. I'd say its nearly as good as my 70's Rolland optical Compressor/Sustainer for this but at an excellent cost. Clean chords will jangle without excessive coloration. The highs and lows tend to be 1:1. With Attack and sustain dialed back you can get a very neutral sound. What I like is you can have a drive pedal set for an ideal chord tone then turn the comp on for lead parts and the drive tone is still great. Same when you turn the drive off, the clean chords sound balanced without tweaking. The Marshall Edwards Compressor I typically use is going to face some competition possibly being replaced. I Like the Marshall because its got a tone control but this Hofner isn't bad at all, at least on a short chain 5 pedal board. I haven't confirmed how much tone loss it might have on my long chain studio pedal board that has over 2 dozen pedals. It may wind up producing a better sound when placed in front of brighter drive pedals like an OCD. I found it a perfect match for the Mad Professor Sweet Honey, Tube screamer and Marshall Blues Breaker and Governor pedals. Sounds good places in front of a Marshall's drive channel too. I will say, you can get some AC hum is your guitar or cable aren't well shielded. Its not nearly as bad as an MXR pedal. Its not a flaw either. The compression is fairly full frequency. It doesn't roll the highs off like other comps so any hum in the high bands will come through when the sustain and gain are cranked. This probably wont be noticeable on a guitar with Humbuckers or when a noise gate is used. I used mostly guitars using Mini Humbuckers and this compressor gets an excellent Allman Brothers tone.

I love the Hofner Icon Series and the overall design. Can't put it down! I did, however, receive a bass with several manufacturing flaws that made it very frustrating. For the price I was not surprised, but I was still disappointed. On close inspection the binding work is very sloppy, with stain from the wood splashed over on parts. Also, I received a tailpiece that had the detail pieces soldered/welded on crooked and chromed over. And, worst of all, it came unplayable because there was a short at the cheap output jack. I will say, however, that I kept, fixed, and love mine and doubt I will ever part with it. To their credit; Guitar Center gave me a partial refund because I did not have the time to go through the return process. These are great instruments but, in terms of build quality, you get what you pay for UTILIZATION The spacing on the frets is almost like playing guitar. For being a bass, it is light. Much lighter than my guitar. Sounds that I got out of this thing are unbelievable. It plays like a bass should. SOUNDS I played it through my vintage Vox T-100 bass amp and the sound was very poor. I still liked the way it looked. After sending it back to a Hofner dealer, they put on a bone nut, put on Hofner Black Diamond flat wound strings and gave it a tune up Paul McCartney would of been proud of. It's excellent, only bass I'm playing now! I've been playing it now for over a year and not one problem with it since. OVERALL OPINION I have not needed to make any adjustments (the bridge was properly aligned, an earlier problem that they may have addressed). But it does seem like some of the materials are a little cheap, the screw heads and metal parts seem toy-like. The end of the pickguard was sharp as a dagger and I had to file it down so no one will gore themselves. I am going to try some different strings and see what that sounds like. Bottom-line - fun to play, nice tone, nicely finished body. GREAT!

The Hofner Verythin Classic is a reissue of the company's original highly noted semi hollow body guitar from the sixties called the Verythin. It has a very thin (!) double cutaway body with a center block of wood down the body a-la a Gibson ES335 guitar. It features a German spruce top (unusual wood for any electric guitar), flamed maple back and sides, a maple neck, an ebony fretboard with 22 frets and block inlays, Schaller M6 tuners, a roller bridge (again, a tad unsual to find, since this is a fixed bridge instrument) and a pair of Hofner 514 mini humbuckers, It also comes with a nice hardshell case and is made in Hofner's premier factory in Germany. UTILIZATION The design of this guitar is fairly ergonomic to me. Compared to a typical Gibson ES-335 or a similar copy, the guitar is bigger overall (in its shape) but it is definitely a thinner instrument than a 335 and it also feels lighter to me. It's not noticable at first but after a while of holding it and playing it, the guitar does feel lighter overall. The shape is like a slightly bigger and thinner version of the ES335, so it's really a matter of whether you like a big body. It's thin and easy to get your arms around it, but the body is still fairly bulky and some players who are used to a solidbody guitar might not like that. The upper fret access on this guitar is fairly good due to the non-blocky neck joint. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty simple. It's wired with two Hofner 514 mini humbuckers and the same dual volume/dual tone control layout as a typical Gibson 335. It's a great instrument for jazz or blues players looking for a slightly different take on the classic double cutaway semi hollow guitar. SOUNDS I've tried this guitar through a few different amplifiers as well as unplugged on its own. Before it was plugged in, I tested it acoustically to see what kind of tonal properties it had, especially as compared to the famed Gibson or Heritage models. It has a loud and resonant tone that almost sounds closer to the Gibson ES-330, a fully hollow version of the 335 that was manufactured with P90 pickups. It might be because the guitar contains a lot of maple wood which is quite bright in its tonality, but the guiar has an extremely resonant unplugged tone that has a good controlled low end, strong but netrural midrange, and a sparkling top end that works especially well for arpeggiated chords. Plugged in the guitar has a really cool sound as provided by the Hofner humbuckers. The neck pickup has a wonderfully thick and throaty tone that lends itself quite well to complicated jazzy chord voicings and bebop esque lead lines too. The middle position (both pickups on) has a crisp and jangly tone that kind of reminds me of a Rickenbacker type guitar, and the bridge pickup has a perfect controlled snarl that is excellent for gritty blues or R&B stylings. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Hofner Verythin Classic is a wonderful alternative to a typical Gibson or other ES style guitar. Its got a look and feel of its own, and the tones available are definitely high class. At about $2,800 new these guitars aren't cheap, but you can pick them up for about $1,500 used if you look - definitely a killer deal for a more obscure yet still very well made and beautiful semi hollow body guitar.

The Hofner Guitars 500 Bass Violin guitar was made in Germany and as you probably known, was made famous by Sir Paul McCartney. Hofner Guitars originally made a low end models of guitars, but have since made some great instruments and this bass guitar is one of them. It has two pick ups as well as volume knobs for each of them. It also has switches to choose between rhythm and solo and also a switch for bass on and a switch for treble on. UTILIZATION I'm not sure what type of wood the neck of the Hofner 500 is made out of, but it has a great feel to it and is really easy to play. You can see why McCartney liked it, because it is easy to play all around the neck and to play actively moving bass lines on this. The body is shaped like a violin, which makes it distinguishable from any other guitar and makes it an extremely light guitar. The inherent sound is full and unique and is easy to get a nice sound from it. SOUNDS The Hofner Guitars 500 Bass Violin is great for all types of music, but especially for playing pop and rock songs and all Beatles songs and for songs of that type. When I record with this, I usually record direct, but overall it is probably best suited for use on the stage because of the light size and the awesome look to it. Plus, I can definitely think of some better sounding bass guitars for recording, like a Fender P-Bass or Jazz Bass. The sound is more than usable and the controls do provide for some deal of control over your tone as well. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Hofner Guitars 500 Bass Violin bass guitar for about three years and have found it to be both unique in look and in tone, which makes it a great bass guitar to have around. It will always have the connection to Paul McCartney and the Beatles, which is part of the allure of this bass and will be what drives people to this guitar. This being said, it is a great bass guitar at a reasonable price and is definitely worth a look whether you are a Beatles fan or not.