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RODEBALD HOYER
Rodebald Hoyer (Rod) was
born in Schoenbach (1909) in the German speaking part of
what is now called the Czechoslovakia. He worked
alone with his father Anton and was later joined by Arthur
Lang, as Anton's student. The family were not
related to Arnold Hoyer, the better known guitar
makers.
Schoenbach was a centre
for stringed instrument making but after WW11, the German
speaking peoples were expelled from the Czech Republic and
the luthier community migrated to Bavaria.
Rodebald set up his own
workshop when his father died, concentrating mainly on
archtops. Initially, all his guitars were
carved from solid woods but later a few laminate models were
introduced. Throughout, however, he
continued to use solid sides rather than to use laminates
and always made his own neck blanks which he carved himself.
Some guitars are
labelled but most are not.
This is a special guitar
- it is thought that only 15 or so "Mahogany"
Jazzstars were made with cutaways and just a few earlier
examples without cutaways.
It is pure
vintage. The top and back are hand-formed
Mahogany laminates with 3" solid
Maple sides, made in Bavaria in 1959. It has a
very modern feel to the neck (no truss-rod) with a slender D
shape profile and large radius fingerboard with 25.5" scale.
It is very elegant,
almost deco, with its faux tortoiseshell binding
Structurally it is sound and stable - the frets
are really good.
Musically, it is
superb. It has a jazzy, mellow voice
with a balanced tone and excellent projection.
Very
musical - and very rewarding to play
acoustically*.
At 60
years old, it is in outstanding condition.
Cosmetically, it looks amazing, almost perfect.
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