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Hofner Guitars

Hofner Guitars

About Me

Hi, welcome to the Official Hofner Guitar MySpace site. Here you'll find details of our guitar range and news on new models & artists. First some history: Master violin maker Karl Hofner founded his own stringed and fretted instrument company in Germany in 1887. With a reputation for quality, craftsmanship and innovation Hofner soon became the largest manufacturer in Germany. During the 50's Hofner introduced a new range of archtop acoustic guitars. Some of the first Hofner electro-acoustic jazz guitars with floating pickups were produced during this time. In 1954 the first Hofner electric guitars with built in pickups were introduced. These 'Club' guitars looked solid but were in fact hollow and followed the design of the archtop models, the first 'solid' electric guitars were launched in Germany in 1956 and evolved through a series of designs including single cutaway, twin cutaway and offset body styles with one, two or three pickups and many introduced early tremolo systems and complex tone shaping controls & electric circuits. During this time of innovation and change of the music scene in America and Europe Hofner produced some of it's most well known guitars including the Senator, President, Verythin, Committee and Golden Hofner. These guitars found fame in the hands of many top European guitarists and helped form the sound of European Rock'n'Roll and Beat Group music. In 1956 at the Frankfurtfurt Music Fair Walter Hofner introduced a violin shaped semi-acoustic bass guitar and over the years the design of this bass has changed very little. Picked up in Hamburg by Paul McCartney in 1961 the violin bass is perhaps the most iconic of all Hofner's guitars, a bass that continues to be as popular now as in the 60's, a model that is still in production and is one of a very select group of guitars which have never been out of production and can trace a direct line back to the 50's.The Hofner story does not stop in the 60's however, during the 70's and 80's Hofner continued to be one of the largest manufacturers of stringed instruments in Germany. The electric guitar range continued to be produced and the Galaxie and Colorama models were still to be seen in the hands of many guitar heroes. New jazz and semi-acoustic models were introduced during this period and helped pushed forward sound innovations for Europen made guitars. Indeed many of these models, the Nightingale for example, have influenced the current range of jazz and electric guitars crafted by Hofner today. After changes of ownership during the 90's the company is now once again family owned, at the leading edge of European guitar design and innovation and is still the largest manufacturer of stringed instruments in Germany. The new range of Hofner guitars and basses draws from all the history and tradition of the Hofner company and combines modern cutting edge design and technology with a love of craftsmanship and a desire to make the best possible instruments available today.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 7/4/2006
Band Website: hofner.com
Band Members:



Influences: The Beatles, Bryan Adams, Lee Alexander, Denny Jiosa, Audioporn, Babyshambles, Matt Aschkynazo, Tim Christensen, Bobby Broom, Paul Carrack, The Kooks, Cat the Dog, David Catlin-Birch, Mohair, Ben Christophers, Ima Robot, Garrett Dahm, Bob Daisley, Jack Daley, Engineers, Mark Peters, Winters, Adrien Munden, Justin Medal Johnson, Onder Focan, Paul McCartney, Jack Grassel, Bruce Hall, Bell X1, Sid Jacobs, Kashmir, Tesla, Bill Liesegang, Chris McCormack, Hugh McDonald, Gomez, Tim Slade, James Nisbet, Jamie Taylor, Danny Parks, Fun Lovin Criminals, The Panic Channel, Cheap Trick, Wilco, Tom Petersson, Suns of the Tundra, The Kills, The Section, Nicola Quilter, Sinna, Chris Rea, Michael Rhodes, Tyler Roberts, Rich Severson, John Stirratt, John Stowell, Mick Box, Chris Chaney, Joe Brown, Uriah Heep, Vincent Vincent & the Villans, Leland Sklar, Rob Wasserman, The Bootleg Beatles, Anthony Weller, The Kills, Anson Wright, Guitarist Magazine, Total Guitar, The Staves, Adam Evans, The Staves, Rodney Branigan, Tesla, Uli Jon Roth, Torsten Goods, The On Offs,
Sounds Like:
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Hofner News

Hi, mostly tour news this time. Mohair are about to start a tour in the US with Razorlight, check www.myspace.com/mohairmusic for details. Tom will be playing his Verythin Standard. Bobby Broom, accla...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Tue, 20 Feb 2007 05:44:00 PST

News From NAMM

The NAMM music show has just finished in America. Hofner launched a few new models which will be introduced over the next few months. This is an exciting time for Hofner. 2007 is our 120th annivesary...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Tue, 30 Jan 2007 02:54:00 PST

Music, Gigs, Shows & Books

First this month thanks to Adam Evans for allowing us to use one of his tracks on our site. Adam is a great guitarist who plays in Charlotte Church's band. He has a Verythin Standard. See www.myspace....
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Wed, 08 Nov 2006 04:55:00 PST

Chris Rea, Winters & The Bootleg Beatles

First this month a visit to London to the Chris Rea new Live CD launch. A chance to see Chris live in a small venue. Great sound & great band. Chris really is the best slide guitarist we've s...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Wed, 18 Oct 2006 07:42:00 PST

Winters, On Offs, Macaris & news from the US

A busy time for Hofner this week. First we saw Andy from the On Offs. Check out their site & Andy's ( www.myspace.com/theonoffs www.myspace/andycrofts )for details of their upcoming tours with The...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:14:00 PST

Mohair in Tring

We went to see Mohair in Tring last week. Great gig by a really great band. They're on their way to America soon so go see them if you can, it'll be worth it. Excellent musicians & great ener...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Wed, 06 Sep 2006 04:21:00 PST

Old & Vintage Hofner & New Releases

If you have an old Hofner guitar & want to find out more or if you just want to know all about Hofner guitars then you could do no better than check out www.vintagehofner.co.uk...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Mon, 21 Aug 2006 04:02:00 PST

New Artists in America

Some new artists to welcolme to the Hofner fold. Bassists Justin Medal Johnsen, Chris Chaney & Brian Wheat. Justin has played and recorded with Beck, Macy Gray, Tori Amos, Black Eyed Peas, David B...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Fri, 04 Aug 2006 03:53:00 PST

KoKo, Fez & Bob

Did you go to the Purple Turtle to see Audioporn? You should have. We went with Andy, our drummer friend who was fresh from Download playing with Suns of the Tundra & we bumped into Winters ...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Wed, 26 Jul 2006 02:52:00 PST

Guitarist, Winters, Photos & Audioporn

Hofner News: Check out this months Guitarist magazine for the great review of the latest additions to the Hofner range, the Contemporary Series Violin Bass & Verythin. Summer 2006 issue&...
Posted by Hofner Guitars on Wed, 19 Jul 2006 02:58:00 PST