Help - vintage Hofner (?)

Offset

Friend trying to get some information on this guitar. His mate was given it in the 1950s.  Interesting sparkle finish 

Thoughts?

barnstorm

Tell him to have a look at Steve Russell’s site - there’s a page on dating.

barnstorm

https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/histarch/archapp2.html

Roland

What does it say on the label? You should be able to read it through the F hole.

Offset

Cheers guys.  

F-hole - he only said he could see the hand-written number '107'.  I'll ask further.  Ta @Roland ;

Will also check the site - cheers @barnstorm ;

Roland

The headstock and scratch plate are the right shape for a Senator or Congress. The scratch plate and body colour, and the fretboard inlays, suggest an early model, possibly assembled from parts meant for something else. I think the fretboard stripes were dropped in the mid 50s.

Offset

^^ Ta.  That will give me some more search parms.  My mate is sending me the label details when he can.  He is however a bassist, so extracting meaningful info out of him is challenging 

NB - the owner doesn't want to sell given he's had it ~70 years - he's just interested in knowing what he has.

DavidR

Don’t know really but my old 1960’s  Thinline Senator had identical metalwork at the bottom of the soundboard. 

Others correct. Numbering usually visible on back through f-hole. 

earwighoney

I like it a lot.  It looks like it could be a Liberace signature model. 

GTC

It looks like Zorro did the fretboard inlays!

BillDL

It's a Hofner Colourama.  It really was just a limited edition fancy version of the Senator (or perhaps Congress) made only for Selmer and for about 6 months between late 1956 and early 1957.  There was also a Colorama (US spelling) that was a solidbody electric guitar.  The Colourama shared the same tailpiece, tuning machines, scratchplate shape and bracket, and bridge with the Hofner Senator and Congress, but had the diamond inlays on the headstock, the split block fretboard inlays, the 3-ply nut, and came in large-flake glitter finishes that oxidise when the varnish checks and creates some strange patterns like lichen under the lacquer.  The headstock of the Senator changed shape from a relatively uniform and straight-sided affair (as shared with the Colourama) to one that's flared out into wings at the end in 1959.  You will probably find some photos in the https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk pages mentioned earlier if you can find a link that contains the models distributed by Selmer.

WezV

Like this
https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/archtops4/arch80.html
https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/archtops5/arch10.html
https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/archtops5/arch42.html

THE HOFNER COLOURAMA

The Hofner Colourama (not to be confused with the Hofner Colorama) was a very short-lived version of the Senator model. A very small number were produced only for Selmer London for a few months in late 1956, early 1957 and I have seen it in only one catalogue - the Selmer 1957 Season Trade Brochure which was actually printed in September 1956. I have ever seen only one example in real life. It has to be said that this guitar did not take off with the British guitar players of the time!

This guitar was "flash" in the Italian style, with a glitter body finish offered in red, gold or silver. The pickguard was white pearloid and the headstock matched this also in pearloid, but with a glitter diamond/dagger inlay to match the body finish. Pearloid strip fret-markers, again inlaid to match the body finish, were provided. Other than that, apart from having a bound neck, it was really a star-struck Senator.........

Penn

That’s amazing. 

Jfingers

It's a lovely looking instrument and I'm not one for 'bling'

ICBM

I think that's the coolest Höfner I've ever seen.

I wonder if the sparkle material - I'm guessing it's similar or identical to typical drum coverings - improves the tone? Those old Höfners are often rather brash and lacking bottom end, so something that deadens and thickens it a bit might actually be a good thing.

I may have the correct key to replace the missing machinehead, I'll have a look.

BillDL

I'm not sure whether the finish is actually a thin veneer of plastic with impregnated glitter they called "glitter Nacrolaque", or whether it is actually a lacquer finish incorporating metallic flakes.  The wording in the catalogue is ambiguous:

https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/archtops4/arch80.html

WezV

I'm fairly sure  it is a sheet of veneer material, they say it is "laminated with glitter Nacrolaque", which supports this.  I think it is the same sort of material used for drum and accordion wraps.  They've also cut it into shapes on the headstock, which shows shrinkage that paint wouldn't

it's likely flammable like old celluloid

i find it odd they did this on a purely acoustic instrument, but as @ICBM says, maybe it helped remove some brashness

Offset

@BillDL @ICBM @WezV - you are a trio of geniuses.  I have passed your collective wisdom onwards and upwards.

@ICBM - if you do happen to have a matching tuner peg, I'm sure it will be gratefully received.

Many, many thanks guys.

ElectricXII

That's a lovely looking guitar, but please ask the owner to trim the strings at the tuners. The excess string detracts from the beauty of the instrument.

Offset

ElectricXII said:

That's a lovely looking guitar, but please ask the owner to trim the strings at the tuners. The excess string detracts from the beauty of the instrument.

I've asked him to change the strings for the first time in 60 years 

The guitar hasn't been played for most of those many years.

On that topic - what sort of strings would be appropriate to fit to this guitar?

Roland

I used to string my President with 10-52s in an attempt to get a warmer tone. Even tried flat wounds at one point. Nowadays I’d be careful with heavier gauges because the guitar hasn’t got a truss rod.