Höfner classical guitars

Karl Höfner, founder
of the company
President (1956)
Guitars & Basses
– since 1887 –
Golden Höfner (1960)
500/1 (1956)
HGL 50 SE
Karl Höfner – One Century of Guitar Making
Master violin maker Karl Höfner founded his own stringed and fretted instrument
company in Schönbach, Germany in 1887. With a reputation for quality,
craftsman-ship and innovation, Höfner soon became the largest manufacturer
of stringed and fretted instruments in Germany. Thus, in 1907 Karl Höfner was
entrusted with the repair of the King of Saxony’s violin, and the master performed
his job to the full satisfaction of his client.
When his two sons, Josef and Walter, joined their father’s company in 1919
and 1921 respectively, acoustic guitars already represented a significant part
of Höfner’s instrument production. In a market dominated by inexpensive
student guitars during the 1920s and 1930s, Höfner classical guitars were
already establishing new standards and the company capitalized on that
leadership during the decades that followed.
Josef and Walter expanded Höfner’s worldwide exports, especially to North
America and the Far East. To date more than two million stringed and fretted
instruments - from student to master models - have been produced, 75% of
which have been exported worldwide, emphasizing the outstanding position
enjoyed by Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG in the world market.
The product range of Höfner is extensive and not only limited to string instruments
and acoustic guitars. In 1955 Walter Höfner, a creative businessman as well
as a violin and guitar maker, invented an electrically amplified semi-acoustic
bass. The distinctive 500/1 bass was launched at the 1956 Frankfurt Music
Fair and subsequently rose to fame under a different name. In 1961 Paul
McCartney bought his first Höfner bass in a music shop in Hamburg. Paul’s
‘Beatle Bass’ can be heard on many of the Beatles‘ most famous songs and
still accompanies him on stage and in the studio to this day.
A new chapter in Höfner history began in 1997 when the company moved to
a new production facility near the village of Hagenau. Millions of Euros have
since been invested in state-of-the-art, environmentally-friendly production
technologies.
With innovation and product development, Höfner continues to set trends in
the world market, especially in the field of classical guitars. The ‘Green Line’
series uses only renewable European tone woods, varnished in an environmentally
neutral way. This results in a perfect synthesis between traditional guitar making
and respect for the limited resources of our environment.
Guitar production around 1965
A major asset of Höfner is the large
selection of naturally air-dried and
seasoned tonewood.