Höfner

For a differently spelled name, see Höffner.

A Höfner 500/1 "violin bass" similar to the one used by Paul McCartney

Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments.

Much of Höfner's popularity is attributed to Sir Paul McCartney's use of the Höfner 500/1 bass throughout his career. This violin-shaped model is commonly referred to as the "Beatle bass."

Company history

The Höfner company was founded by luthier Karl Höfner in the city of Schönbach in 1887, at a time when the city, later to become Czech, was German. He soon became the largest manufacturer of string instruments in the country. His sons Josef and Walter joined the company around 1920, and began spreading the brand's reputation worldwide. The company suffered some upheavals during and after World War II, but survived and continued to thrive. The company built new factories in Bubenreuth, Western Germany in 1950.

Changes of ownership

In the 1950s and 1960s, Höfner instruments were distributed by Selmer of London. They were considerably more accessible to budding musicians than American-made guitars, which were expensive if obtainable at all, giving Höfners a place in history as the "starter" instruments of several well known 1960s musicians.

In 1994, Höfner became part of the Boosey & Hawkes Group, and was able to expand and upgrade its facilities with the influx of cash. In 1997, the company moved from Bubenreuth to Hagenau.

After a near-bankruptcy in 2003 Boosey & Hawkes sold its musical instrument division (including the Höfner and Buffet Crampon companies) to The Music Group, a company formed by rescue buyout specialists Rutland Fund Management, for £33.2 million.

Höfner remained a part of this conglomerate until January 2005, when The Music Group sold the company to Klaus Schöller, who has been the General Manager of Höfner for many years.

In 2005, Höfner's USA distribution was picked up by Chicago firm Classic Musical Instruments (CMI).

Selected models

A Hofner Shorty

The names of these guitars were devised by the Selmer company for the UK market. Elsewhere, they were know by model numbers.

• The Ambassador. A thinline semi-acoustic with two florentine cutaways.
• The Chancellor. A high-end archtop guitar available in limited numbers.
• Club 40, 50 and 60. Hollow bodied electric guitars without soundholes. Still manufactured, the current Clubs have Gibson Les Paul style bodyshape.
• The original Coloramas were inexpensive semi-solid body electric guitars with plywood construction. The current Chinese made ones are sold bodies with retro styling.
• The Committee was the top-of-the-range archtop.
• The Congress, a non-cutaway archtop guitar. Early models had a 12th fret neck join.
• J17. The current range of archtops.
• The President: a family of mid-range archtops, with a single cutaway. A version, the "New president" is still manufactured.
• The Senator: a family of archtops, with many variations.
• The Shorty. A relatively recent (1982) travel guitar Now made in China.
• The Verithin. A Gibson ES-335 style semi-acoustic guitar. with a body only 30mm deep. Chinese-made (CT-series) models are still available, renamed "Verythin" for legal reasons.
• Violin guitar. Introduced subsequently to the violin bass.
• The V2, V3 and V4 solid body electric guitars with a telecaster like body shape.

Notable Höfner users

Paul McCartney

A Club 40 as used by John Lennon

The company was made famous through its association with The Beatles and Paul McCartney, principally through their Höfner 500/1 model hollow-body electric bass, first manufactured in 1956.

McCartney played two left-handed 500/1 basses during most of the group's career – a 1961 model with pickups mounted close together towards the neck, and a 1963 model, with the second pickup mounted closer to the bridge. McCartney used the 1961 bass until the recording of With the Beatles in late 1963, when he obtained his second 500/1. McCartney used his 1963 bass almost exclusively during The Beatles' touring career, using his 1961 bass (which was repaired and refinished in 1964) as a backup. Although by 1966 McCartney had begun using a Rickenbacker bass in-studio, he did break out his 1961 model for the "Revolution" promo film in 1968 and for the documentary Let It Be the following year. During the shooting, however, the 1961 bass was stolen, and McCartney used his newer Höfner for the remainder of the film, including the famous rooftop performance. McCartney has continued to use his 1963 Höfner extensively throughout his solo career and continues to use it today.

Beatles guitarists George Harrison and John Lennon also used Höfner electric guitars (Club 40 and President models) during the formative years of the group's career, and the band's former bassist Stuart Sutcliffe also played a Höfner 333 Bass.

Other Violin Bass users

• Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth has used a 500/2 bass, similar to the "Beatle Bass" apart from the far more conventionally guitar-shaped body.
• Chris Wood, the bassist from Medeski Martin & Wood, plays a 500/1 as one of his four main basses.
• Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies also played a 500/2 bass.
• Robbie Shakespeare of reggae greats Sly and Robbie used a 500/1 "Beatle bass."
• Ken Stringfellow played a Höfner bass during hs first tour with Big Star.
• Richard Brown of 1960s groups "The Triremes" and "The Beat Pedlars" played a 500/1. These bands often appeared in support of major acts of the day, including "The Naturals," "Manfred Mann," "Unit 4 +2" and "The Zombies." He says, "It had a great sound, but was neck heavy and would slip round with the satin covered straps available at that time."

Other users

1953 model 465s acoustic archtop

• Bert Weedon, now best known for his tutorial works, had a variety of Höfners.
• Hank Marvin's first guitar was a Congress.
• Eric Clapton learned to play on a Höfner acoustic.
• The young Richie Blackmore played a club 50.
• A Senator was Peter Green's first real guitar.
• Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones traded in a stack of records in order to purchase his first guitar, which was a hollow-body Höfner cut away.
• Folk Baroque pioneer Davy Graham played a Congress.
• Mark Knopfler's first guitar was a V2 solid.
• The Stone Roses' John Squire used a Höfner semi-acoustic guitar (featuring a self-applied Jackson Pollock-style paintjob).
• The Auteurs' Luke Haines uses a Committee.
• Jamie Hince of The Kills
• Early Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe traded a painting costing 50 guineas for a Hofner President bass.
• Albert Lee's first guitar was a Hofner President Acoustic

See also

• Paul McCartney World Tour booklet, EMAP Metro, MPL Communications 1989

External links

• Current Höfner GmbH website
• Höfner GmbH page at The Music Group (web archive)
• Vintage Höfner: a collector's site
• Jazz Gitarren (English)