NGD - Hofner 12-string Acoustic

[PelliX]

Well, finally! I managed to snag a seemingly quite decent 12-string acoustic for a steal!

It's a Hofner from 1974 (or so it was advertised). Really interesting guitar. There's a type of neck-bolt that I believe adjusts the angle of the neckjoint, though I haven't swapped the strings and so on yet. It lost the pickguard some years ago, he said, but I have it so I'll probably glue it back in place. It has a metal nut and a zero fret - not something I'm used to seeing on these type of guitars, but very welcome features. Plays like butter, though the neck may need a little tweak of the truss rod. I'm letting it settle for a day before doing any work on it.

Can anyone here date this thing? I've done a couple of checks on the serial no (256045), but didn't come up with any reliable results. I don't know when Hofner stopped producing in Germany, but I think it was late 70's, early 80's?

Also, what an amazing flame, especially on the back!

 

[fitz]

HN12SGD!

 

[PelliX]

Well, it looks like it's a Hofner 492, and I've found a few pictures of one sold in 1977.

Frank Rokob's Hofner 4920 Twelve String

However, the back is very different, it would appear to be a 4900 by spec, though the pickguard is definitely that of a 492. Surely someone here knows about these?

EDIT: According to Hofner they only started using serial numbers in '76. The serial number on it probably originates from a dealer. I'm going to poke around inside with a mirror tomorrow and see if there are any markings.

 

[lespaul339]

Congrats! That has a great flame finish on the back!

 

[bhatta]

Really,, what an ass on that beauty

No really, that's some awesome flame!

Awesome find.
Enjoy it in good health and good luck with getting the deets on it .

Cheers

 

[PelliX]

No really, that's some awesome flame!

Thanks - such a shame they put that on the back...

Enjoy it in good health and good luck with getting the deets on it .

Yeah, that seems like a bit of a black hole, honestly. I didn't buy it for collector's value, so I was more simply curious than dead set on getting a date. I'd guesstimate, based on what I've found so far, that it was somewhere between '72 and '76.

I'm still trying to get the pickguard straightened out, it's curved inwards around the edges. I think I might try covering it in cloth and ironing it, then flattening it with some weights. Left it between books on the shelf last night, but as expected that did absolutely nothing.