An 'Uber' Rare Solid-Body 1959 Gold and Coral Hofner Colorama 444

1959 Hofner Colorama 444.

This 13-inch-wide, just under 1 /14 inch-deep, electric solid body guitar weighs 7.00 lbs. Solid alder body with a two-tone gold and coral 'hammered' finish with matching headstock. On the top of the body (bass side) is the Höfner decal in gold with black trim. Two-piece maple neck with a beech center strip and a nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches, a scale length of 24 1/2 inches and a wonderful thick 'baseball-bat' profile. 'Slab' rosewood fretboard with a three-layer black over white plastic nut, a 'zero' and 22 original medium frets and inlaid 'graduated' pearl dot position markers. Headstock face with "Höfner" decal in gold with black trim. Three-in-a-line open-back strip tuners with oval white plastic buttons. Serial number "213" stamped in blind on the back of the headstock. Specific 'pear' shaped plywood pickguard with 'hammered' coral finish secured by three screws. Two Höfner single-coil, black top 'bakelite' pickups with rosewood sides and outputs of 5.89k and 6.02k. Two rotary volume controls and three two-way tone-selector slider switches mounted on the pickguard. The two 'Preh' potentiometers are stamped "518" & "169" (December 1958 and April 1959). Original Hofner 'teacup' control knobs with securing grub screws. Egmond (one-way) vibrato bridge on height-adjustable metal base and Höfner basic 'trapeze' tailpiece secured to lower edge by two pins and one screw. A few small surface marks (mainly on the edges) are all that prevent this guitar from being near mint. Conservatively, this 'uber' rare little guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition and is complete with the two original brown leather strap fasteners. Later (sixties) four latch, shaped black hardshell case with blue plush lining (8.75). Unlike most of the early Höfner guitars which did not have a truss-rod, this one has a perfectly straight neck with very low action and great playability - and also a unique 'rock 'n roll' sound. This guitar was previously owned by guitarist and author Gordon Giltrap who has signed the back of the headstock in gold marker "Gordon Giltrap 94." (This actual guitar is featured with several color photographs, in the book by Giltrap and Marten. The Hofner Guitar - A History, on pp. 44/45).

This model was the first Colorama imported into the UK by Selmer. It originally started life in Germany as the Hofner Model 160 (single pickup) and Model 162 (twin pickup) which were produced for the European market from 1956 to 1960. The guitar features a "semi-solid" body, i.e it looks like a solid guitar but is really a heavily reinforced plywood box - BUT this example has a solid alder body. The very earliest examples had a "tear" shaped pickguard, with the later models (1959-60) having a more stylized shape. A square cornered version of the standard Hofner "black-bar" pickups were fitted, without the usual rotary height adjustment wheel. The controls were installed in the classic Hofner consul. Metallic finishes were the norm with this first model. The guitar featured here has a gold 'hammered' metallic finish on its front, and a coral hammered finish on the back of the body and the neck. The Selmer list price in 1959 was twenty-two guineas. (The Vintage Hofner Website).