Hofner Colorama II Model 444 - All Original - Black Bar Pickups - Clean Player - Lightweight - Chipboard Case - 1959

I am selling a Hofner Colorama 444 or Colorama II, made between 1958 and 1959 in Bavaria, Germany.

It is all original, in very good condition and plays clean with low to moderate action. Comes with a vintage gator chipboard case that is in worn condition but will protect the guitar in transit.

This model is semi-hollow, extremely light-weight and has the early Hofner black-bar pickups, which are single coil and have clear sound. The neck pickup reads 6.2, the bridge 6.1 and together they read 3.1 on the meter. The control panel has two “tulip knob” volume controls, two tone settings, and a solo/rhythm selector. It looks like the tulip knobs have been topped with gold foil at some point.

The neck is a chunky three piece laminate and is straight with a bit of relief. The frets have some wear but notes play up and down the rosewood fretboard with little or no buzz with low to medium action. The original bridge is set as low as it goes and I think with a lower bridge string height could be lowered even more.

The late fifties Coloramas had the 3 X 3 headstocks and, for a few years, the black pickups. By 1960 they moved to the diamond toaster pickups before settling on the staple mini-humbuckers. Another change that happened around 1961 is the headstock shifted to a shiny in-line type and soon after the set-neck changed to bolt on.

As is sometimes the case on vintage guitars the neck pickup is noticeably louder and more full sounding that the bridge pickup, though they both have pretty much the same resistance reading on the multimeter.

Some tech notes:

Nut Width: 1.75 inches 

Scale: 24.5 inches

Neck pickup reading: 6.2

Bridge pickup reading: 6.1

Both pickups: 3.1

Length: About 38 inches

Lower Bout: 13 inches

Depth: 1.25 inches

Weight: (Am guessing) between 3 and 4 pounds

Ships with the vintage chipboard case as pictured, which has a broken latch and wear.

I’ve described this 66 year old guitar as best as I can with words and images, if you have any questions be sure to ask me before you buy.

Will pack professionally and ship quickly.