1962 Hofner 464s Archtop Guitar (SOLD)

Hofner has built many guitars over the years, but not many of them made their way to North America. In Europe, Hofner supplied many electric and archtop guitars, and of course created a certain iconic bass design.

Today we're looking at a 1962 Hofner 464s archtop guitar. This is a fully acoustic model and was introduced around 1952. It features a 16 inch wide body, with flame-shaped soundholes plus an extra diamond-shaped soundhole at the fingerboard end with a treble clef figure. The faux mother of pearl headstock has a matching treble clef.

The Hofner 464s archtop, like many other Hofner archtops, has a 25.5 inch scale length and a zero fret. These guitars do not have adjustable truss rods, so the neck profile tends to be thicker. The body is made of mahogany-maple laminate for the back and sides, and spruce for the top.

This 1962 example is in good condition all round, with minor wear to the finish. The Hofner decal on the upper bout is worn, probably from simple cleaning.

Fret wear is light to moderate, and mostly in the lower positions. This guitar has been refretted, and the fingerboard planed. During the refret, the binding was sawn through so the fret ends are exposed. This will make subsequent refrets much cheaper. Also the 3rd fret position marker is quite thin and partly missing.

This is a very cool guitar, very playable and with great visual appeal. The original case is included.