Hofner Senator

simonhpieman

ICBM said:

simonhpieman said:

Does yours have the German genius of a plain top and flamed back where no one will see it?!

That’s as it should be - it comes from violins... spruce top, maple back and sides.

Maple-top archtops don’t look right at all.

I respectfully disagree(ish)!

https://i.imgur.com/ssHdCp8.jpg

ICBM

simonhpieman said:

I respectfully disagree(ish)!

To be fair, compared to the giant carpet slipper attached to the other end of the neck it's probably not the first thing you spot that's wrong .

Jalapeno

I concur- not always a bad thing

simonhpieman

ICBM said:

simonhpieman said:

I respectfully disagree(ish)!

To be fair, compared to the giant carpet slipper attached to the other end of the neck it's probably not the first thing you spot that's wrong .

I hope you ain't dis-spectin' the best part of the beautiful Starcaster??!   

ICBM

simonhpieman said:

I hope you ain't dis-spectin' the best part of the beautiful Starcaster??!   

I really want to like the Starcaster, but I just can't get past that awful headstock.

It wouldn't even quite look so bad if the slipper didn't have the sole... but even if it was just the size of the plain bit it would still be too big. What possessed them to do it when they already had a standardised headstock, I don't know.

imalrightjack

So, Hofner bods.  I've got this in with a luthier, who is going to remove and reset the neck and re-fret it.  Clearly, not a cheap job.  But I don't mind.  While doing so, as it has a couple of screw holes on the fretboard from a previous (presumably retrofit) pickup, many advice on getting a pickup for it?

Roland

The three main challenges are pickup height, how you fix it, and where you put the jack socket and controls. If you’re looking for vintage correct items then the Hofner website offers a lot of spare parts. You can get similar items aimed at jazz guitars from other suppliers.

When I was at school I put a pickup and controls into a Hofner. The pickup was attached to the neck. The volume pot and jack socket fitted into the ends of the F-holes.

If I were doing it now I’d use a shallow pickup such as a P90 at the neck, a pick guard which runs from neck to bridge with a support bracket attached to the side of the guitar, and mount the controls on the pick guard. I’d still mount the jack socket through the F-hole, supported by a plate on the inside and large washer on the outside.

imalrightjack

Thanks, @Roland - any advice on finding such a scratchplate? Do you mean you’d drill through for a jack socket?

Roland

You can make a scratch plate from acrylic. If you don’t have the tools/space/confidence then you could buy one. The Hofner website is a good place to start.

I’d avoid drilling the body, which is why I’d use the loop at the end of the F-hole. It looks strange, but it’s better than a hole in the body.

Corvus

My recent archtop has pickup & controls mounted via the scratchplate, The pickup has a 'tongue' to mount it to the plate. There's a little bit of foam under the pickup where it sits above the guitar top. Some kind of Kent Armstrong that one, must be others similar out there.
This way you could make a p/g that mounts per original, so no extra drilling to mount the pu+pots, but still a choice to make with the jack socket.

imalrightjack

Corvus said:

My recent archtop has pickup & controls mounted via the scratchplate, The pickup has a 'tongue' to mount it to the plate. There's a little bit of foam under the pickup where it sits above the guitar top. Some kind of Kent Armstrong that one, must be others similar out there.
This way you could make a p/g that mounts per original, so no extra drilling to mount the pu+pots, but still a choice to make with the jack socket.

Any pics, @Billkat ?

I'm happy to drill the guitar for controls/jack.  No intention to sell it on.

Corvus

Nicked from the D'Anglico site, hope it works... The screw up close to the fretboard actually goes into the top on these, where Hofners have a pin mounted underneath the p/g, that goes into the side of the neck.

https://20u1us21ikvj46jnrl2l3vrt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/uploads/2018/01/DAEEXL1NATGTE-B-1.png

Also this link, has pics of the underneath and the tongue effort on the pickup, though mine has braided wire it's the same thing-

https://reverb.com/item/1302641-dangelico-kent-armstrong-pickup-and-pickguard-from-exl-1

57Deluxe

neck warpage can occur on really old models but they pretty much the same as any guitar of that era build,

They look more fragile than they are though and many ppl launched their careers on them...

George Harrison, George Young, Paul Macca - can you all name any others??

imalrightjack

I've decided not to get electronics fitted for now (refret/reset in progress).

Any advice on string gauge/type?

Jalapeno

Roland said:

You can make a scratch plate from acrylic. If you don’t have the tools/space/confidence then you could buy one. The Hofner website is a good place to start.

I’d avoid drilling the body, which is why I’d use the loop at the end of the F-hole. It looks strange, but it’s better than a hole in the body.

Like this ......

De Armond Rhythm Chief 1000 pickup and a handmade pickguard (plus a couple of old bakelite radio knobs).  As Roland suggests - lose the wire throung the F Hole, and put a socket on the body.  Definitely use Acrylic for pickguard as a newbie, Acetate sheets are like trying to cut glass.