Anyone have any idea what this guitar is?

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lolimposting

Member
Messages
15
I just bought this guitar from someone for $100. It's really quite good but I have no idea what the model is. I can tell you that it's a Hohner guitar. At least that's what the headstock says. Shape-wise it's like a Les Paul with a Telecaster sort of hump where the switch is. It's a 22 fret solid body with an arch top. The tuners and so on are "gold" and it weighs a ton.

I've been trying to identify the thing for a few hours, and I've found a number of guitars SIMILAR to this one, but none that I can find have all the same characteristics. For example, the Hohner OSC Archtop has an additional single coil pickup between the two humbuckers, only three knobs, and rounder features on the body. The Line 6 JTV looks a bit closer to this, but it is also a bit rounder and has different pickups and so on. And wrong company there anyway.

The finish on this is quite impressive and I love the sort of wave shape the body makes on the neck end. None of the similar guitars pull that part off. After some tightening and tweaking and so on it should be a grand instrument. I'd just like to know what it is! Hope somebody can steer me in the right direction. The Hohner website hasn't been much help and the Orion Blue Book catalogue that they point you to doesn't seem to list this.



More webcam pictures:
http://i51.tinypic.com/35a199z.jpg - body (front)
http://i52.tinypic.com/29nceme.jpg - headstock (front)

Higher-res pictures (sorry that they aren't of better quality):
http://i53.tinypic.com/20f6i43.jpg - body (front)
http://i54.tinypic.com/2rnyec8.jpg - body (front, pickups, bridge and tailpiece)
http://i56.tinypic.com/2yxi4oj.jpg - body (front, bridge and tailpiece close-up)
http://i51.tinypic.com/2h58oc9.jpg - body (front, rhythm/treble switch and Telehump close-up)
http://i55.tinypic.com/10cnksg.jpg - body (back)
http://i51.tinypic.com/20l1guf.jpg - body (back, bolt-on neck area close-up)
http://i55.tinypic.com/opa2l4.jpg - headstock (front)
http://i53.tinypic.com/34613y8.jpg - headstock (back)

Thanks.
 
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gulliver

gulliver

Silver Supporting Member
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10,238
I'd guess a late '70, early '80s Asian made Hohner. I had one of their Asian acoustics from that era, was pretty cheap but sounded better than most guitars in it's price range.
 
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chubbywolf

Member
Messages
399
I have worked in the pawn business for 15 yrs, and seen every asian guitar, and I would guess more like late 90s.

[QUOTgulliver;10729061]I'd guess a late '70, early '80s Asian made Hohner. I had one of their Asian acoustics from that era, was pretty cheap but sounded better than most guitars in it's price range.[/QUOTE]
 
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lolimposting

Member
Messages
15
I've read that a number of Hohner guitars were made in China, although some, maybe earlier ones, were made in Korea. Unfortunately this one doesn't seem to have a marking on it that might give us a clue. Or if it did then it's under a sticker from some small town used instrument store. It's changed hands a few times.
 
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lolimposting

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15
Thought I'd try taking a shot of the back. I'm just using a webcam so it's not particularly clear but you can get the gist of it I guess. The wood is a deep red.

 
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lolimposting

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Messages
15
musicofanatic5 said:
The paint/stain is a deep red. Itza Ho-ho-hohner
Click to expand...
Maybe, but it doesn't feel cheap by any means. Apart from the gold hardware thing.

Although you'd expect cheap gold hardware to end up with all the gold stuff worn off pretty quickly. This guitar is quite used but the gold is still goldy.
 
mc5nrg

mc5nrg

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
10,052
Better pix including decent shots of the bridge,front and back of entire headstock, pickups etc. would help. I'd guess mid 80s MIK. Looks like a variation of the Aria PE series design.
 
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lolimposting

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Messages
15
mc5nrg said:
Better pix including decent shots of the bridge,front and back of entire headstock, pickups etc. would help. I'd guess mid 80s MIK. Looks like a variation of the Aria PE series design.
Click to expand...
Ah yes, the body is quite similar to that of the PE-STD as well. Looking at some Googled images it seems like the Tele-esque hump on my guitar is narrower from one side to the other which makes the shape a bit more pronounced. The headstock is more of a variation on a Gibson Les Paul headstock, although the truss rod cover uses three screws like an Epiphone Les Paul would.

I'll charge up some batteries tonight and see if I can get some better pictures for you.
 
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lolimposting

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Messages
15
I just took a closer look at the side of the body, and it looks like it's made out of plywood. Under the light you can see different layers through the finish, like stripes. That surprised me because it really is quite heavy. Sounds pretty good to me regardless.

I've also noticed that the colour on the back of the neck seems to be slightly different from the colour on the back of the body. It's a tiny bit lighter or something. Maybe the headstock is from an older Hohner guitar and the body is more modern? Curiouser and curiouser.
 
magicaxeman

magicaxeman

Member
Messages
1,362
Plywood is heavy, glue is heavy and theres plenty of it between the sandwiched pieces of wood.

Late 80's hohner rockwood (?) variant? I know they did a similar one that looked like a telecaster with this kind of body.
 
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lolimposting

Member
Messages
15
I've put up some better pictures, in case that might help. Some are better than others but it was the best I could do.

http://i53.tinypic.com/20f6i43.jpg - body (front)
http://i54.tinypic.com/2rnyec8.jpg - body (front, pickups, bridge and tailpiece)
http://i56.tinypic.com/2yxi4oj.jpg - body (front, bridge and tailpiece close-up)
http://i51.tinypic.com/2h58oc9.jpg - body (front, rhythm/treble switch and Telehump close-up)
http://i55.tinypic.com/10cnksg.jpg - body (back)
http://i51.tinypic.com/20l1guf.jpg - body (back, bolt-on neck area close-up)
http://i55.tinypic.com/opa2l4.jpg - headstock (front)
http://i53.tinypic.com/34613y8.jpg - headstock (back)

iancandler said:
Plywood is heavy, glue is heavy and theres plenty of it between the sandwiched pieces of wood.
Click to expand...
I guess you're right! I wouldn't have thought that before. I've been reading up elsewhere about plywood bodies and a lot of people seem to think that it kills sustain. Doesn't seem so bad on this one, but I'm not so experienced with different types of electrics.
 
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lolimposting

Member
Messages
15
I took this guitar to a friend of the family the other day. He has his own luthier business and has been building some interesting stuff lately. After some small adjustments the guitar sounds quite a bit better. There is a somewhat noticeable intonation problem on the sixth string that could be fixed with a wider bridge, and it could use higher quality tuners, but otherwise the guitar is in good shape and is a lot of fun to play. I might spring for those upgrades and pretty much leave the rest of it alone.

Still haven't figured out what it is, though. Nothing I've found matches completely.
 
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