Hohner Owners

A couple of years ago, I started a thread about Hohner guitars. Since I have been a long time owner of a Hohner G-940 acoustic, when I started that thread I was thinking of acoustics, and so I placed that thread in the "Acoustic Heaven" section.

But since the name of the thread was "Any Hohner love out there in TDPRI land?" periodically TDPRI members would post about their Hohner (and Steinberger) electrics. So every now and then I would think about starting a Hohner club thread, and placing it in the Guitar Owners Clubs section. But I wasn't sure the interest was there, and so I never got around to it.

Well today something else occurred to me. At times I've caught myself thinking of my Hohner thread like a club thread. But since it's not, posting to it after long periods of dormancy could raise "zombie" accusations.

So, I'm officially starting a "Hohner Owners" (say that five times real fast ) club thread. Acoustic and electrics are both welcome. I'll post pics and descriptions of mine a little later on, when time permits. But I just wanted to get this started. If any other of you Hohner owners beat me to the punch, well, that's just fine with me.

 

Thanks, David. I never get tired of seeing the pics of your impressive collection. It wouldn't be the same without your input here.

 

Okay, I'll post about my Hohners now. Or begin to, at least. I have two and I'll probably comment on them in separate posts.

As I said back 2009, many if not most references to Hohners I had read to that point were either apologetic or outright derogatory in nature. I started "Any Hohner love out there in TDPRI land?" as a means of correcting that problem.

I wanted people to know that there are some nice Hohners out there. And I don't just mean nice entry level guitars, although that's certainly true as well. I mean nice, really nice, quality guitars on the higher end of the spectrum.

My Hohner G-940 case in point. I've had her now for 28+ years, she's just great. She's a part of that 900 Arbor series that David (bridgepinSr.) just mentioned. All solid woods, aged woods. These guitars were made in Japan from 1979 to 1985, IIRC. Bought mine in 1983 for $600, which is equivalent to $1,300 + today. I'll put her up against anything Martin or Taylor has in that price range today.

The (my) 940 has an "aged close grain solid spruce" top, solid select mahogany back & sides, solid Honduran mahogany neck and an ebony fretboard. The bridge is rosewood, the body is bound with maple, top and back. The neck and headstock are also bound in maple. Position markers are inlaid maple, as is the name on the headstock. The nut and saddle are bone. The only plastic on this guitar is the pickguard.

Here are some pics of what I’m talking about.

The Hohner is on the right in the picture (in my left hand). The other acoustic is my Breedlove AD25/SM acoustic/electric, and my Logan Custom mahogany Tele is in the middle.


An older pic, of me playing the Hohner for my grandson Corbin (he's 10 now).


My Hohner in action.


That neck still plays like butter, and she has balanced tones and great projection, no doubt due to all the solid woods and the dreadnaught size. I don't take her out of the house much anymore, but she's the centerpiece of my meager collection of 7 guitars (4 acoustics, 3 Logan Custom Teles). I'll never part with her. My son inherits her when I'm gone.

 

Thanks for chiming in. Pics would be nice of your old faithful, if you've got some.

 

Here's the story on my second Hohner. Back on September 1st, I pulled the trigger on a later (albeit discontinued) model Hohner, the DR550. All solid woods: solid cedar top, solid rosewood back & sides, 1 piece mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, ebony bridge. Here's a stock photo from the Hohner website.



I wanted to the get the DR550CE, the cutaway version with the Fishman electronics, but I couldn't find one. The DR5500 is the (strictly) acoustic version. Here's my review.

This guitar is built of all solid woods. The top is a solid cedar top, the back & sides, solid rosewood. The neck is a 1 piece mahogany, and the fretboard is striped ebony, with a striped ebony bridge. The body and neck are bound in maple, and the top has some nice purfling. The fretboard abalone inlays are understated but attractive, as is the gold hardware.

Speaking of which, the Grover 18:1 high ratio tuners are nice; they operate smoothly and efficiently. I de-tuned to double-drop D, then to an open G, then back up again to standard. Like I said, smooth and efficient.

The workmanship is very, very good. No sloppy glue residue inside or out, sanded well, etc. The matte finish is attractive. The frets are a little sharp, but not too bad. There is one flaw on the top of the guitar, a very small and shallow ding on the treble side of the soundhole. You have to look hard to find it. It could very easily have been done in the music store, not the factory. Really no big deal. All in all, this is a really beautiful instrument.

And as for sound, this baby is a cannon. She's plenty loud, and projects very well, good for strumming. At the same time, she has a nice string to string articulation, does a nice job of handling both fingerstyle and flatpicking. And sustain? Man, just pluck a harmonic, set her down and walk off and get yourself a cup of coffee! This baby rings for days!

The action was just a little high for my tastes (I'm spoiled to my G-940), but definitely playable. I've used this guitar for experimenting with slide playing (something I've never done that much of). If I choose not to play it for slide, I'll probably get a tech to do a setup on this guitar to optimize playability.

The street price for these guitars was around $600 when they were in production. As I understand it, they are now discontinued, and the music store from which I purchased this guitar bought up a lot of units of this and other discontinued models. Like I said before, I wanted the DR550CE model, w/ cutaway and Fishman electronics, but they sold out before I was ready.

I paid $300. Definitely worth the money. More pics to follow.

 

shorty1, that's a beaut!

As for dating your Hohner Professional L59, Hohner isn't any help. Their website ("Date Your Guitar" - http://www.hohnerusa.com/index.php?1781) states:

My Google search came up with a website (http://94.23.92.95/Hohner-Professional-L59/)
stating that the release year for the Hohner Professional L59 was 1996.

You might find some L59 owners over in the Les Paul forums. Maybe they have more information.

 

Yeah, it's a shame there isn't more available Hohner info. That's one reason I started this thread (and my other one). I'm hoping this can become a repository of Hohner information.

 

Well, yeah, different...but it looks like fun, too...

 

So "horse," can I ask about the headless guitar? It certainly has a distinctive and unusual look to it. But beyond the look, I don't get it. What advantage is there to this type of construction? Is there anything about this headless construction that is an advantage over traditional construction?

My question is not meant as a slight in any way. As I already said, it looks fun. I'm just curious is all.

 

Oh, okay. So the appeal is a distinctive look, light weight, easy to transport, tonal variation, and a killer deal.

As for your other guitars, the Pacifica is a Yamaha, right? And you really got my attention with that PRS Soapbar. I'd like to have me one of those.