Introduction
Introduced
in 1954 the Hofner Club was soon to be a favorite among all the
young guys aiming for the European rock scene at that time. With
it´s light weight and hollow body, but similar in shape
and size to a Gibson Les Paul, the Hofner Club became the perfect
and affordable substitute, when American guitars simply where
out of reach. Icons like John
Lennon, Paul
McCartney and George
Harrison of the Beatles, Dave Gilmore of Pink Floyd,
Riche Blackmore of Deep Purple and many others played Hofner Clubs
in there early years. So did Little Gerhard
from Sweden, who was crowned "Scandinavian King of Rock"
at Jordal Amphitheater in Norway back in 1958.
German
instrument maker Hofner had started to produce electrical guitars,
mainly wide bodied archtops, in their factory in Bubenreuth back
in the early fifties. In the aftermath of the second world war,
when the German economy was ruined and salaries low, instruments
made by Hofner´s highly skilled craftsmen could be sold
at incredibly low prices, compared to American equivalents.
When first released, this guitar was offered in two versions.
Model 125 with a single neck pickup and 126 with two, neck and
bridge, pickups. The model name "Club" was introduced
when British company Selmer started to distribute Hofner´s
back in 1957-58. The 125 became Club 40 and 126 became Club 50.
In 1958 Hofner released a "de luxe" version with a reinforced
neck, more lavish decorations, perloid pickguard and control plate
etc. The single pickup version was named 127 and the two pickup
version 128. The 127 never got a Club equivalent, but the 128
was sold by Selmer under the name Club 60. In 1967 a Club 70 was
introduced that replaced the Club60, but by that time Hofner´s
had lost most of their charisma and the world got flooded with
Gibson´s, Fender´s, Epiphone´s and cheap Asian
replicas. The Hofner Club finally disappeared into the haze in
1970
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