Bizarro Hofner
- Thread starter GGJaguar
- Start date
Well it's not too comfortable to play, but it sure is ugly!Looks like Batman's guitar.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
Looks like they started with the Bo Diddley design and took off from there ;]
walrus
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
It looks like something that could have been found in an Egyptian tomb, if they'd had electric guitars.
geoguy
Senior Member
My first thought was that it was a factory second, with the neck attached to the wrong end of the body!
spoox
Member
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Okko
Member
Shouldn’t be a problem, it seems on your profile picture, you already wear a maskLooks like Batman's guitar.
jp
Senior Member
Whuuut? I've never seen anything like that before! That's the weirdest Hofner yet, and there have been some weird ones in the past.
Where did you see this GG?
Where did you see this GG?
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Well, it was called "Fledermausgitarre" which is "bat guitar". Build by Höfner for the Musik Messe in Frankfurt 1960. The unique features were the built in loudspeaker and amplifier which pre-dated Japanese models. There are only a few existing of that 1960 run.
Here are the parts that were built into them:
Source: http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/solids2/sol4.html
An original is for sale in Germany but is missing parts:
1960 Hofner Bat Guitar
www.vintagehofner.co.uk
Höfner’s Fledermaus Gitarre | Vintage Guitar® magazine
Much like the scant records of almost every large-scale American guitar manufacturer, production logs at Höfner's headquarters in Hagenau, Germany, aren't big on details. So when it comes to researching instruments built more than a generation ago, the facts are subject to the time-addled...
www.vintageguitar.com
There are even replicas now, that picture shows a guy playing one of the replicas:
Ralf
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Another interesting guitar from that time was the Hoyer Fantastik built by their luthier Wenzel Kühnl end of the '50s.
There are only 6 of them existing with various features.
Ralf
There are only 6 of them existing with various features.
Schlaggitarren.de – Diverses
www.schlaggitarren.de
Ralf
jp
Senior Member
Wow! Thanks, Ralf. And that Hoyer looks organ inspired. The electronics almost look foreign on it.
I used to be a "Höfner Hound" a while back when Nick Wass ran it, and I constantly perused Steve Russell's amazing site. It's been a while since I've checked out the site, so I hadn't seen the "Fledermausgitarre" since it was posted.
As I'm sure you know, there seemed to be a host of interesting German guitar companies that often <ahem> influenced each other. There are all the H companies -- Hofner, Huttl, Hoyer, Hopf, Huttl -- as well as Musima and Framus that come immeditately to mind. They've all made some very bizarre guitars in funky shapes, materials, and f-hole configurations. I love them all!
For years I lusted after a Höfner 461S with the seal-shaped F-holes, until I actually held one in my hands and couldn't bond with it. Still one of the coolest guitars ever.
I used to be a "Höfner Hound" a while back when Nick Wass ran it, and I constantly perused Steve Russell's amazing site. It's been a while since I've checked out the site, so I hadn't seen the "Fledermausgitarre" since it was posted.
As I'm sure you know, there seemed to be a host of interesting German guitar companies that often <ahem> influenced each other. There are all the H companies -- Hofner, Huttl, Hoyer, Hopf, Huttl -- as well as Musima and Framus that come immeditately to mind. They've all made some very bizarre guitars in funky shapes, materials, and f-hole configurations. I love them all!
For years I lusted after a Höfner 461S with the seal-shaped F-holes, until I actually held one in my hands and couldn't bond with it. Still one of the coolest guitars ever.
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Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
So it has rocket packs? ;]]