Höfner Shorty Violin Guitar Black

Blown away with how good this guitar is. The sound and playability are amazing. The guitar is solid and quite reassuringly heavy for its tiny size. The quality of the woods is exceptional, with maple neck, mahogany body and rosewood fretboard all impeccable. The design is amazingly good in terms of comfort and ease of playing, with a slim-ish neck and flat fretboard. Fitted with a leather strap I had no issues with neck dive and it's so easy to hold it's an absolute joy. Let's be honest, at this price there had to be a few compromises; the bridge hardware is functional but quite crudely made, and the setup is cursory at best, with the action sky-high. However, what is the expectation at this price point? The value is in the quality of the German design, the set up is easily adjusted and the bridge could easily be replaced. With that said, as a semi pro musician I will happily try this at a gig as it is, no qualms at all (ok so I did drop the bridge height a full 5mm!). If you are handy with setting up or know a good local tech you could easily make a very, very good guitar from this. I prefer both the sound and playability to a band mate's Fender USA tele at more than ten times the price. The only reason not to buy one is if you don't like the styling. I should add; the model Thomann sent me isn't as pictured, and has instead a black pearloid pickguard, which looks even more amazing. I queried this with Hofner, who said it was a new release. I feel like I've won Willy Wonka's golden ticket.

Needed a thorough set up including truss rod, bridge and intonation before it was playable and after all that it’s passable, but not fantastic. I have to live with some fret buzz on my bottom E string if I want acceptable action. The chrome on the bottom of the bridge pick up is poorly finished. It’s bubbled up. Maybe I should have returned it for this, but as it doesn’t affect the sound or playability I couldn’t be bothered. The machine heads were awful so I changed them for a set of Kluson MS33C heads which is a huge improvement. The bag is thin and weedy - best to buy the Hofner Shorty gig bag if it’s going to be gigged. It does however sound good. It’s gives a great clean and overdriven sound from the pick ups. Would I but it again? No, but after all the pain I’ve gone through to make it half decent, I’ll keep it and play it.