HOPF Archtop guitar ~1959 German vintage - FREE SHIPPING TO THE USA

Beautiful old archtop guitar, made by Hopf in the late 1950s in West Germany. Hopf was - and still is to this day - one of the prime instruments makers of Germany.

Archtops have never been Hopf`s main area of manufacturing, which means that they were outsourced to famous German luthier Glassl. I don`t know whether this guitar was also made by him or some of the other German luthiers (could also have been made by Klira). In any way, this is a well built and beautiful standard sized archtop in great condition.

I am not entirely sure about the woods; some sources say all laminated maple, others claim that this has a solid spruce top. It is a beautiful and cool archtop, ideal for many kinds of music (though it was constructed mainly for dance music rhythm, but soloing brings out the Django in you instantly as well).

This is the non cutaway version of the same guitar that I also have in my listings. They sound about the same, and also play equally well.

Sound and Playability:

As all archtops of that era, the guitar has a cutting wooden tone, really suited well for cutting through the mix of an ensemble. It`s more twangy and percussive than mellow.

String action is at a super, crazy playable 2 mm on the 12th fret high E. The guitar plays very soft and comfortably with a straight neck, which has no truss rod.

New 11 gauge strings are attached.

Measurments 4,15 cm nut width, scale 640 mm, width at lower bouts 41 cm (16 inches), depth 8 cm.

Flaws:

The guitar is in an excellent condition for its age. There are some tiny scratches and the frets show some minor wear, but are totally fine.  Everything is original. There are two nicks/dents on the edge of the fretboards, maybe damages from a capo. Barely noticeable.

I polished the frets, oiled the fretboard and the tuners, and put on new 10 gauge strings. The guitar comes un-tuned, and is playable immediately after tuning it up.

Summary:

Very fine German beauty - beautiful!