


Page 1
Foreward.
Page 2
The Prototypes.
Page 3
Specification.
Page 4
The Register.
Page 5
Dating the guitars.
Page 6
Recent updates.
Published 14.06.2022
©
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the
justjazzguitars collection
Rare, Vintage, Jazz, Archtop, Guitar, Gibson,
Byrdland, D'Angelico, Guild, Hofner, Benedetto, Guitars for Sale,
Guitar Collection,
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The
Pöhlert Jazz Guitar. |
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1. Foreward. |
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My interest in this
guitar was aroused when I saw one on German eBay in
July 2010.
It was not like any guitar I had seen before.
Clearly it had Hofner DNA running through it but did not
bear the HOFNER name on the headstock.
Instead it had the name Pöhlert on the tailpiece and no other
reference to maker, model or date. It did not
have a makers label inside!
Such a good looking
archtop but I had not heard of Pöhlert or his guitar before. I talked at length with the seller.
He told me it was a dream to play so I bought it!
It came with some very
informative memorabilia - a pamphlet introducing Werner Pöhlert, his guitar, his
School and included a CD and some strings.
I can't say that this
is an important Hofner but it is interesting. It is one of "very few"
(thought to be only 6-8)* special instruments commissioned by Werner
Pöhlert, one for himself and the others for his students.
Herr Pöhlert was a
famous guitarist in Germany and had been voted Top Jazz
Guitarist at the 1957/58 German Jazz Festival.
He asked
Hofner to make him a quality archtop but at a price his
students could afford - not a HOFNER, a PÖHLERT
jazz guitar!
Werner's aim was to play a
high quality instrument that his students could also afford to play.
I
became intrigued by the story of this man and his dream.
I contacted Hofner but they had neither record nor
recollection of such a guitar. I asked
Steve Russell if such an instrument was included in Hofner's
catalogue archive that he was compiling at the time.
There was no such guitar.
"Apparently I had discovered an archtop that nobody was aware of
except, of course, those craftsmen who made it and a handful
of students at The Pöhlert School back in the 60's."
I
could think of only two people who might help kick-start my
research, Jochen Pöhlert, (Werner's son) and
Christian Benker, (CEO of Hofner when these guitars would
have been made). I
contacted both.
Jochen was most helpful,
setting the background and providing invaluable photographs.
By coincidence I was
fortunate to sit with Christian Benker over lunch in Dec 2010 and
we talked at length about the Pöhlerts (and much, much more).
He later followed up with some very helpful emails.
What I learned encouraged me to see what more I could find
out about these instruments and if possible to track them
down.
Over the last 12 years I
have "found" the prototype and six examples of The Pöhlert
Jazz Guitar - 7 in total. Their owners
have generously helped by providing detailed photos of each
guitar, offering some recollections and answering numerous questions.
So, I am now able to
compile this register and feel qualified to describe the
guitars is some detail.
Alan Cramp. June 2022 * ref
Christian Benker
Thanks:
I am indebted to Jochen
Pöhlert
for providing much of the original information contained here and to
Christian Benker for confirming some of the details.
Thanks also to Steve Russell for the occasional peek into
the Hofner archive and to all the owners who have
been so generous with their time and particularly to
Michael Arzt, the only remaining original owner who still has the
guitar he bought in 1964.
This Register is
being updated on a continuing basis.
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- 2 - |
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2. The Prototypes. |
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Werner Pöhlert's intention was
to play a high quality/low cost jazz archtop, good enough
for his own use in teaching and live performance. but
affordable for
his students.
They were to be known as "The Pöhlert Jazz Guitar",
simply inscribed Pöhlert on the tailpiece
without any reference to Hofner as the maker. The
finish would be "Black Rose" cellulose.
Hofner sent two prototypes, one based upon a modified
Committee with
simplified low cost construction and minimal ornamentation, the other based on a President
Thinline with a
single pickup.
Both prototypes,
however, had HOFNER in MoP on a bellflower headstock - the
Committee had an escutcheon tailpiece
inscribed Pöhlert as requested whereas the President had a
blank harp tailpiece.

©
Copyright the
justjazzguitars collection
The Committee version was chosen and
named "The Pöhlert Jazz Guitar" It had a laminate top with a square-cut cutaway (like
the President), cheaper position markers borrowed from the
Verithin, and did not
have a pickup selector switch, otherwise it was close to a
Committee. The President's "Bellflower" fascia
was chosen instead of the Committee's "Lily of the Valley" and
it did not
have any ornamentation on the back of the body.
Both prototypes had a sticker on the top, maybe it read
Prototype, Sample or probably Pöhlert, but both guitars were
scarred as the sticker must have been applied when the
cellulose was fresh and it left a permanent indent.
Clearly Hofner intended that these prototypes
should not be resold.
Here is the mark on the Committee top (just below the tailpiece).
The President has a similar mark. The transfer
just below the bridge from Musikhaus Ehret who sold most of
the guitars when new and resold them when students wished to
sell!

I have
been fortunate to have owned the President prototype and #02 and so have been in a
position to assess both guitars in detail. Jochen Pöhlert still owns
#00, the Committee prototype, and so
detailed comparisons have been possible.
The customer guitars are
really great instruments and stunning in the Black Rose
cellulose. Mine felt like a Committee
to play with a strong, rich voice and sounds more jazzy than
the Committee due to the 21 fret fingerboard allowing the
neck p/u to be placed at the second harmonic. |
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- 3 - |
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3. Werner's Specification: |
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HEAD:
Committee shape, bellflower
fascia, no HOFNER logo with edge binding. |
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TUNERS:
Nickel Van Gent tuners. |
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POSITION MARKERS
Inexpensive "Verithin"
style. |
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BODY:
Straight-cut, simple, inexpensive
cutaway, no ornamentation on back. |
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PICKUPS:
2 x 511 Staples mounted in "Toaster"
surrounds with 4 screws. No selector switch. |
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TAILPIECE:
Nickel Escutcheon
engraved Pöhlert. |
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Full dimensions and details can be
found in this special feature:
The
justjazzguitars Collection |
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- 4 - |
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4. The Register.
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All the Pöhlerts were made and supplied
in 1964/65. The
guitars were not numbered or dated so I have
ascribed numbers for easy reference, starting with the prototype #00,
Werner's guitar #01, then following the sequence in which I
found them.
The current and previous known owners
are shown beneath the guitar together with any special
notes: |
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#00 The Prototype. |
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This prototype and the President prototype were supplied
directly by Hofner. It still has the HOFNER logo but
the tailpiece is now correct!
It was used by a student.
Later it was sold through Musikhaus Ehret (as most were) and
has the Ehret transfer on the body. Later,
Jochen saw it on eBay and acquired it. |
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Ownership history: #00 |
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Current Location: |
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Jochen Pöhlert |
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Germany |
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eBay |
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Student from new |
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#01 Werner's Guitar |
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Just as Werner wanted
it. No HOFNER
logo. Even his personal guitar was
supplied by Ehret. |
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Ownership history: #01 |
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Current Location: |
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Pöhlert Family |
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Germany |
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Werner Pöhlert from new |
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#02 |
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#02 and #04 , are the
only two guitars that are alike. Neither have the Ehret
transfer. All the others
vary in some way. See the comparison below.
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Ownership history:
#02 |
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Current Location: |
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Wolfgang Kramer |
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Germany, UK, now back in Germany |
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Marcus Smidt-Merkel |
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Alan
Cramp |
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Norbert
Kluthe |
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Pöhlert Student or
students. |
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#03 |
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HOFNER logo but no
binding. |
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Ownership history: #03 |
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Current Location: |
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Boris Forkel |
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Germany |
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Matz Mullerschon |
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Pöhlert
Student from new |
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#04 |
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Ownership history: #04 |
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Current Location: |
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Jaume Miró |
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Spain |
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Unknown -
German eBay |
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#05
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Different engraving to
the others. |
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Ownership history: #05 |
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Current Location: |
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Michael Arzt from New |
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Germany |
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#06 |
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Undergoing light restoration to top.
This
guitar is
FOR SALE.
Please use CONTACT above. |
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Ownership history: #06 |
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Current Location: |
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Frank Lionhardi |
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Switzerland |
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#07 |
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#08 |
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COMPARISON OF FEATURES. |
HOFNER LOGO |
Headstock
BINDING |
Headstock NO
BINDING |
Tailpiece
Pöhlert |
Tailpiece
Modell Pöhlert |
Musikhaus
Ehret |
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00 |
01 |
02 |
03 |
04 |
05 |
06 |
07 |
08 |
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*1 |
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*? |
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*1 Not Originally
*? No evidence |
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- 5 - |
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5. Dating the guitars. |
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1 Pickups:
Both prototypes were fitted with Type
511 pickups mounted in "Toaster" type surrounds.
These were only available in 1964 and part of '65.
During '65 the 511 was re-designed with tabs to enable
height adjustment when mounted in the conventional Gibson
type humbucker surround.
All the customer Pöhlerts were fitted
with the 511/Toaster dating these guitars to '64/65
2 Pots:
The President prototype had pots
dated '64 which further confirms the dating as '64/65.
3 Body:
To reduce costs the Pöhlert Jazz
Guitar was made with the same square cut cutaway as the
President prototype. This decision was
clearly taken in '64/65 when both prototypes were reviewed
by Werner Pöhlert.
Square cut cutaways
had been used before by Hofner on their cheaper models but
never (catalogue search) on the 18" model where
only rounded cutaways had been used (as on the Committee).
Square cuts have not been used since the Pöhlert on an 18" body!
So, any 18" archtop with a square cut
cutaway has to be a '64/65 Pöhlert guitar.
4 Anecdotal:
Michael A, the original and still the
current owner of #05 - who was both
student then teacher at the Pöhlert School - bought his
guitar new in 1964 when they became available!!
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- 6 - |
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6. Recent Developments. |
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1 Musikhaus Ehret:
I recently contacted Musikhaus Ehret
seeking to confirm some of the early research but have not
had an answer. It appears that Hofner
supplied the prototypes direct to Werner Pöhlert and
possibly two more guitars but that most were supplied
through Musikhaus Ehret who also took back and resold
student guitars when they were no longer wanted.
Even Werner's personal guitar has the
Ehret transfer on the body and so it is normal and
reasonable to suspect that he played them all and selected
the one he wished to play!
Michael Arzt remembers buying and
collecting his guitar from the shop when he joined the
school, initially as a student then as a teacher. |
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2 Recent Discovery:
The acoustic. |
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This interesting and
very beautiful guitar has just come to light recently
(2022).
Wolfgang Kramer, who
has #02, now also has this guitar.
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It is almost
certainly the Factory Prototype for the Pöhlert (with pickup
added later).
Hofner used to make two kinds of prototype** - one,
The Factory Prototype was a
simple first example only to show the Board for approval,
to iron out any manufacturing snags and to decide that it was
viable. The second type of prototype was a
perfect hand made example (better than subsequent production
model), made to show the Press and for publicity pictures.
Reasons to believe
that this was the first prototype:
1 Accoustic.
It was Hofner's normal
practice to make the Factory Prototypes as acoustics since
their purpose was to show the construction, finish and
playability. Electrics would be
decided later! I have
owned such a guitar. If you look at #15 La
Provençale on my website you will see evidence of exactly
the same thing - an acoustic prototype.
2 Branding.
That this guitar has
a bound headstock with the HOFNER logo together with the "Modell
Pöhlert" tailpiece also gives some strong clues
as to its origin. We have it on record***
that Werner Pöhlert did not want a Hofner guitar called a
Pöhlert model like this one. So, having seen this prototype
Herr Pöhlert would presumably have stressed his desire to
drop the "Modell Pöhlert Tailpiece and HOFNER logo.
The finished prototype #00 has only the name Pöhlert tailpiece.
3 Provenance.
Unfortunately there
is not any provenance for this guitar. We have no information about
previous owners, it hasn't cropped up in my early
discussions with Jochen Pöhlert or Christian Benker and
neither Jochen nor Michael Arzt remembers such a
guitar at the school - it just seems to have
arrived on the scene recently.
In part that
further supports the possibility that it was the original
factory prototype, in which case it would have remained at
the Hofner factory, probably until 1984 when the Bubenreuth
factory closed. Clearly, there would not
be any early provenance for this guitar if it remained at
the factory.
So, I believe this
was the first Pöhlert prototype.
It would have remained in store at the factory as an
acoustic. Acquired after the closure of the Bubenreuth
factory in 1984 it has subsequently been
fitted with the pickup plate and, eventually sold by Ehret.
Without further research it is not possible to say
more.
I am keen to learn more
about this lovely instrument. If you can
add to our understanding of this important guitar, please
contact me on this website.
As more information
becomes available it will be re-considered for inclusion in
the register.
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* see The
Prototypes
**
source Christian Benker
*** source
Jochen Pöhlert |
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Updated 14.06.2022 |
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