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This is the basic info I gathered on Höfner models in many an internet search – Hammertone, our höfnerologist, will likely intervene if he sees anything wrong. I omitted lower models that were in any case all laminated.
Originally Posted by Musgo Real
radiofm, thank your for your input and the two sound examples. The Loar sounds acousticly better for my taste. But the amplified sound of the Höfner is realy great. Love it.
These are two beautiful guitars, specially the Höfner. As you mentioned here in Germany there are lots of used Höfners but this company made so many different models since the 50ties, so it is hard to find the right one and also to get informations about the wood, the guitars were made of. Prizes are also very variable. You can get a Höfner starting from 200 Euro, but also have to pay around 1500 - 2000 Euro, depending on the model. I think I will give The Loar LH 600 a try....just need the money for it.
- Golden Höfner (18’’). Top model, rare.
- 470 (late 1950s-1990s: über-fanciest, top was inconsistently lam or carved (!!) 17’5’’ body, with/wo cutaway, blonde only, maximum binding top and back + binding on sides, conventional f-holes w/ 3-ply binding, escutcheon tailpiece
- 468 (Committee) (1953-1968) fanciest, top was inconsistently lam or carved (!!) 17’5’’ body, with/wo cutaway, brunet/blonde, 8-ply binding, conventional f-holes, nickel escutcheon tail
- 465 (1951-1970), solid spruce top (50s), rosewood back and sides, 16’5’’ body, with/without cutaway, natural, normal f-holes, herringbone purfling around top, nickel escutcheon tail
- 464/s (1954-1968), solid spruce top (?), 16’’ body, cutaway, dark red/red burst, 8-ply binding, sickle f-holes+diamond shaped hole below fingerboard, escutcheon tail … can’t fit PUP at neck!
- 463 (1952-1990s), solid spruce top (acoustic model), 16’’ body, with/without cutaway, purfling, lyraform tailpiece
- 462 (carved solid spruce on earlier guitars)
- 459 (“spruce top” = lam, 25’5’’ scale)?
- 458 (Black Beauty): spoken highly of in justjazzguitar.com “provided they are good”… ?
- 457 (President): “solid carved spruce" into the ‘60s says vintagehofner.co.uk… check (also spoken highly of in justjazzguitars.com)
- 4550: lam, 25’5’’, with/without cutaway, 17’’ body (only one together with Committee)
- 455 (Senator): lam… still worth looking at if moderately priced
Other makers’ noteworthy models:
Hoyer Meisterklasse and Starlet (reported as all carved); Herr im Frack also (but it’s a bit of a special look).
Best!
F
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12-02-2018 06:53 AM
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Wow...these are great informations. Think you have put a lot of time searching in the net for this. Thank you a lot for sharing that with us. I appreciate that very much and I think others will do the same. Originally Posted by radiofm74
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Sounds nice, I might have to try the rhythm chief Originally Posted by radiofm74
Hi OP,
I do have a Loar LH-700 and a Höfner so I think I can contribute something.
Loar
It’s a beautiful guitar with a big acoustic voice. Without wanting to diss anyone’s favorite, many of the guitars that have been mentioned as alternatives are IME nowhere close in timbre and volume (Guild Savoy, EXL-1, Epi Broadway – which I’ve had for quite sometime – or the new Epi “MAsterbilt”).
Note: when I bought it mine had on Gally black nylons, if you can believe it, and some of those who posted very critical comments had put flatwounds on. If you want a big acoustic voice, you have to put on the right strings. With Monel 12s, mine sings loud enough to play acoustically in small ensembles.
It does have a big, V-shape neck. It’s not to everyone’s tastes. To me, it’s ideal for playing “Freddy Green” grips and chord melody of the era.
Quality-wise: good woods, good neck-angle, it needed a 30€ fret level and I am utterly unconcerned with how the paint looks under the fretboard extension or whether the F-holes are bound
. Once it’s set-up well (and EVERY guitar needs a set-up) it plays and sounds great.
So in conclusion: it’s a very good guitar and if you want a replica of a 1920s archtop for below 1000, you basically have no alternative – a LH-700 or a LH-600 which, as far as I know, is the same guitar, just a little less ornate.
Of course “try before buy” would be ideal, but Thomann has a good return policy, so. Finding one used would be nice as well… lots of persons bought it for the wrong reasons or disliked the neck and want to get rid of it. I got mine for 500€ 1 yr ago.
Höfner
I have bought a Höfner about 2 months ago and I’d recommend you consider it, especially since you’re in Germany. If you want to do that, you have to do a bit of homework so you know what you’re looking for. There’s a lot of info on the web (guitarhq, dedicated “vintage höfner” site…). The modern Höfner company explicitly state on their website that they don’t answer on vintage models, so no surprise there at all.
I did my homework and spotted mine among many lesser ones being sold for about the same price. A 1953 model 465: carved spruce top, lam rosewood sides and back, in beautiful shape. It has a different voice from the Loar: scooped, less bark and sweeter – but in terms of volume and projection it competes.
The neck is also very different: big “D” profile, with a very round fretboard and narrow nut. Extremely comfortable to play, especially for rhythm and single note soloing… less so for chord melody due to the narrow string spacing. But all in all, a more comfortable guitar than the Loar. (BTW: I never thought I’d buy a non truss rod guitar, but the early 50s big maple neck with a metal reinforcement has withstood the test of time and is straight as an arrow).
I would recommend you look them up, and other German top-of-the-line archtops (e.g. the all-carved Hoyer Meisterklasse if you like the aesthetics, which I don’t).
DeArmonds
As Jeff pointed out, putting a floater on them has nothing to do with dissatisfaction with the acoustic voice, and everything to do with adding a beautiful jazz sound without compromising that acoustic voice. Personally, when I play in a band situation, I play rhythm acoustically (with a mic) and kick in my DeArmond when I have to solo.
I enclose a couple pics (apologies to those who’ve seen them 1000 times already) and two sound samples taken with an AudioTechnica mic into Garageband. The “Sweet georgia brown” intro is the Loar, the “Stomping at the Savoy” thing is the Höfner both acoustic and electric with a DeArmond Rhythm Chief. I have improved the electric set-up since, but I thing the two clips capture the difference in acoustic voice (and my bad playing too…).
Attachment 57996Attachment 57995
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Here's my lh 300. I really like it.
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Do you have a video, showing the pure acoustic sound of your LH 300, too? What amp and pickup were used in this video? Originally Posted by don_oz
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Originally Posted by Musgo Real
Oz on Instagram: “Playing Art Tatum on guitar is mad hard you know.
#arttatum #missjones #jazz #theloar #hardshit”
Oz on Instagram: “Celia - Bud Powell. 23rd February 1949.”
Back when I had the guild rc1000 reissue on it. Now I have a custom vintage vibe floating mini humbucker CC pickup
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Godin does consistently great apples while Loar does occasionally slightly mouldy oranges?
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I've never played a 300...just multiple 309's and the thin bodied one...which I maintain were terrible.
Maybe it's as simple as the Loar puts a lot more care into the acoustic models?
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I used a boss katana 50 and a custom vintage vibe Charlie Christian floating humbucker in the tea for two video.
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These affordable Boss Katana 50 and 100W solid state amps seem to have a big fan club here at jazzguitar.be. Originally Posted by don_oz
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