Virgil | soldguitars

(SOLD)

Hofner f-hole Acoustic

"Virgil"

I don't know much at all about this old guy. It was sold to me as a 1950's Hofner, and I've no reason to doubt its age, although I've not been able to trace the serial or any construction peculiarities in order to date it accurately. The construction is pretty tidy, and includes a neck-angle adjustment, which is a nice touch. It is clearly quite ancient ... perhaps decrepit is a better word. It came to me strung with steel strings (like stair-rods / scaffold-poles), which worked fine but felt dreadful, so I tried regular gauge electric strings, which felt ok, but there was no magic. The magic happened when I threw on a set of nylon strings ... which threw out a wonderful, rich, deep tone. Beautiful. Everything seems to be original, including the tuners, the trapeze tailpiece and the movable timber bridge (arch-tops tend to have floating bridges like this one). The intonation is actually set nicely in the photographs, despite the bridge looking like it is at ENTIRELY the wrong angle. Curious, but not the end of the world ... what matters is that it works perfectly. I wouldn't be without this one ... this is my 'campfire' guitar ... not that I think it would survive a trip to a campsite without being reduced to kindling within minutes. A great guitar, and one that I enjoy a lot. I also enjoy using the term 'f-hole' ... which makes me smile!