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Karl Höfner
Höfner Founder |
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The old
company premises around 1960 |
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Guitar
production around 1965 |
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Teamwork on
a Violin Bass |
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Master
violin maker Karl Höfner founded his own stringed and fretted
instrument company in schönbach, Germany in 1897. With a
reputation for quality, craftsmanship 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 violin of the Saxon King, 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 1930sm
Höfner guitars were already establishing new standards and the company
capitalized on that leadership during the decades that followed.
The
product range of Höfner is extensive and not only limited to string
instruments and acoustic guitars. Höfner has built excellent
electric guitars since the 1950s. Höfner hollowbodies graces the
clubs and concert halls of Europe's post-war jazz scene, and, Höfner
solidbodies and basses were among the instruments that ignited the
musical imaginations of many who would later launch the "British
Invasion."
In
1955 Walter Höfner, a creative businessman as well a violin and guitar
maker, invented an electric 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 this day.
A
new chapter of 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 the state-of-the-art,
environmentally-friendly production technologies. Today, Hofner
continues to build fine quality, hand-crafted hollow-body and bass
guitars for new generations of players and collectors. |
