Hofner Archtop acoustic refurbishment
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- In this video I rescue a vintage Hofner mass-produced archtop acoustic from the realms of unplayability. It's a low-end Hofner but it has a truss rod in the neck (unlike the other archtops I've restored) making adjustment possible. The real problem was the bridge was about 10mm too tall, so I removed wood from the top section to bring it down in height.
I also did a precision fret levelling and the 'curved' levelling method really helped to 'scoop' out a hump where the neck joined the body. The video shows me wondering what made the manufacturer build the last 1/5th of the fingerboard as a add-on jointed piece, separate from the build of the neck. This alone was responsible for that hump.
The fret levelling made the new action playable and with a good clean up this guitar played and sounded amazing at the end; back from the dead.
It was quite a while before I found anybody even mentioned zero fret a picture of a guitar with a zero fret I learned more from you thinking out loud right there about the zero fret this is a good video good work keep it
These adjustment a repair videos are so therapeutic to watch!!!
Thank you sir.!
Hi Sam, my Dad taught me to play guitar one of those Hofners..played the House of the Rising Sun for a year or three from 1970 until me and my school mates started a band a few years later..I had a faulty tape recorder which I discovered had a distorted sound if I plugged a wee mic into it..Stuck the mic behind the bridge and wired a 2 inch speaker into the earphone output and Boom, I had my own Marshall-esque stack (ette!)!!
And ours has that hump too!!
Thanks for your response Sam.
i just aquired a hofner senator and it looks excactly the same had to move bridge about 1/2 inch nearer the base to get intonation but its in fab condition considering its age i think a 64! great video !!!!
Excellent
Very informative
I’ll be taking stock of a 50s Hofner Congress tomorrow night
It has a sizeable action on it and I’ll be following your method which will hopefully conclude in a the great instrument you finished with
Hi Steve - look out for any separation between the top and the sides anywhere around the body. This is often a start-point for the entire geometry beginning to alter under string loading - with the result that the action increases massively.
What a beautiful looking guitar.
Hi Jay! Yes, I picked it up and played it the other day (belongs to the singer in a band I play with every couple of weeks) and it was just as good, right in tune and sounding great. I've cut a set of frets for yours, cut new fret slots and sanded & cabinet scraped the fingerboard FLAT - so gone is the perma-curve. Next step is to fret it... and that should be some time over the weekend / early next week. I've had to reduce the saddle but once it's all done it should be a good action. In 30 years time however if / when it bends again there won't be any more room to adjust - and then a full neck reset would probably be the only option (along with sanding out the curve again!). Not sure that's too pressing a worry though...
Hi Sam, David from Delaware, U.S.A. Just joined your channel. Wonderful education to us on UA-cam! Love your work! Your truly an artist! You have showed me that any guitar with some loving care can be brought back to life...
Hi David - hello and welcome. I got your email - thanks, will reply shortly. Thanks for your kind & supportive words too - best wishes, Sam
Nice to see one of those with the dovetail intact and a working truss rod find it's way into the hands of someone knowledgeable with the patience to fix it. That sound box was well worth saving. The neck block may have been originally designed for a different instrument.
A belated thank you for your kind words sir. I really enjoyed making these old archtops play again - and I loved how they sound too. There's history in these old guitars and it feels good working with them.
Nice video. I came across your channel since I also received a 62‘ Höfner Archtop for repair from one of my band mates. I was a bit confused as to your method for fret leveling but that became apparent later on. BTW, a great source of parts for old Höfner‘s is also in the UK: Project Guitar Parts UK. I live here in Germany and can‘t seem to get the parts that they have. Thanks again!
Hi Gil, thanks for stopping by & commenting - appreciate the link. I've been on that site before because the same person stocks some Eko parts too :-)
This is great work. You have given me much to think about. Thank You
And a very belated thank you to you Ben!
Love it, assuming this is the Compensator (should say this on the tail piece) check the label inside for serial number to give you the exact date of manufacture, I picked one up from a second hand shop a few years ago for about $250 AU and was pleasantly surprised when they brought out a brand new hard case to go with it. Case was probably worth more than the guitar, mine just needed a good clean (the amount of gunk on the finger board looked like it had never been cleaned) new set of strings and it played beautifully , great action no need to do any adjustment. Turned out to be a 1969 and for an entry level guitar a solid wood sound board? This model was Johnny Cash's first guitar which he bought in Germany.
Thanks for the info Rick. The best-sounding of the three of this kind of guitar I've refurb'd was the natural-colour finished 'Antoria Foreign' one. Having planed the curve out of the rod-less neck and re-radiused and re-fretted it sounded lovely. Of course, over time it will bend again... but hopefully someone will be enjoying it for at least a few good years yet.
I have one with block inlays, its a guitar my Dad left me, he left me his collection when he passed. Along with my own guitars i have quite a valuable collecrion but the archtops are my favourites. I love my Guitars.
Hi Sam , I’ve watched a few of your videos now , having learnt a lot from your talk as you work technique my only comment would be your workshop could do with a bit of organisation, much the same as mine , very quirky, keep going well done Sam , all very informative, take care , keep safe stay well .
I just inherited the 1970s Kay guitar the best I can tell it's a 1970. archtop 14 in across the body but I noticed one thing on the guitar you are refurbishing that is like mine it has a zero fret good video keep up the good work I subbed
Nice! I really liked these old things.... but a lot of work involved to make them playable (usually)!
Hello Sam, regarding the string-stretching needed ( 2:22:30 on ) , I seem to have spent half my life doing this ! Do you think there might be a mathematical approach to simplify things ? I'm only guessing , but something like :--
Step 1) Tune all strings to 4 semitones sharp at start , cup of tea.
Step 2) Check , any that are now flat go 1 semitone sharp , cup of tea .
Step 3) Check, any flat ones go up another semitone sharp , cheese and pickle sandwich .
My fingers are getting a bit old for all the manual stretching , but then I've got a few years on you .
What do you think ? Cheers , Nige .
Hah hah nice one Nige... no, I don't think leaving strings alone will shake out their 'slack'. The reason I DO work so hard stretching them is because people often bring me guitars with 1-year old strings (that have sat there and *should* have stabilised..) and I can still pull them straight out of tune. Sadly it requires force :-)
Nice video very interesting watch, how much do you think a hofner archtop would be worth today?
Thanks for the comment... as to how much it would be worth, I'm not sure. I've restored and sold a couple of Antoria archtops for £200 - 250 each but perhaps a bit more for a Hofner like this. These were a relatively inexpensive guitar as far as I know and don't fetch a lot on the 2nd hand market. Most you'll see are completely worn out too...so a nice-playing, re-fretted one is worth as much as someone wants to pay :-)
Would sound great with heavy flatwound strings (.13 gauge Pyramid Gold would probably be best for a warm, muted jazz-type tone)
Great job Sam, can you tell me who fitted the 'zero' fret, i didn't see it the 'how to' . many thanks
Hi Mark... I put the zero fret in (and this time I put a jumbo fret in vs. the medium jumbo gauge of the rest). It's '6 of one, half dozen of the other' where zero fret size is concerned. All zero frets wear very quickly (since the strings rest on the metal ALL the time). If you fit a larger gauge zero fret you start out with a higher than ideal 1st fret action BUT enough metal on the larger fret to allow you to repair / level it when you get deep grooves. If you fit the same gauge zero fret then when it wears (as it will do) you have to level ALL the frets just to remove the wear on the zero fret... but at least from the outset the 1st fret action will be optimum (and stay optimum throughout)...
Many thanks Sam. This is the same guitar my late father had from his teens, in very similar condition and in need of renovation (my next project). I don't think it has ever been playable without serious finger damage!
Hi Sam I love your videos ... fixed up an old Mustang Start thanks to your expertise and now watched the whole process on this Congress as I have had one I saved from a neighbours bin with a broken neck (he’d put two screws countersunk through the fretboard and a chunk of the heel hacked off to put a machine screw in the back!! Then tossed it out ) It will never be a thing of beauty but I’ve managed to fix the neck to playable I hope. Can I just ask what strings have you put on the Congress? Thanks
Drew
Hi Drew - I've replied to you on FB. I put a set of 12-52s on this I think; lighter gauge strings will exert less force on the neck...but if the repair is going to fail it'll fail eventually whether 10s, 11s or 12s. I'd say go for what you prefer to play with and if it dies on you, it dies on you :-)
What’s the real name of that Trust rod type file used to level the frets?
Just what you said - a truss rod file with wet and dry paper stuck to it :)
Hi Sam,
Because the bottom of the fingerboard looks as if it is just hanging above the body of the guitar, how would you go about re-fretting the guitar? Would the neck have to come off? It doesn't look as if you would be able to even tap the last frets in with a hammer!
Hi Michael. If I remember correctly I set up a kind of wedge / support jig under that overhang to allow me to fret there with a fair amount of pressure :-)
Sam Deeks Hi Sam, I have a 1958 example of one of these my dad left me. No truss rod and he kept it strung with heavy strings, so neck has lifted slightly in the socket. Do you think it would be fixable?Have photos if you want to have a look
Good job Sam.in order to get the diet radius wasn't the saddle replaceable in the bridge to gain the highth you needed on the g d strings?
No... it was fixed into the wood... ie. the saddle itself was a mixture of wood & bone.
OK gotcha
I watch yor work and simply is the great thing, when somebody have pasion and knowlige for his work like you!!--and what was the song...just keep play Sam...say hi to Maurice. tnx.
Bud Wiser thanks for the comment. I think the song was a bit of 'Starman' by David Bowie right at the end there...
Very informative video, unfortunately your voice is a little hard to hear. Perhaps a lavaliere Mic would help for old guys like me LOL. Thanks for making this video, not much on Hoffner guitars available.
That came out great. Thanks for posting and explaining things as you go along.
My pleasure, thanks for your comment.
Mumbles to himself - spends time after time looking for stuff - spent what seemed like hours trying to get the bridge apart..doesn't explain what he's doin...except to himself. . could have done his stringing off camera......not really impressed except on the Hofner.
SPOILER ALERT! It's real life Gaston. Slow, fumbling, indecisive. Occasional flashes of brilliance of course. But not for entertainment. Your review is very accurate.