Help to identify old electric guitar please...

Henrytwang

Jack_ said:

How does one find these sorts of guitars?

Get up early on Sunday mornings and go to car boot sales. I’ve done it in the past and bought many old guitars and amps at very low prices. You have the be quick and get ahead of the dealers  who swarm around such places.  You  won’t find a treasure every week but they do turn up, not as frequently as they used to due to the eBay effect, but they are out there.

HarrySeven

Henrytwang said:

Jack_ said:

How does one find these sorts of guitars?

Get up early on Sunday mornings and go to car boot sales. I’ve done it in the past and bought many old guitars and amps at very low prices. You have the be quick and get ahead of the dealers  who swarm around such places.  You  won’t find a treasure every week but they do turn up, not as frequently as they used to due to the eBay effect, but they are out there.

^This.

I scoured bootsales for over 30 years and purchased some amazing vintage (and contemporary) gear.

Saying that, I CBA nowadays - the ratio of interesting shit vs. total shit is massively skewed the wrong way and the places are swarming with traders buying anything they can get their hands on.

Since knocking it on the head, Saturday and Sunday mornings are now much more relaxed affairs.

ICBM

robgilmo said:

Those old Hofners look lovely, do they play as good as they look? That ones even got a truss rod!

No, they usually don’t play well and sound crap. You do get the odd nice one but they’re very much in the minority, no matter how nice they look. They also often have detachable necks...

Neil

Vibroscope said:

Does he still have this and would he sell it do you think...? 

He never sells anything. I've asked in the past!

robgilmo

ICBM said:

robgilmo said:

Those old Hofners look lovely, do they play as good as they look? That ones even got a truss rod!

No, they usually don’t play well and sound crap. You do get the odd nice one but they’re very much in the minority, no matter how nice they look. They also often have detachable necks...

Cheers buddy, I always wondered why they dont fetch as much as I'd expect them to. Thats another guitar crossed off my list then.

Henrytwang

ICBM said:

robgilmo said:

Those old Hofners look lovely, do they play as good as they look? That ones even got a truss rod!

No, they usually don’t play well and sound crap. You do get the odd nice one but they’re very much in the minority, no matter how nice they look. They also often have detachable necks...

I’m inclined to agree. Those old Hofners look much better than they play or sound. They often have problems with the body/neck joint. But for £25 that arch top is a bargain even if you just hang it on the wall.

Vibroscope

Thanks Neil, I feared he wouldn't sell. It's really the Rangemaster vibrato I'm after. Having real difficulty finding one for my Rangemaster guitar restoration. Missed out on two in the past couple of weeks. Even if he'd sell THAT bit... No harm in asking I suppose.

Mgeek

ICBM said:

robgilmo said:

Those old Hofners look lovely, do they play as good as they look? That ones even got a truss rod!

No, they usually don’t play well and sound crap. You do get the odd nice one but they’re very much in the minority, no matter how nice they look. They also often have detachable necks...

Just found this via google...

HARD disagree. My 64 verithin is as good as any sixties Gretsch, Guild etc. I know there's a certain mindset with older dudes who have conflated the only strings available back in the day being insanely heavy and people not really knowing much about setups, with these guitars being crap, but with a bit of tweaking they are excellent

Hofner have been in business since the 1800s, have incredible stashes of aged wood etc...they aren't and weren't messing around

ICBM

Mgeek said:

Just found this via google...

HARD disagree. My 64 verithin is as good as any sixties Gretsch, Guild etc. I know there's a certain mindset with older dudes who have conflated the only strings available back in the day being insanely heavy and people not really knowing much about setups, with these guitars being crap, but with a bit of tweaking they are excellent

Hofner have been in business since the 1800s, have incredible stashes of aged wood etc...they aren't and weren't messing around

Read the whole thread, we're talking about different things . Hofner *electrics* can be really nice, and the Verithin in particular. And I do very much know how to set them up, that's what I do for a job .

Hofner *acoustics* - even with something more appropriate than the bronze roundwound acoustic strings mostly mistakenly fitted now - generally aren't. But I'm currently working on an early 50s Committee that's going to be pretty nice.

Kittyfrisk

Vibroscope said:

Thanks Neil, I feared he wouldn't sell. It's really the Rangemaster vibrato I'm after. Having real difficulty finding one for my Rangemaster guitar restoration. Missed out on two in the past couple of weeks. Even if he'd sell THAT bit... No harm in asking I suppose.

@Vibroscope ;;
Just reading this old thread & wondered if you ever got a vibrato? or if not, contacted paddymacwhoop about his Rangemaster vibrato?
He said "I have a mint NOS Dallas rangemaster trem that I bought from an old shop."

ChuckManual

57Deluxe said:

Amazing irony: We (older Bro's will ID with this) had to endure the pain and anguish of trying to learn on such instruments and if we were serious, ditched them ASAP for something more proper... Now, we have excellent instruments in abundance but somehow 'cherish' these plywood planks as something worthy....??

For my part at least, having likewise been brought up on hideous cheese-grater instruments, it's not the guitars that appeal, but the design aesthetic. For instance; a modern - actually playable - version of this...



...is very appealing to me. The actual guitar itself though? No thanks!