1960s Hofner Fancy Classical Guitar-Lute

Overview: This is a gorgeous guitar-lute (as in -- lute-shaped classical guitar) and dates to the '60s, more than likely, and was made in Germany by Hofner. The decorative rosette and scroll at the headstock are excellent and it has very pretty, figured maple on the back and sides. The trim is a little nicer than usual, too, with multi-ply binding.

It has a "smile" bridge and a fully-scalloped fretboard which is pretty slick as well. It sounds great and also has quality tuners installed. I'm guessing this was a little more upmarket than a typical guitar-lute for the time...!

Soundwise, the scalloped board, longer uninterrupted top surface, and bowlback design definitely give the instrument a "lute-like" sound and clarity that a typical classical does not have. 

Repairs included: This arrived looking excellent but needed a lot of fussing to make it a good player. To that end, Ancel reprofiled the bridge a bit and then installed a new fret saddle. On the other side he leveled and dressed the frets and had to do a lot of re-scalloping of the fretboard at the fretboard extension as it had a "ski jump" problem there. Tedious work now done, it's playing spot-on and is ready to go.

• Weight: 3 lbs 1 oz
• Scale length: 24 3/8"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: medium C/D
• Board radius: flat
• Depth at first fret: 0.89"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.98"
• Body width: 13 7/8"
• Body depth: ~5"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid maple
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: rosewood
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: maple 2-piece
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: normal tension classical
• Truss rod: none
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: scalloped-board/flush bar fret

Condition notes: It's very clean. There's a bit of weather-checking here and there and some darkening to the original finish. The bridge got a little bit of reprofiling in the saddle area to adjust the action height and looks great. 

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: NILS