Hofner-hunting
has been a retirement hobby for a while now and in the last year or two I have made contact with several people
still living near the old Hofner factory at Bubenreuth. Some are ex-employees, or
the relatives of people who worked there.
Another, for example, owned a Music Shop in the area and had
a close relationship with the factory. All
have stories to tell and I have been keen to follow up
anything that sounded interesting.
On just a few occasions
"The Red Hofner" has been mentioned. In
fact it was my pursuit of "The Red Hofner" that lead me to
find The Pöhlert Jazz Guitar, also featured on this website.
My interest in "The
Red Hofner" was
aroused because I recall very clearly seeing a Burgundy
Hofner in Selmer's window back in the early 60's. It was alongside
a garish Orange Sparkle finish Senator BUT called a "COLOURAMA"
that looked appalling.
Coincidentally, I
saw an Orange Sparkle Colourama for sale in France last year (I have no idea whether it was the same one or indeed if
Hofner even made more than one). But
the Burgundy Hofner looked good. It was a
President, finished just like a Framus Black Rose,
although
I don't remember more than that.
So when I discovered
this guitar (#073) I was intrigued. It was
another of those guitars that had been spirited away from the Bubenreuth
factory when it closed in 1984 and kept, out of site, like a
pension. I know this because I bought it
from the family which had kept it all those years.
It is a President
without doubt. When I acquired it I discovered
that the pickup had been changed but that everything else,
except the Bridge, seemed to be original.
What is unique about it, apart from the gorgeous finish, is
that it has a single pickup.
As far as I
know, Hofner never made a single pickup President and my
current researches confirm that there is not any
mention of a single pickup President in Hofner's
literature. The sister model,
the 457, was offered as E1 or E2 from its origin but never
the President. For a short period,
457s were sold as Presidents in Germany but you can tell the
difference.
It was only later,
when I discovered the Pöhlert, that I was able to put
these two guitars side by side for the first time.
The resemblance, one to the other, is striking.
The finish colours and sunbursts are identical.
There is every reason to believe they were made at the same
time. I say this because the reds that
Hofner used for example, on the 4572(i) and the 464 are not
the same, and on the 450 is quite a different colour!
Again "The Ruby" #017 is different, whereas #073 and #081 are really identical. Comparison of the pots in due course may confirm or
contradict this assertion!
Consequently, I
am now beginning to feel that this guitar might perhaps have
been made as an option to show Werner Pöhlert at the early
stages of the Pöhlert's development or maybe as a
Hofner spin-off from having made the Pöhlert.
My rationale for
believing this guitar to have been made alongside the
Pöhlert are detailed at the end of this page under the
heading "Notes for Nurds"
This is as far as my
researches have got - but the story will
continue here as I build up whatever evidence I can find.
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