| ARTIST | HOFNER MODEL | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| John Lennon | Club 40 | Bought in Hamburg but later given away to Paul McCartney. |
| Senator | Sold at Sotherbys in 1984 for £15,500 (Now disputed.) | |
| Hawaiian Standard | Electric Lap Steel guitar played on "For You Blue" | |
| George Harrison | President | His first electric guitar, replaced by the Club 40. |
| Club 40 | George's second electric guitar, replaced by a Futurama Grazioso in late 1959 before the first Hamburg visit. | |
| Paul McCartney | Club40 | John Lennon's old guitar, played before he took over bass from Stuart Sutcliffe |
| Three 500/1 Violin Basses | First one bought in Hamburg, later stolen. Second is still in regular use by Paul. Third was presented to him by Selmers, but subsequently handed back without being used. | |
| Stuart Sutcliffe | 500/5 President Bass | Bought in Liverpool 1960 with proceeds from the sale of a painting. Sold at Sotherbys in 1986 for £9,500. |
| Bert Weedon | Golden Hofner, Committee, Deluxe, Club 50, etc, etc. | The original British "Guitar Great"! Author of "Play in a Day" which was the bible for all aspiring guitarists in Britain during the 50s and 60s. |
| Hank Marvin | Congress | Hank's first "proper" guitar, bought in 1958 in Newcastle. |
| Buddy Holly | President | Purchased in London and used during his 1958 UK Tour. |
|
Malcolm Lockyer |
Congress | One of the most famous UK orchestral conductors and composers during the 1960's & 70's. |
|
Jimi Hendrix |
Club 50 (1959) | It is also understood that he occasionally played a 500/1 bass. |
|
Eric Clapton |
Unidentified Hofner Acoustic | EC learnt how to play guitar on a Hofner "acoustic". |
| Jimmy Page | President | Jimmy's first guitar when he was 13 and playing in a skiffle group, later to be replaced by a Futurama Grazioso solid guitar. |
| Richie Blackmore | Club 50 | Richie's second guitar, traded in when he was 16 for a Gibson 335 prior to joining Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages. |
| Dave Gilmore | Club 60 | Bought 2nd hand in Cambridge in 1963. Replaced by a Telecaster on his 21st Birthday. Now owns another Club 60, acquired in the 1980's. |
| Roy Wood | Colorama & V3 Solid | V3 Solid replaced by a Fender Strat, before Roy's days with the Move and ELO. |
| Peter Frampton | Club 60 | Played a Club 60 in "The Truebeats" 1962/63. |
| Denny Wright | Committee | One of the original design "committee". Played in Lonnie Donnegan's band, later in the Bluegrass Boys with Jonny Duncan, and also with Dizz Dizzly. |
| Albert Lee | President | Bought second-hand in 1958 as a present by Albert's parents. Traded in for a Grazioso Futurama. |
|
Peter Green |
Senator | Peter has stated that a Hofner Senator was his first "real" guitar. |
| Chas Hodges | 500/5 Bass | Joe Meek's Outlaws, then Chas & Dave. |
| Tom McGuiness | Club 40 | Used in the Talismen, prior to his days with the Roosters (Eric Clapton), and the Manfred Mann Band. |
| Justin Haywood | Club 60 | Bought in Swindon during early 60s whilst still at school. |
| Big Jim Sullivan | Senator | Bought in Jim's early days. Replaced with a carved top Maton. |
| Joe Brown | Club 50 | Used prior to him upgrading to his famous Gibson 335. |
|---|---|---|
| Midge Ure | Model 455 | Bought in Camden Market in 1976, and played in Slik concerts. |
| Electric 12 string | Used when in the band Salvation. | |
| Gordon Giltrap | Committee/Clubs etc | Gordon collects and occasionally plays Hofners in his concerts. |
| Neville Martin | Clubs | Co-writer of "The Hofner Guitar-A History" with Gordon Giltrap. Neville is editor of Guitarist Magazine. |
| Dick Denny | President | Designer of the Vox amplifier, Dick played a President in his dance band days. |
| Bernie Marsden | Colorama Solid | Used a flower painted(!) Colorama in his early days. |
| Judd Proctor | President | Started as a British session guitarist in the 50s. Played with Ray Ellington Quartet. Early Hofner sponsor. |
| President | Famous Canadian/UK Jazz guitarist, associated with Stephane Grappelli. | |
| John McNally | Club 60 | Played on the early Searcher's records. |
| Club 50 | Another member of the Searchers, and previously a member of Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, who played a Hofner in his early days. He now has a superb Hofner collection. | |
| President, Colorama | On of the great original bands based in Liverpool during the early 1960's. | |
| Mickie Most | President | Played the President with the Most Brothers. Later became a famous record producer in the UK. |
| President, Golden | UK Icon of Folk and Jazz guitar. | |
| Congress/Committee | AKA Rick Richards. He was the man who introduced Hank Marvin to Cliff Richard. He also helped John Lennon choose his first Rickenbacker!! | |
| Nightingale, Alpha, Shorty | Pete was a member of the Climax Blues Band for the full period of the band's existence. He is now a very successful solo artist. | |
| Allan Holdsworth | President | Allan's first proper guitar. |
| Tommy Steele | President/Committee | Seen on many a publicity photo with a Hofner guitar. |
| Committee | Another of the UK's early rockers | |
| Committee | Marty was in at the beginning of UK Rock Music in the late 1950's. | |
| Anthony Newley | Committee | Plays the Hofner in the film "Idle on Parade". |
| Chas McDevitt | President, Committee | One of the mainstays of UK music in the late 50's and early 60's. |
| Rick Westwood | Senator, Club 40 | Lead guitarist with The Tremeloes - Rick played the Hofners before acquiring his sunburst Strat. |
| Ray Ennis | Club 40, Futurama III | Lead guitarist with The Swinging Blue Jeans. Played the Club 40 between 1958 & 1962. |
| Ernie Shear | President/Committee | The lead guitar on Britain's finest early rock and roll single, "Move It" by Cliff Richard - played by Ernie on a Hofner. |
|
Ian Samwell |
President Electric | Ian was a founder member of Cliff Richard's first band. the Drifters, and he was the one that wrote "Move It", the UK's first real rock n' roll song......... and still the best. |
|
Alex Harvey |
Committee | Originally a jazz musician, Alex went on to lead one of Scotland's most original and influential rock bands. |
| Mark Knopfler | V2 Solid | Mark's first guitar |
|
Rick Parfitt |
Committee | Rick played a Committee in the early 60's, before joining Status Quo. |
| Phil Manzanera | Galaxie | Lead Guitarist with Roxy Muisc. The Galaxie was Phil's first guitar and he still owns it. |
| 175 Solids | Portuguese recording band from the early 1960's, with music influenced by The Shadows/Spotnics. | |
| Various Hofner semi-acoustic & bass models. | US family band from the late 1960's who played Hofner instruments almost exclusively. | |
| Joseph Reinhardt | Model 456 | Brother of Django Reinhardt. Played in rhythm section of many of Django's bands. Born 1912 Died 1982 in Paris. |
| Luke Haines | Committee | Guitarist with Brit Band, The Auters. |
| Davy Graham | Congress | British Folk-Baroque guitarist. Invented the DADGAD tuning. |
| The Lollipops | 173 & 176 Solids | One of the top Danish recording bands during the 1960's. |
| Joe Strummer | Verithin | Used the Verithin in his pre-Clash days when playing with the 101'ers. |
| Giorgio Gaber | Model 455 and 470 | One of Italy's top singers and also a songwriter. Giorgio unfortunately died in January 2003. |
| Randy Bachman | Collection of Hofner archtops | Canadian guitarist and founder-member of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. |
| Chris Rea | V3 Solid, Colorama | Used in his 2005 Blue Guitars and 2008 Hofner Blue Note Projects |
| Verythin JS, Jazzica | Current Hofner user. | |
|
Curt Smith |
500/2 Club Bass | C0-founding member of "Tears for Fears". |
|
Tina Weymouth |
500/2 Club Bass | Founder member of "Talking Heads" and later of "Tom Tom Club" |
| The Kaisers | Various Hofner models | Retro band from Scotland, who specialise in early 1960's style music |
| Verithin | Garage Rock Band from Sweden. Main Fan Base is Sweden, Germany, and Japan. | |
| John Stirratt | Club Bass (Current & Vintage) | Bass player with the band Wilco |
| 176 Solid | German Rock Band 1993 up to present time. | |
| 500/1 Bass | Australian Country Singer Man & Wife Act from the '60s. | |
| 4574 Verithin, Senator | Debut record released in 1995, and now touring the World! | |
| Hofner S3N Solid | A young lady who is a singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and........just happens to be Top 10 finalist in the American Idol's song writing competition. | |
| Emma Thompson | Verithin | Played by Emma in the 1987 BBC Scotland production "Tutti Frutti". |
|
Smoke Fairies |
President, Club 40, Verythin | A present-day duo who have a very refreshing approach to contemporary music. |
| Neil Hamilton Wilkinson | Verithin | Vocals/guitar/bass for Great British Sea Power |
| Jamie Hince | 176 Solid | Guitarist with "The Kills". See Jamie talk about his Hofner 176 guitars HERE |
| Kevin Parker | 500/1 Violin Bass | Tame Impala. Kevin uses his Hofner bass for recording, as seen HERE . |
| Johanna Soderberg | 500/2 Club Bass | Bass guitarist with "First Aid Kit" |
FAMOUS JAMAICAN ROCKSTEADY AND SKA MUSIC GUITARISTSMany of the Jamaican Ska and Rocksteady tracks were cut using Hofner guitars in the 1960's & 70's. |
||
| Lyn Tait | The architect of Rocksteady Guitar used a Hofner on early records. | |
| Hux Brown | Original guitarist with Toots and the Maytals. | |
| Jerry Hines | Original guitarist with the Jamaican Skatalites. | |
| Robbie Shakespeare | Hofner 500/1 Bass | |
| Family Man Barrett | Hofner Bass | |
| Bertram "Ranchie" McLean | Hofner 500/1 Bass | |
Rick Westwood and Hofner Senator in 1957, prior to him joining The Tremeloes.
Giorgio Gaber with his Hofner 470. (Thanks, Giovanni!)
Alex Harvey & Tommy Steele playing their Hofner Committees. (Thanks Bob.)
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