Hofner Very Thin John Stowell

Hofner has been making wood musicial insturments by hand since 1887. First violins, then classical guitars, and finally archtops and electric guitars starting in the mid 1950s. That is to say, Hofner has been making guitars as long as there have been guitars shaped like the ones we all know. And this guitar is the VERY LAST John Stowell model that will be shipped to the United States. Shipping costs and Tariffs being what they are, Hofner, who are based in Germany, have decided the Stowell model is just too expensive to make for the US market.

The Stowell model is based on the Hofner Very Thin model, built to John Stowell's specifications. Designed for the modern player who loves the traditional archtop sound and feel, but plays electrified, the body of this guitar is unusually thin (thus the name Very Thin) at only 1 1/4", which makes the guitar extremely comfortable to play, yet it sounds like an traditional acoustic archtop. The guitar has a hand fitted spruce sustain block in the center that reduces feedback potential and adds some punch and sustain to the tone. The neck profile is a little thicker on the bass side, which provides a very nice feel and better access for complex jazz chords a la John Stowell.

All the finishing touches are as you would expect from a company that has been making hand made instruments for more than 100 years, but what is perhaps most surprising about this instrument is just how good it sounds acoustically. It is so thin and so light that I expected this to be much more of an electric guitar, but it really has quite an acoustical presence. It is not as loud as a large bodied archtop of course, but it has the woodiness of a hand carved guitar. Even electrically it sounds like a traditional archtop with a floating pickup, but is eminently more comfortable to play.

If you love traditional archtops but would like something a little easier on the body, a little easier to carry around, without loosing the tone you love, well, this might be the guitar for you.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.