Hohner

History of guitar production

The earliest documented Hohner guitars were made for Hohner London (the trading name of the UK subsidiary M. Hohner Ltd.) around 1960. The first guitars were named after London districts (Kingsway, Farringdon) with a second run of guitars having more exotic names (Amazon, Zambezi). By 1962, Hohner London focussed on distributing Kay guitars and production of their own guitars petered out.

The US subsidiary M. Hohner Inc had an existing relationship with the Sano Corporation of New Jersey to make accordion amplifiers under the brand name Contessa. In the 1960s, Sano also imported Zerosette guitars from Italy and they started to be badged as Contessa for sale by Hohner. By the late 1960s, a range of solid body, semi-acoustic and acoustic Contessa guitars were being offered in the US and Europe. Guitars were sourced or commissioned from manufacturers including Eko, Framus and others. Steve Vai's first guitar was a Contessa HG-200.

During the early 1970s, production of especially classical and folk guitars continued under the Contessa, Contessa By Hohner and Hohner Contessa names. By 1974 (and probably much earlier) at least some guitars were being sourced from Japan. In 1974, M. Hohner Inc. registered Hohner International as a trademark for use on musical instruments. The Contessa name was dropped with the exception of a small number of classical guitars. From 1975, most guitars had the Hohner name on the headstock and Hohner International branding on the soundhole label of acoustic guitars. Guitars were then produced under the Hohner brand from around 1975 to 2015, when Hohner withdrew completely from the guitar market.

By 1975, guitar production was entirely in Japan. Around 1976, the 300 Limited Edition series and the 700 series acoustic guitars were added to an expanded range of classical, folk, concert and dreadnought guitars. In 1977, a range of electric guitars was introduced consisting mainly of replicas of popular Fender and Gibson guitar and bass models. Some electric guitars were made at the Moridaira factory in Matsumoto, some acoustic guitars were made at the Terada factory, with the remainder made by unidentified factories.

Some acoustic guitar production started to move to Korea as early as 1978 although electric guitar production remained in Japan until at least 1983. By 1985, new ranges of Korean made electric guitars were introduced - the budget SE range (known as the Arbor Series in the United Kingdom) consisting mostly of Fender and Gibson copies; and the Professional range which included headless basses and guitars based on technology licensed from Ned Steinberger as well as the ST (Stratocaster and Superstrat style guitars), TE (Telecaster style guitars, including reissues of the Prince guitar), and L (Les Paul style guitars) models which would form the core of the Professional range for years to come. These guitars were made at the Cor-Tek factory in South Korea, more commonly referred to by their in-house brand Cort Guitars.

In 1990, the English guitar maker Alan Entwistle joined Hohner UK bringing his ATN tone shaping circuitry. In 1991, this was incorporated into the existing ST59 model as the ST59-ATN and into a new model, the JT60-ATN. The popularity of these models allowed Hohner UK to influence guitar production for the next few years, introducing the Revelation series of guitars which were designed in the UK and made at the Delicia factory near Prague and in 1994 setting up a Hohner Custom Shop in Bedwas to produce made to order variations of guitars. To differentiate budget models from the Professional Series and other higher end guitars, the brand Rockwood by Hohner was introduced in the mid-1990s.

The Pocket Pal is a recent addition to the Hohner standard line of harmonicas. It is somewhat unusual because it is slightly shorter in length than most harmonicas, leading to its namesake of being pocket handy. It is Chinese made, which is unfavorable to most harmonica players, but the Pocket Pal has caught on as an inexpensive, yet quality harp. Like the Old Standby, the Pocket Pal is designed for use in country music.

38C, also known as the Mini Harp, is Hohner's least expensive model. With four holes, the 38C plays a single octave in the key of C. Like other budget harmonicas, the 38C is manufactured in China with a plastic comb.

The Little Lady is very similar to the 38C, but on a pearwood comb and with different cover plate art. It is technically a playable harmonica, but it is generally regarded as a knick-knack piece that can be used as personal jewelry. It is also available as a keychain. The Little Lady holds the distinction of being the first musical instrument to be played in outer space.

Notable guitar models

Hohner London Kingsway (1960)

This is probably the earliest Hohner guitar, dating to the second half of 1960. It features a hollow construction, a birch neck and a single pickup. The pickups and electrics were made by the Weill company who had previously worked with Burns London and assembly was probably by Stuart Darkins, a furniture manufacturing company.

HG-320 Limited Edition (1975)

The HG-320 was part of the Limited Edition Series of acoustic guitars introduced in 1975 and produced till the early 1980s. It is a dreadnought guitar and the design closely resembles that of a Martin D-41. The guitars were made in Japan and all featured solid spruce tops, rosewood or maple backs, and highly decorative inlays and marquetry. Later models were probably made at the Terada factory but the earliest guitars show some differences and could have been made by smaller luthier shops.

HG-490 (1977)

The HG-490 was a version of the HS Anderson HS-1 Mad Cat made for Hohner by the Moridaira/Morris factory in Japan around 1977. They were largely a copy of a Fender Telecaster in configuration, but the body is an unusual construction using a Birds' eye maple cap either side of a walnut strip and the guitar has decorative binding and leopard print pickguards. They sold for around 80,000 yen or $800.

Musician Prince bought a Hohner HG-490 guitar in the late 1970s and it was said to have been his favourite guitar. Although very few original models were made, Hohner and others have since made many other versions starting in the early 1980s. Hohner reissues include Hohner THE Prinz, Hohner TE Prinz and Hohner The Artist HTA490.

Prince himself had multiple luthier copies of the guitar made, some of them indistinguishable from the original. As such, it's difficult to be definitive about when he was using an actual Hohner guitar.

B2 (1985)

The Hohner Professional B2 was a headless bass introduced in 1985. It used a bridge licensed from Steinberger and was available with passive or active pickups, the latter designated B2A, as well as a five-string active version designated B2AV. The B2 proved a popular alternative to the much more expensive Steinberger headless basses and remained in production until at least 2012.

JT60 "Hollywood" (1991)

The JT60 was designed in the UK but produced in Korea from 1991 to around 1996 and was an offset guitar similar to a Fender Jaguar but with a Fender Stratocaster pickup and control layout. It was designed by Alan Entwistle, who had recently joined Hohner UK, and features Entwistle's own ATN tone circuitry to emulate different guitar types. The first production models were displayed at the British Music Fair in June 1991 where orders for it greatly outstripped those of the more conventionally Stratocaster-shaped ST59 ATN model which had been produced because of fears that the JT60 was too unconventionally shaped.