Hofner / 456/C With Added Floating Pickup / 1959 / Amber Burst / Guitar
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This vintage Höfner Model 456C archtop guitar can be dated between 1956 and 1959 and was built for the European market. It came from the factory as an acoustic guitar without a pickup. The heavily decorated headstock has a decal from a (long gone) musicstore in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands; this store probably sold the guitar new in the late ‘50s or early '60s.
There are some scratches and dents all over the guitar and below the bridge and the lacquer is crazed all over, but generally the finish is in good condition. The amber sunburst hilights the pretty woodgrain, especially on the back of the guitar. This guitar has no truss rod but the neck is nice and straight, showing some minor relief when strung up with .012 strings. The neck set is firm and has a good angle so this guitar plays great and a medium/low action is easily dialed in. The wide and high frets (possibly an old refret, hard to tell) are in good condition as well. One tuner gear wheel has been replaced; the original tuners aren’t great but perfectly usable.
Because the end of the neck showed traces and holes of at least three different pickups fitted before and the lower side already had a jack output fitted, we decided to turn this guitar into an electric once again. We used a floating pickup made by 4Seasons Pickups and made a pickguard based on a Höfner template from some old pearloid sheet material.
Currently this guitar is strung with .012 D’Addario Chromes flatwound strings. While it’s not a very deep or warm sounding guitar it does have a nice clear and defined sound with a distinctive ‘50s vibe. It’s great for rhythm strumming (both acoustically and plugged in) and it has a beautiful raw and primitive blues/garagerock sound with some drive and reverb/tremolo added.
Dirk Witte Music Store, Netherlands 
You have found the Dirk Witte Vintage Shop on Vintage and Rare!
Dirk Witte is a family owned music store that was founded in 1939 on the exact same spot where it is today, right in the old city center of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. We deal in new, used and vintage musical instruments and gear.
You'll find a selection from our vintage inventory on this page, but we generally have a lot more in stock. So, if you can't find what you are looking for here, please click on the website link or contact me through email: vintage@dirkwitte.nl Of course I am also available for any questions you might have about our instruments.
Thanks,
Martijn Vink / Dirk Witte - Vintage Shop Manager
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Return Policy:
We strive to provide in-depth descriptions of our items before shipping them long distance and try to avoid any confusion about playability or condition. Feel free to ask us questions about our items. Should you feel an item you bought from us is not up to your expectations please contact us as soon as possible. We accept returns within 8 days after delivery but will charge the return shipping costs.
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We are located in the Netherlands and items are shipped from there. Shipping rates can vary widely for different weights and sizes of items, especially when shipping overseas. We charge only actual shipping costs with no S&H fee. Please contact us for an accurate shipping quote.
