# 1937 Hofner Archtop



## bluejay (Oct 22, 2006)

Have you ever seen one of these? My friend was told it is an approximately 1937 Hofner, not sure of the model. By the description at vintagehofner it sounds like it could be a Model 463. 

We think it has a special neck, smaller to fit a ladies hand? A new bridge has been professionally set up. You can see it is in nice condition, and it sounds better than it looks.


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

I have seen a few of these in Ottawa in the past and only one or two were playable.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

* "it sounds better than it looks"* 

:bow:  kksjur 

...must have killer tone, as it looks almost new in the pics

Dave


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

never came across one in such fine condition. looks mint. damn nice.
any numbers inside to help with dating?


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## bluejay (Oct 22, 2006)

> I have seen a few of these in Ottawa in the past and only one or two were playable.


I may know the reason. These guitars require light strings. If you use standard strings you stress them a bit too much. 



> ...must have killer tone, as it looks almost new in the pics


The tone is sweet. In the next couple of weeks I am taking it over to "a real players" house. Actually I know 3 or 4 real players, (but I'm not one of them). I am going to run it by them and ask them what they think. Yes it does look pretty mint. If you look at it real close you can see some hairline cracks in the lacquer. They add character to it really. 



> any numbers inside to help with dating?


I have not seen anything inside the F holes yet, no paper or numbers. I will have another look tomorrow, maybe with a mirror.


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## meloveguitars (Dec 18, 2008)

I have a similar one, I don't really know much about it, bought it in the 90s, I'd love to know the model number or whatever though and/or age.

I know it's about the loudest guitar I have ever heard. It's funny someone mentioned needing light strings on it, cause I've actually been thinking about putting lighter ones on it so it sounds a bit quieter and less harsh, I do think it has a bit of a cold tone to it, very metallic. I was wondering if there were some other kind of strings I could put on that were like wound differently than normal or had some different alloys in them or something that might make it smoother even.

Here are some pics I just whipped off, as you can see it's not the exact same as yours but very similar (and in rougher shape). Mine is a sort of golden-blonde colour with no real red in there, some browny tint near the edge of the body. The pictures don't do it justice though, it is by far the best looking guitar I own and one of the nicest I have seen (in my opinion), the real reason I bought it was it just looked so fantastic.



















Looking at those pics again, they really don't do it justice, it really glows in good light, and you can't make out the mother of pearl (or something like that) all over the headstock and on the block inlays, or the neck binding.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

those are fine lookin` guitars gents, I`ve posted this pic before and it`s my 1950 Kiso-Suzuki...a veritable baby compred to yours... but these are just so freakin cool...I love em. I did put light strings on mine and tuned it down half a step to get a slightly deeper voice on it, I don`t want to put heavier strings on it. Mine has a fat V shaped neck...what are yours like? One thing for sure...they weren`t using plywood when all of these were made, and it`s easy to see mine has at least a solid top and back...can`t tell about the sides but I`d wager they are too `cause of when it was made.


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## garretrevels (Mar 9, 2007)

Very nice guitars in this thread!

Here's the closest thing stylewise I got in my collection.

30s Stewart, all Maple!


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## bluejay (Oct 22, 2006)

> I have a similar one, I don't really know much about it, bought it in the 90s, I'd love to know the model number or whatever though and/or age.


If we find out about either, I would assume the other is the same. They are just so close in style and appearance. Are your tuning knobs white? Is that ivory?


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## meloveguitars (Dec 18, 2008)

bluejay said:


> If we find out about either, I would assume the other is the same. They are just so close in style and appearance. Are your tuning knobs white? Is that ivory?


Yeah ours def. seem to be the same model, different year.

My tuning knobs are like.. cream-coloured I guess. There is a seam on them where the front and back are joined. I don't know what they are made out of, I mean.. haha yeah I have no clue to be honest, I assumed it was plastic before, now that I go and tap them I guess it doesn't feel/sound exactly like I imagine plastic would, but who knows, I don't know much about that haha.

I looked at that vintagehofner site for a while trying to find this model with no luck, but I didn't go over the site completely. Maybe I will go over it a bit more later. There are actually 2 emails up there of people who seem to be okay with answering some questions about Hofners, so I'm going to shoot them a quick email asking if they know the model name.


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

bluejay said:


> Have you ever seen one of these? My friend was told it is an approximately 1937 Hofner, not sure of the model. By the description at vintagehofner it sounds like it could be a Model 463.
> We think it has a special neck, smaller to fit a ladies hand? A new bridge has been professionally set up. You can see it is in nice condition, and it sounds better than it looks.


Your friend was misinformed. The guitar is an early-to-mid 1950's Hofner Model 450. It is not pre-war. It is not a Model 463. Neck sizes varied on these instruments in the 1950's, and some are quite narrow. The scale length should be @25 1/4 - 25 1/2". It looks like it is in excellent original condition. I hope your friend kept the original bridge - the value of these instruments is not very high, but having all of the original parts helps to maintain that value.

Check for the date on the underside of the top, using a mirror and a flashlight.

- Hammertone


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

meloveguitars said:


> I have a similar one, I don't really know much about it, bought it in the 90s, I'd love to know the model number or whatever though and/or age.
> I know it's about the loudest guitar I have ever heard. It's funny someone mentioned needing light strings on it, cause I've actually been thinking about putting lighter ones on it so it sounds a bit quieter and less harsh, I do think it has a bit of a cold tone to it, very metallic. I was wondering if there were some other kind of strings I could put on that were like wound differently than normal or had some different alloys in them or something that might make it smoother even.
> ...[]...


This instrument is an early-to-mid 1950s Model 4550, which is 17" wide as opposed to the 16" wide Model 450 above. The best strings for it are standard "phosphor bronze" acoustic guitar strings, no lighter than .11 on top, propably no heavier than .12 on top.
- Hammertone


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## bluejay (Oct 22, 2006)

> The guitar is an early-to-mid 1950's Hofner Model 450.





> Check for the date on the underside of the top, using a mirror and a flashlight.


Thank you sir! :smile:

I will check it out ASAP. I am deep into a subwoofer build at the moment.


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## meloveguitars (Dec 18, 2008)

I really want to send super big thanks to Hammertone for shooting this info out! I really appreciate it, especially what strings to use, that's going to be very handy I am sure!

As for the fellow mentioning people buying a bunch of these in excellent condition in the early 90s, I should mention that mine is actually not in very good condition. I mean it's okay, but it has a lot of wear AND it has a big repaired crack in the neck/body joint. It works fine and everything, but yeah, mine def doesn't count as excellent condition.

I got mine at Encore Music Exchange in Scarborough back in the days before Ebay. They used to have a ton of old stuff like this, or Harmony Rockets or just all sorts of weird Teisco-like guitars, often in so-so condition.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

Paul said:


> I'm not sure what was going on back then, but I've met a crap load of people who bought late 50's to early 60's Hofner archtops in excellent condition, in the early 90's. I know because I'm in that group. A local music store had 6 or so come in at the same time.
> 
> I took the sucky single coil p'ups off it last year and put on a Kent Armstrong fret board mounted floating 'bucker. A new wood bridge to replace the nasty plastic slidy thing and it's a decent guitar.


i saw a half dozen or more of these in the early nineties- you are right, they were real available then. guys i knew were buying them and bringing them to me for repair. 
bieng totally ghetto, i bought a few of the harmony version instead lol, but at around the same time. everyone was getting rid of archtops in those days it seems.



> As for the fellow mentioning people buying a bunch of these in excellent condition in the early 90s, I should mention that mine is actually not in very good condition. I mean it's okay, but it has a lot of wear AND it has a big repaired crack in the neck/body joint. It works fine and everything, but yeah, mine def doesn't count as excellent condition.


wear and crack repairs are so common on older acoustics that they are becoming the norm- doesnt mean anything. youve got a nice guitar


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

I have bought, sold, repaired, restored or evaluated a great many of these guitars since 1980, when I first became interested in them. I used to sell them at Encore when Original Dave owned it. Interest in these guitars continues to grow and prices continue to rise, but they are still quite affordable and are a huge value.

The black plastic bridge with sliding white plastic pieces is tone-sucking garbage. It can easily be replaced with any of several period-correct archtop bridges still being made in Germany, from rosewood, ebony or dyed pearwood. These are fairly easy to find from resellers on ebay, luthiers supply places, and other resellers.

The black single coil pickups were very handmade - some of them are magic, some are terrible, and most are OK. Shadow makes a reissue version as used on Hofner's John Lennon Club 40 reissue guitar and is in use on the current late '50's-style Club 50 reissue.

Looks like this:


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## meloveguitars (Dec 18, 2008)

I wonder if I bought one of yours Hammertone, sounds likely. That store was so great when Dave owned it. I went in once when the new guy bought it and the stock seemed so lame, and they have an Epiphone Flying V with a big fake Gibson logo on the headstock, never been back.

Anyhow thanks for the info, love that last guitar!


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## meloveguitars (Dec 18, 2008)

BTW Hammertone, any clue what the going rate is these days for a 4550 in decent condition? I have no intention of selling mine and I know it's probably worth much, I'm just curious.


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

meloveguitars said:


> BTW Hammertone, any clue what the going rate is these days for a 4550 in decent condition? I have no intention of selling mine and I know it's probably worth much, I'm just curious.


They are all over the map. Any "blue book" type valuations are useless. Ignorant sellers give them away. Ignorant buyers overpay.

Call a reasonable range from CSD $600 - $1,200, assuming decent playability, originality, and condition. Just my 2 cents.

if you want a good reality check, check ebay.de for a few months for similar old Hofner archtops. Ebay.co.uk has a bunch too - usually with overpriced starting bids that result in no-bid auctions.


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## Prosonic (Apr 28, 2009)

Very Nice!


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## PHJim (May 23, 2012)

The guitar I learned my first three chords, on circa 1959, was a Hofner similar to the one pictured above. My brother got it new in the mid to late fifties. It differed in that instead of the block inlays it had three pearl dots, the middle one being a bit larger. That one didn't stand up to the wear and tear of the five siblings trying to be rock stars, but I did find one exactly like it in Peterborough's *Hank To Hendrix* guitar shop. Unfortunately, it was not for sale, but I found this photo of me trying it out on the *Hank To Hendrix* website.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

@PHJim ...your pic isn't showing.


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## PHJim (May 23, 2012)

Thanks Greco. How did you do that?


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Right clicked on IMG icon in your post...opened in new tab
Right click on image and chose "copy image address"
Chose "Image icon" ("mountains and sun" above) and pasted image into it.


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