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Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments.
The company was made famous through its association with The Beatles, principally through their Höfner 500/1 model hollow-body electric bass, first manufactured in 1956[1]. Paul McCartney played two left-handed 500/1 basses (one from 1961 with the pickups mounted close together towards the neck, and a 1962 model, with the second pickup mounted closer to the bridge) during most of the group's career. He used the 1961 bass through the days at the Cavern club right up to the recording of With the Beatles. McCartney did some repairwork to the bass in 1964, and used it as his backup bass throughout the rest of the Beatles' touring career. It was used on the single Revolution as well as the video for the song. It was spotted during the Let It Be sessions when it was stolen shortly afterward. His most famous bass, though is the 1962 bass, which was used almost exclusively during the band's touring career (1962-66) as well as their valedictory rooftop performance in London in 1969, as featured in the film Let It Be, and has used it extensively throughout his solo career. Guitarists George Harrison and John Lennon also used Hofner electric guitars (Club40 and President models) during the formative years of the group's career.[2]
To a lesser extent the company's reputation was furthered in the late 1980s/early 1990s by John Squire's use of a Höfner semi-acoustic guitar featuring a self-applied Jackson Pollock-style paintjob while Squire was a member of English band The Stone Roses.
Today the 500/1 is known as the "Beatle Bass" (1962 model) or "Cavern Bass" (1961 model) (after the Liverpool club where The Beatles played in their early days) and the first bass player of The Beatles, Stuart Sutcliffe, used a 500/5. Today many artists still use the Hofner 'Beatle' bass, including Mark Stoermer of The Killers (in live performances).
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Company history
The Höfner company was founded by luthier Karl Höfner in the city of Schönbach in Germany in 1887, and soon became the largest manufacturer of string instruments in the country. His sons Josef and Walter joined the company around 1920, and began spreading the brand's reputation worldwide. The company suffered some upheavals during and after World War II, but survived and continued to thrive. The company built new factories in Bubenreuth in 1950.
Changes of ownership
In 1994, Höfner became part of the Boosey & Hawkes Group, and was able to expand and upgrade its facilities with the influx of cash. In 1997, the company moved from Bubenreuth to Hagenau.
After a near-bankruptcy in 2003 Boosey & Hawkes sold its musical instrument division (including the Höfner and Buffet Crampon companies) to The Music Group, a company formed by rescue buyout specialists Rutland Fund Management, for £33.2 million.[3]
Höfner remained a part of this conglomerate until January 2005, when The Music Group sold the company to Klaus Schöller, who has been the General Manager of Höfner for many years.
In mid-2005, The Music Group (having lost many of its component manufacturers) stopped distributing Höfner in the USA, and the distribution was picked up by Chicago firm Classic Musical Instruments (CMI).
See also
- Paul McCartney World Tour booklet, EMAP Metro, MPL Communications 1989
Notes
- ^ Vintage Guitars - Hofner 500/1
- ^ Etanet.se
- ^ Fagan, Mary (2002-08-24). "Boosey Nears Sale of Instruments Division". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2002/08/25/cnboos25.xml. Osborne, Alistair (2003-02-11). "Boosey Plucks £33.2 million (or, about $67 million) for Instruments". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/02/12/cnboos12.xml. Wray, Richard (2003-02-12). "Boosey & Hawkes Sells Instruments Arm for £33.2m". The Guardian. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,893744,00.html.
References
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