Hohner Serial Number Lookup

Hohner Serial Number Lookup
Hohner Accordion Serial Number Lookup
Hofner Acoustic Guitar Identification
Hohner Harmonica Serial Number Lookup

Fender Serial Dating. First, narrow it down by the country of origin. Serial dating is easiest for instruments made in the USA or Mexico, but is also possible for those made in Japan, Korea, China, and Indonesia. For US instruments, the serial number will start with a letter. That letter indicates the decade. S for 1970s; E for 1980s; N for. This website possesses NO DATABASE of guitars made by manufactures, instead simple serial code patterns that are available on this site and in the wider guitar community are used. It follows that potential scammers can use this knowledge to try to trick unsuspecting buyers. If you have any doubts as to a guitars’ authenticity please contact. A seven-digit serial number beginning with six, for example, indicates 1996; a seven-digit number beginning with seven denotes 1997; an eight-digit number beginning with 98 denotes 1998, etc. A “KC” prefix was introduced on Korean-made instruments in 1997, designating instrument made in.

Höfner history in short
Karl Höfner was born in 1864 in Schönbach, Bohemia, which was then part of Austria.
In 1887, after studying with Anton Schaller, he started his company as a luthier in Schönbach. The high-quality instruments he made were in demand throughout Europe, as a result of which the company quickly grew.
In 1919 his two sons, Josef (1892-1994) and Walter (1904-1985), joined the company. In particular, exports expanded rapidly and the Höfner brand achieved a worldwide reputation as a producer of high-quality stringed instruments.
In addition to violins, double basses and cellos, they also started producing guitars in the 1930s. The first models were steel strung with a curved top and bottom.
After World War II, the company first moved to Möhrendorf in Bavaria in 1948. A more suitable location to rebuild the factory was found in nearby Bubenreuth. The foundation stone was laid on 20 October 1949 and the factory was opened at the end of 1950.
The company quickly recaptured the world market and the range of guitars was expanded. Models like President, Committee and of course the Beatle Bass (500/1) made Höfner famous. All models were designed and developed by Walter.
The demand for Höfner guitars increased due to the rise of Rock 'n Roll. The company had to expand considerably and the guitars
became Höfner's most important export product.

Walter and Karl Höfner

In the sixties, in addition to the archtop models, semi-acoustic, solid body and various models of bass guitars were built. Due to lack of space in Bubenreuth and constant inquiries, a second factory was
built in Hagenau.
Due to the increasing competition from American guitar manufacturers, Höfner's market share slumped. As a result, the English distributor Selmer had to close its business.
Gerhilde Höfner (daughter of Walter) ran the company together with her husband Christian Benker in the seventies to nineties.
Partly as competition from Japan and China increased, it became difficult for Höfner to remain independent.
Therefore, on January 1, 1994 Höfner was sold to the British company Boosey & Hawkes.
The bow manufacturer Roderich Paesold (also based in Bubenreuth) was also owned by Boosey & Hawkes. Paesold was merged with Höfner in 1995 and placed in their 'Instrument Division'. But both companies remained independent in terms of production and sales.
In 1997 Höfner moved from Bubenreuth to their second factory in Haguenau. They had more modern production facilities, and a new building was added.
In 2003, 'Instrument Division' was sold to the British investment consortium 'The Music Group' (TMG). At the end of 2004, Höfner (as part of 'Instrument Division') was sold to Klaus Schöller and his wife Ulrike Schrimpff.
Klaus has worked at Höfner since 1989 and now became General Manager and Ulrike Chief Financial Officer.
A branch in Beijing was opened in 2009 which is one hundred percent owned by Höfner. As one of the few companies, the Chinese government granted Höfner an export license.
The instruments produced in Beijing are of equivalent quality to those produced in Germany. The quality level remains high due to the constant exchange of personnel between China and Germany.

Part 7 Dating Hofners.

As stated in Part 4, there are numerous guitars about containing serial numbers that predate those prior to 1958 which are still available in Hofner’s own records. The only satisfactory way to establish the year of production during this early period is by an internal examination as described in Part 4. This can be a very rewarding exercise as not only the year of production can be found but also the actual day and month.

Detailed below are some serial number and corresponding dates as extracted from my own guitars.

Model	Serial Number	Body Date
Committee	2129	31/08/54
Committee	2536	31/10/57
Committee	3745	20/03/61
Committee	3932	12/08/63*
Committee	3950	25/06/63*
President	2277	24/09/55
President	5549	18/03/59
President	7293	22/03/60

Hohner Serial Number Lookup

* It can be seen from the Committee numbers, anomalies occur even in the simple task of co-ordinating serial numbers and dates.

In the following tables I have used a little initiative to arrive at the probable serial numbers that are shown against the years before 1958. These are relatively accurate but would have to be verified by physical inspection.

Model	First Serial Number	Last Serial Number	Year	Remarks
Committee	2000	2141	1954
2142	2282	1955	Pre truss-rod models
2283	2325	1956
2326	2564	1957
2565	2950	1958
2951	3313	1959
3314	3677	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
3678	3745	1961
3746	3793	1962
3794	3954	1963	Redesigned headstock
3965	4109	1964
4110	4177	1965
4178	4189	1966
4190	4247	1967
4248	4258	1968
4259	4264	1969
Committee Thinline	1000	1175	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
1176	1275	1961
1276	1325	1962
1326	1485	1963	Redesigned headstock
1486	1525	1964
1526	1653	1965
President	1500	1874	1953	Pre truss-rod models
1875	2180	1954
2181	2490	1955
2491	2985	1956
2986	3480	1957
3481	5100	1958
5101	6533	1959
6534	7967	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
7968	8047	1961
8048	8126	1962
8127	8309	1963
8355	8728	1964
8729	8976	1965
8977	8982	1966
8932	8988	1967
8989	8995	1968
8996	9002	1969
9003	9015	1970
9016	9029	1971
President Thinline	1	681	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
None Listed	None Listed	1961
682	822	1962
823	962	1963
963	1134	1964
1135	????	1965
Senator	1000	1040	1953	Pre-Truss Rod Model
1041	1087	1954
1088	1375	1955
1376	3738	1956
3739	4403	1957
4404	7800	1958
7801	9801	1959
9802	11400	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
11401	11702	1961
11703	12079	1962
12080	12680	1963
12726	13516	1964
13517	13674	1965
13675	13768	1966
13769+	1967
Senator Thinline	1	375	1958
376	845	1959
846	1088	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
1089	1227	1961
1228	1316	1962
1317	1404	1963
1405	1533	1964
1534	1660	1965
Congress	2000	2850	1955	Pre-Truss Rod Models
2851	4717	1956
4718	5808	1957
5809	7800	1958
7801	8859	1959
8860	9917	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
9918	10958	1961
10959	12278	1962
12279	13371	1963
13922	14321	1964
14322	14891	1965
14892	15141	1966
15142	15366	1967
15367	15456	1968
15457	15471	1969
15472	15517	1970
15518	15523	1971
Club 40	Pre	254	1957	Pre-Truss Rod Models
255	420	1958
421	921	1959
922	1534	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
1535	1674	1961
1675	Onwards	1962
Club 50	Pre	478	1957	Pre-Truss Rod Models
479	650	1958
651	1151	1959
1152	1782	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
1781	Onwards	1961
Club 60	1	180	1958	Pre-Truss Rod Models
181	681	1959
682	1296	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
1297	1607	1961
1608	Onwards	1962
Club 70	-	-	-	Footnote
Verithin	1	350	1960	Truss Rods Introduced
351	699	1961
700	1238	1962
1239	2223	1963
2260	3313	1964
3314	Onwards	1965
Verithin Florentine Deluxe	1000	1190	1965
1191	1293	1966
1294	1388	1967
1389	1403	1968
1404	1408	69/70
1407	1411	1971
Ambassador	50	177	1965
178	443	1966
444	468	1967
469	480	1968

Hohner Accordion Serial Number Lookup

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Hofner Acoustic Guitar Identification

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