Hofner 1959 advice needed please!

ldguitarist

Hi guys,

I picked up this this Hofner guitar from a family friend and was wondering if anyone had any idea on how much it might be worth?

I have been searching the internet but couldn't find much info apart from how to find the date which was annoyingly scribbled on the top of the guitar when it was built making it a difficult squeeze to take a picture! 

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,
LD

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ldguitarist

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Roland

I'm no Hofner expert. I can only tell you what I've read. There's not a lot of information on early Hofners because they didn't get imported into the UK until about 1958. Hofner also tended to assemble guitars from whatever parts they had available. Truss rods weren't introduced until 1960.

The date on the inside of the top is 30.09.1959. The bridge and tailpiece are designs which were used on many Hofners from the 1950s. So the guitar was assembled in Germany in late '59, or the early 60s. How did it reach the UK? It was the fancier models which tended to get imported by Selmer. This one could have been a private import by someone who was working in Germany, possibly a member of the post war Allied forces.

Value is a couple of £100 at most. 

ICBM

Roland said:

Value is a couple of £100 at most. 

I don't agree. These routinely sell in the shop I work for for around £400-£500 if they're in good structural and cosmetic condition - which this one appears to be, but check the neck joint in particular, as well as what looks like a (non structural) crack at the top of the headstock - and play at least reasonably well. The sound is 'variable' to say the least, but doesn't seem to actually have much bearing on the value - it's all about condition and playability. The action looks low on this one which is a very good start.

The necks on the pre-'60 ones do tend to be on the thick side as they lack truss rods, but that seems to be fashionable nowadays so it's less of an issue than it was in the past.

Jalapeno

Looks like a nice clean one - is the neck straight, frets in good nick ? - just been looking for an archtop, and the Hofners I saw in Denmark St were all £300-£600.

The no truss rod thick necks are v.thick - not unplayable, but certainly not to my taste.

Looks like a "Senator".