Weird Hofner Jazzica

[adamrhowe]

Hi, looking for any Hofner experts that might be able to do some detective work on this Jazzica?

I'm a big Jazzica fan and have come across this one for sale. The hardware has been changed and the serial number sticker is missing.

The listing states it has been refinished and restored but:

• there are no signs of the original volume and tone control holes on the body
• there are no signs of the original tuning peg screw holes

I think everything else looks correct?

Possibly a custom order?

I messaged the shop but no response.

Thanks!

[mr. beaumont]

Paging Mr. Hammertone. Mr. Hammertone, you have a phone call at the front desk.


What a cool guitar. Horner definitely made quite a few "one offs"

Interesting to me is the lines of the pick guard not being very "Hofnery" and the more generic, simple tailpiece. Im kind of wondering if this was ordered as an acoustic Jazzica and the pickup/pick guard was added later, and maybe the tailpiece changed to match the pickup?

[kris]

Hi, looking for any Hofner experts that might be able to do some detective work on this Jazzica?

I'm a big Jazzica fan and have come across this one for sale. The hardware has been changed and the serial number sticker is missing.

The listing states it has been refinished and restored but:

• there are no signs of the original volume and tone control holes on the body
• there are no signs of the original tuning peg screw holes

I think everything else looks correct?

Possibly a custom order?

I messaged the shop but no response.

Thanks!

Very nice!!!

[adamrhowe]

Paging Mr. Hammertone. Mr. Hammertone, you have a phone call at the front desk.


What a cool guitar. Horner definitely made quite a few "one offs"

Interesting to me is the lines of the pick guard not being very "Hofnery" and the more generic, simple tailpiece. Im kind of wondering if this was ordered as an acoustic Jazzica and the pickup/pick guard was added later, and maybe the tailpiece changed to match the pickup?

ooh interesting! I hadn't thought about the possibility of an acoutic Jazzica!

[2bornot2bop]

Love it! What price are they asking?

[Hammertone]

Hi, looking for any Hofner experts that might be able to do some detective work on this Jazzica? I'm a big Jazzica fan and have come across this one for sale. The hardware has been changed and the serial number sticker is missing.The listing states it has been refinished and restored but:
there are no signs of the original volume and tone control holes on the body
there are no signs of the original tuning peg screw holes.
I think everything else looks correct? Possibly a custom order?I messaged the shop but no response.Thanks!

Höfner revamped its archtop guitar line @1999/2000. The Jazzica Special was replaced by the Jazzica Custom. That model remained in production, on and off, from @2000-2018, with various small changes over the years.

Early versions (@'00-'02) of the Jazzica were offered in natural, with some made in sunburst and a handful in black. Most had natural finishes. The Vice-President was always sunburst. The New President was almost always natural, with a handful in black. The Verythin Classic was almost always natural, with a handful in sunburst and in black. The Verythin Standard was always transparent redburst.The finishes were all catalyzed poly.

The Jazzica in question is one of these instruments. A few points:
-the necks on these started to get bigger and bigger until feedback from buyers was noted and neck sizes became more average-sized.
-very early versions did not have any interior lining - the laminated rims were designed to be quite thick so that linings were not required. This was changed by making the rims thinner and adding linings (kerfed on the interior side). Top plates were made a bit thinner as well. This made the Jazzica and New President more acoustically responsive, but they were never meant to be purely acoustic archtop guitars.
-Höfner had some finishing issues at the time with a few guitars: too much clear coat; finish cracking (hideous and un-repairable with poly); cloudy finishes. And, there was a QC problem with scraping colour off of the binding of coloured instruments - it was poorly done on some instruments.
-pretty much all of the black ones clouded and are now mottled, silvery grey.

Höfner's solution to all of this at the time was to delete all of the colour options, which is why most Jazzicas have natural finishes. As well, they started to pay more attention to the thickness of their natural finishes, which continued to be catalyzed poly. They then introduced the violin varnish finish on a limited basis to some Jazzicas, New Presidents, and Verythin JS models, which was a great idea.

Not prone to waste, B-stock instruments were discounted and sold, although they were not marked as such. I sold many of these in the oughts, mostly Vice-Presidents. A few B-stock instruments, finished and unfinished, that did not have any hardware installed, were sold off. The Jazzica about which the OP is asking is one of these instruments.

None of the hardware on this guitar was installed by Höfner. It is not a custom order. The tuners, TRC, pickup, pickguard, bridge and tailpiece were all installed later, by someone who purchased the guitar directly from Höfner with no hardware on it.

[2bornot2bop]

I should add some Catalysed Poly to my coffee!

[adamrhowe]

Höfner revamped its archtop guitar line @1999/2000. The Jazzica Special was replaced by the Jazzica Custom. That model remained in production, on and off, from @2000-2018, with various small changes over the years.

Early versions (@'00-'02) of the Jazzica were offered in natural, with some made in sunburst and a handful in black. Most had natural finishes. The Vice-President was always sunburst. The New President was almost always natural, with a handful in black. The Verythin Classic was almost always natural, with a handful in black. The Verythin Standard was always transparent redburst.The finishes were all catalyzed poly.

The Jazzica in question is one of these instruments. A few points:
-the necks on these started to get bigger and bigger until feedback from buyers was noted and neck sizes became more average-sized.
-very early versions did not have any interior lining - the laminated rims were designed to be quite thick so that linings were not required. This was changed by making the rims thinner and adding linings (kerfed on the interior side). Top plates were made a bit thinner as well. This made the Jazzica and New President more acoustically responsive, but they were never meant to be purely acoustic archtop guitars.
-Höfner had some finishing issues at the time. Some instruments had too much clear coat. Finish cracking was an issue. It is hideous and un-repairable with poly finishes. Some instruments had cloudy finishes due to a never-sorted-out issue with (most likely) a chemical reaction between the sealer coat and the clear coat. And, there was a problem with scraping colour off of the binding on the coloured instruments - it was poorly done on some instruments.
-Höfner's solution to all of this was to discontinue all of the coloured instruments, which is why most Jazzicas have natural finishes. As well, they started to pay more attention to the thickness of their natural finishes, which continued to be catalyzed poly. They then introduced the violin varnish finish on a limited basis to some Jazzicas, New Presidents, and Verythin JS models.

Not prone to waste, B-stock instruments were discounted and sold, although they were not marked as such. A few B-stock instruments that had been finished, but did not have any hardware installed, were sold off. The Jazzica about which the OP is asking is one of these instruments.

None of the hardware on this guitar was installed by Höfner. It is not a custom order. The tuners, TRC, pickup, pickguard, bridge and tailpiece were all installed later, by someone who purchased the guitar with no hardware on it.

Thank you so much Hammertone! That explains perfectly why there is no serial number.

The finish does indeed have cracks in it. I have uploaded a picture below - is this the kind of cracks you mean? The shop thinks it is a refinish.

Assuming the finish is original, would you say for definite it was made between '00-'02?

[Woody Sound]

Gorgeous burst color to die for. Is it 16"? 17"?

[adamrhowe]

Gorgeous burst color to die for. Is it 16"? 17"?

16"

[Hammertone]

Gorgeous burst color to die for. Is it 16"? 17"?

16"

15 7/8", actually.

[Hammertone]

Thank you so much Hammertone! That explains perfectly why there is no serial number.
The finish does indeed have cracks in it. I have uploaded a picture below - is this the kind of cracks you mean? The shop thinks it is a refinish.
Assuming the finish is original, would you say for definite it was made between '00-'02?

[ed: I reviewed pix of sunburst Jazzicas and believe this started as a Jazzica with no finish on it, as the style of the sunburst is different from the Hofner factory sunburst finish]. If it is nitro, it was definitely not done by Hofner. The finish cracks are typical of older instruments in general.

I do not think an original poly finish was removed. Only an insane person would remove the poly finish from one of these guitars, because it is an exceedingly difficult thing to do. I should know. I've done it a few times.

Call it a 2002 for now and stop overthinking it. It could be a bit later - it really doesn't matter [ed: it could be an instrument built anytime between 2002 and 2005]. One of the small changes at the time (2002) was the introduction of a maple veneer on the back of the headstock, which hides the glue lines of the little maple strips added to both sides of the headstock to make it wider. Without a label, this guitar would not have been entered in the production logs. Höfner only made @700 Jazzica Customs between 2000 and 2018.

[Cunamara]

Is that a crack in the finish or in the wood?

Beautiful burst.

[Hammertone]

I have kept a few things, including one Jazzica, as a memento of my time working with Höfner (1999-2026). It was finished by the Höfner USA Custom Shop. In poly! We shall see what the future brings under GEWA ownership, but I doubt it will include archtop guitars.

[johaneugen]

A great guitarist from Sweden plays these guitars. Theres a new president that popped up for a good price...maybe I should try it.

Johan here plays a jazzica

[kris]

A great guitarist from Sweden plays these guitars. Theres a new president that popped up for a good price...maybe I should try it.

Johan here plays a jazzica

Exelent sound and playing.

[Woody Sound]

Only an insane person would remove the poly finish from one of these guitars, because it is an exceedingly difficult thing to do. I should know. I've done it a few times.

So you are insane?

[adamrhowe]

Love it! What price are they asking?

£1400!

[adamrhowe]

If the finish is poly, it's definitely the original finish. Those cracks are typical. If it is nitro, it was definitely refinished.
My guess would be original finish. Only an insane person would remove the poly finish from one of these guitars, because it is an exceedingly difficult thing to do. I should know. I've done it a few times.

Call it a 2002 for now and stop overthinking it. It could be a bit later - it really doesn't matter. One of the small changes at the time was the introduction of a maple veneer on the back of the headstock, which hid the glue lines of the little maple strips added to both sides of the headstock to make it wider. I'll get around to checking some archive pix to get a better date range. Without a label, this guitar would not have been entered in the production logs. Höfner only made @700 Jazzica Customs between 2000 and 2018.

Thank you! I think i'm probably going to buy it, so I wanted to know as much as possible about it and always find it nice to know the year. I can see this one has the maple veneer.

Is it possible some of them were sold unfinished? I can't see any picture of a Jazzica with this shade of sunburst - all of them are much darker.

[adamrhowe]

I have kept a few things, including one Jazzica, as a memento of my time working with Höfner (1999-2026). It was finished by the Höfner USA Custom Shop. In poly! We shall see what the future brings under GEWA ownership, but I doubt it will include archtop guitars.

wow!

[skykomishone]

I had one similar to yours HT!
Nice guitar, great ergonomics, insane access to high notes.
Beautiful!

[Hammertone]

Thank you! I think i'm probably going to buy it, so I wanted to know as much as possible about it and always find it nice to know the year. I can see this one has the maple veneer.
Is it possible some of them were sold unfinished? I can't see any picture of a Jazzica with this shade of sunburst - all of them are much darker.

That is very possible. Most likely, actually. I reviewed pix of Jazzicas in my files. The sunburst Jazzicas from @2002-2004 have a very different pattern to them. I think this instrument was built in the 2002-2005 timeframe, and most likely sold with no finish on it.

I'd install a proper Höfner tailpiece, nicer pickguard, and better/more appropriate tuners onto that guitar. Here's a shot of the last Jazzica that went through the Hofner Canada Custom Shop. Easy enough to find this tailpiece, and it is much better quality than the ebony-capped model. I have plenty of them, but it should easy to get from Alan Exley in England, or Norbert Schnepel in Germany.

[adamrhowe]

That is very possible. Most likely, actually. I reviewed pix of Jazzicas in my files. The sunburst Jazzicas from @2002-2004 have a very different pattern to them. I think this instrument was built in the 2002-2005 timeframe, and most likely sold with no finish on it.

I'd install a proper Höfner tailpiece, nicer pickguard, and better/more appropriate tuners onto that guitar. Here's a shot of the last Jazzica that went through the Hofner Canada Custom Shop. Easy enough to find this tailpiece, and it is much better quality than the ebony-capped model. I have plenty of them, but it should easy to get from Alan Exley in England, or Norbert Schnepel in Germany.

Wow! Those gold top jazzicas look pristine!

I went a bit insane and started to research other things that might narrow down the production year. I noticed some have cream and black binding (my '07) and some have cream black/white binding (your gold top) but I think it is probably just some have discoloured more than others . I can't tell much of a difference between any of them made 2002 onwards without the hardware (I think the truss rod cover changed to ebony around 2006ish?), however, AI did tell me the body was made slightly thinner at the heel at some point but im not sure whether to believe it!

If I do buy it, I will absolutely replace all the hardware. I will try to source another original pickguard as those are a work of art.

[Hammertone]

I have Jazzica pickguards. Easy enough to mail to the UK. Same for the tailpiece, the OEM pickup and other unique / OEM parts. Schaller tuners as well, although those are easy enough to source. My pricing, even with shipping (small box) and VAT, might even be better than Alan Exley. Or not. I'll follow up with you via PM.