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Bought myself a Hofner New president. Played a Ibanez JP20 and a Ibanez 2616. Man what a differnence. Much more overtones and clarity. Maybe it's not fair to compare these guitars. Both Ibbies serve well but has les dynamics.
Signed by Herbert Kaa. It's a pitty that Hofner doesn't built archtops anymore
A bit to shy to post something of my playing and don't have the gear to record properly. So just pics here.
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12-07-2025 07:02 AM
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Das ist wunderbar!
I see sawdust still left on the bridge
Congrats!
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These are very, very nice guitars. High quality craftsmanship.
I'd guess with this guitar the pickup is not floating.
Be very careful with the Ebony pickguard and pickup rings, because they can be extremely fragile.
The ebony tailpiece is a piece of ebony glued onto a metal tailpiece. The underside of this tailpiece has very sharp metal edges, which can easily scratch the top of the guitar, if not protected when all the strings are removed.
They are great guitars.
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Thnx, Put on a new set of Tomastiks today. Fingerboard and bridge lemonoiled so the dust is gone. I've noticed te brass part under the ebony tailpeace so i've put a cloath under it for protection. I believe the guitar hasn't been played a lot the last couple of years. Sounded good with the old strings, great with the new ones. Although i find new strings a bit sharp the first week.
Play it over my Koch Jupiter Amp with a Warehouse g12cs speaker. The Koch speaker was a bit to harsh for my ears. The WGS does a great job.
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I almost bought one of these from a forum member for a ridiculous low price like 15 years ago, but passed. Stupid.
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The pickup is floating, attached to the end of the neck. Not a lot of clearance, so the pickup ring could very well be sitting on the top plate. Lovely guitars, that punch very far above their low resale value. Carved spruce top, laminated anigree rims and back, 15 7/8" wide, 25 1/4" scale, 16th fret neck-body joint, and so on.
Originally Posted by GuyBoden
It's an early version of the New President. What's the the letter at the start of the serial number - A, B, C? The model had a bunch of minor tweaks over the course of its run from @1999-2015. Post a photo of the back!
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Yes, if it's a floating pickup, the pickup will be screwed into the end of the fretboard with tiny screws through the plastic pickup ring. I bought and replaced the plastic pickup ring a few times because they easily cracked. Originally Posted by Hammertone
An exceptional guitar, non the less.
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Hej There, Originally Posted by Hammertone
I was aware of the specs. The pickupring seems to be glued or screwd to the neck. Pickup doesn't touch the top. Compared to my Ibanezes (jp20 and artist2616) it's ... well you can't compare. Both ibanezzes are nice but the sound this guitar brings is another league.
The serial is C02282. So if my research is correct it's brought to life on februari 28 2002 and was number two of that day.
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Thnx Guy. I'm discovering it. It's bigger than my other guitars but i gauess i get used to that. The neck is a bit wider. It's nice for some pieces but in other songs , ..... wel i guess i'll get familiair with it .
Soundwise, great. Played an Eastman ar805ce couple of weeks ago. Realy a great, great guitar. But 3500 Euro hurts a bit to much. Although the wife didn't make a problem of it. The Eastman had a neck comparable to my Ibanezzes. So i wanted to compare the Hofner vs the Eastman. Ofcourse not in the same store. The Hofner had ppor strings on it but still sparkled. Pricewise almost halfway the Eastman.
Short story, i fell in love. First carved top guitar and what a difference.
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Beautiful spruce and maple. I like how you can very clearly see the clean spruce grain along the f-hole cuts.
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Beautiful guitar. Congratulations!
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How do you like the 16 fret neck? I recently bought a nice thinline archtop with a 16 fret neck, and I have to say it feels a bit awkward. It just seems out of proportion on the hollow archtop body. Will take a little time to get used to it.
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Hey Woody. Dunno, i need to adapt my style a bit. The guitar is Bigger then the Ibbies i own. Those are 15th fret necks. My Taylor is a 14th fret neck and can't get used to it. Time will tell.
I miss the pickup rings. Used tot use them as a handrest. So that needs some adaptation as well. Don't misunderstand me, i'm over the moon with the Hofner. Much happy days to comeLast edited by Rolf Field; 12-09-2025 at 03:00 PM.
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Every time I pull my New President off the rack, I always feel this sense of relief like "ah, there are the rest of the notes"
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I guess I get that feeling. I'm experiencing much more body/overtones compared to my other archtops. A pity they don't build archtops anymore.
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Yeah, my Sadowsky Bruno was a 15 neck, and I never felt anything unusual, other than the benefit of the added reach. It felt perfect. But the 16 neck seems to be a whole 'nother game. Maybe it's because it's a thinline, it feels more like an "electric guitar"(?) I just need to spend more time on it. Originally Posted by Rolf Field
Last edited by Woody Sound; 12-12-2025 at 10:14 AM.
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Don't want to go off topic, but could I just ask the make and model of thinline archtop you mentioned, Woody Sound? Thanks.
My first archtop was a Hofner president back in the early 60s, so interested to read this thread.
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Hofner President ('57) and New President ('04).
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