Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Vintage Vault: 1960/’61 Hofner Committee

Vintage Vault: 1960/’61 Hofner Committee
The Committee was the company’s upscale take on the jazz archtop and was produced in acoustic and electric versions. This acoustic listed for about $175 in 1961 and now sells for about $2,600.

A rare-bird version of the German builder’s top-of-the-line acoustic archtop.

Hofner is a German brand, but with some research, it becomes clear that the company’s roots are a little more complicated. It was actually founded by luthier Karl Hofner in 1887 in Schönbach, a city in what was then Austria-Hungary. World War I changed that, and today the locale is renamed Luby, and it is part of the Czech Republic.

During the first Great War, Hofner switched from instruments to making shipping crates and boot soles for the German army. But after the war, Germans were expelled from the region and Hofner set up his instrument factory in West Germany—at a former work camp in a town called Möhrendorf. This month’s elegant if oddly named Hofner Committee was likely built in a less creepy location: Hofner’s second plant, in Bubenreuth, part of Germany’s Bavarian region.

Produced from 1954 to 1969 in its acoustic incarnation, and until 1972 in its electric format, the Committee ruled as something akin to a poor man’s Gibson L-5.

Although Paul McCartney really put the company on the international map by playing a 500/1 violin bass in the Beatles, Hofner was already making fine modern instruments, like this Committee. When it came into our shop a while back, we were totally blown away by the pristine shape it was in and how great it plays and sounds. We learned that the owner we acquired the guitar from rarely took it out of the case for nearly the entire time he had it. (He was the second owner and had the guitar’s first bill of sale.) So it’s no surprise that this 1960 or 1961 Hofner Committee, in its original case, is in excellent condition. What an incredible find!

Produced from 1954 to 1969 in its acoustic incarnation, and until 1972 in its electric format, the Committee ruled as something akin to a poor man’s Gibson L-5 archtop, with a measurement of 17.5" across the lower bout and a 3" width, a pair of classic-shaped f-holes, an adjustable bridge, and a trapeze tailpiece. Among the guitar’s more distinctive appointments are eight double-diamond inlays set within bars running along its 22-fret neck, a zero fret, marbled binding, six floral plastic tuners, and a clear Perspex pickguard bearing the Hofner name. Our example wears a sunburst finish, but they also came in natural.


The Committee’s body was listed as having a spruce top and a bird’s-eye maple back and sides in the Hofner catalog, but this one sports a flame-maple back and sides.

Clearly dressed to impress, the Committee was Hofner’s top-shelf archtop, and an electric model entered production alongside the acoustic version in 1956. The model had an ornate “frondose” (which means “leaf-like”) headstock until 1963, when it adopted the more Gibson-like headstock—essentially a tulip-style headstock—that had already been associated with Hofner’s President model.


The more ornate “frondose” headstock typically comes on Committees of this era, but this guitar boasts a tulip-style headstock that appeared on other Hofner models.

This particular Hofner Committee is a rare bird. Perhaps due to parts shortages or other production problems at the plant, this guitar has some character traits typically found on other models of the day. For example, the tulip headstock and fretboard inlay patterns are what you would find on the ES-335-like Verithin and the 1959-’60 Club 60 model Hofners of the time. In the company catalog, the Committee’s body is listed as having a spruce top and a bird’s-eye maple back and sides, but this one sports a flame-maple back and sides. That’s more in line with the President model. And the steel bridge was more common to electrics, while Hofner acoustics of the era typically had ebonized wood bridges.


Note the steel bridge, rather than the ebonized wooden bridge typical of the ’60/’61 Committee, and the cool
see-through Perspex pickguard.

What’s absolutely certain is that this guitar is gorgeous. According to the Hofner Guitar Project website, the price for an acoustic Committee in 1961 was £48 to £50, or about $175. Today, a model with this one’s rare features and excellent condition sells for about $2,600.

Valerie June’s Musical Animism Drives Her New Album, Owls, Omens, and Oracles

Photo by Travys Owen

I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun in an interview as I did speaking with roots-rock artist Valerie June about her new release, Owls, Omens, and Oracles. At the end of our conversation, after going over schedule by about 15 minutes, her publicist curbed us with a gentle reminder. In fairness, maybe we did spend a bit too much time talking about non-musical things, such as Seinfeld, spirituality, and the fauna around her home in Humboldt, Tennessee.


Divided by 13 CCC 9/15 Review

The announcement in January 2024 that Two-Rock had acquired Divided by 13 Amplifiers (D13) was big news in the amp world. It was also good news for anyone who’d enjoyed rocking D13’s original, hand-made creations and hoped to see the brand live on. From the start of D13’s operations in the early ’90s, founder and main-man Fred Taccone did things a little differently. He eschewed existing designs, made his amps simple and tone-centric, and kept the company itself simple and small. And if that approach didn’t necessarily make him rich, it did earn him a stellar reputation for top-flight tube amps and boatloads of star endorsements.


Fender Teams Up With IDLES to Launch New Player II Modified Guitars

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) today announces the launch of the Player II Modified — a bold expansion of its Player II series. Featuring select electric guitar and bass models enhanced with performance-driven upgrades, Player II Modified offers modern players refined tone, performance, and style straight out of the box. As an extension of the best-selling guitar series in Fender’s nearly 80-year history, Player II Modified builds on this legacy with expanded tonal versatility, elevated playability, and modern enhancements that meet the needs of a new generation of players.


See Beyond Your Guitar’s Spec Sheet

A guitar is not simply a collection of wood, wire, and metal—it is an act of faith. Faith that a slab of lumber can be coaxed to sing, and that magnets and copper wire can capture something as expansive as human emotion. While it’s comforting to think that tone can be calculated like a tax return, the truth is far messier. A guitar is a living argument between its components—an uneasy alliance of materials and craftsmanship. When it works, it’s glorious.


A Rare Japan-Made Guitar, but Is It Unique?

I’ve been thinking a lot about snowflakes lately. We are getting some snowy weather up my way, but there’s a few other items rattling around in my mind. Like, I just got a car for my daughter (thanks to those who bought guitars from me recently), and it’s so freakin’ cool. I bought her a Mini Cooper, and this thing is so rad! I was doing research on these models, and each one is sorta different as far as colors, racing stripes, wheels, etc. Her friends say she has a “main character” car, but you’ll probably have to ask a teenager whatthat means.


A live editor and browser for customizing Tone Models and presets.

IK Multimedia is pleased to release the TONEX Editor, a free update for TONEX Pedal and TONEX ONE users, available today through the IK Product Manager. This standalone application organizes the hardware library and enables real-time edits to Tone Models and presets with a connected TONEX pedal.

Read MoreShow less

6V6 and EL84 power sections deliver a one-two punch in a super-versatile, top-quality, low-wattage combo.

Extremely dynamic. Sounds fantastic in both EL84 and 6V6 settings. Excellent build quality.

Heavy for a 9-to-15-watt combo. Expensive.

3,549

Divided by 13 CCC 9/15

dividedby13.com

5
5
4.5
4

The announcement in January 2024 that Two-Rock had acquired Divided by 13 Amplifiers (D13) was big news in the amp world. It was also good news for anyone who’d enjoyed rocking D13’s original, hand-made creations and hoped to see the brand live on. From the start of D13’s operations in the early ’90s, founder and main-man Fred Taccone did things a little differently. He eschewed existing designs, made his amps simple and tone-centric, and kept the company itself simple and small. And if that approach didn’t necessarily make him rich, it did earn him a stellar reputation for top-flight tube amps and boatloads of star endorsements.

Read MoreShow less

The luthier’s stash.

There is more to a guitar than just the details.

A guitar is not simply a collection of wood, wire, and metal—it is an act of faith. Faith that a slab of lumber can be coaxed to sing, and that magnets and copper wire can capture something as expansive as human emotion. While it’s comforting to think that tone can be calculated like a tax return, the truth is far messier. A guitar is a living argument between its components—an uneasy alliance of materials and craftsmanship. When it works, it’s glorious.

Read MoreShow less