Other European guitars

BillDaCostaWilliams

I finally attained my dream of a red Verithin model, the subject of my teenage lust back then

I used to pore over the Hofner catalogue back then also (they were the top instruments in Cork at the time as Fenders were yet to become accessible in Ireland) - all I could afford was the catalogue.

Never did acquire a Verithin though.

The Senator in your photo looks good @ChrisMartin very similar to mine - I read that the 1958 model was John Lennon's first electic guitar.

The Hoyer is in a sad state - look forward to seeing the resurrected version.

BillDaCostaWilliams

Although the top is laminated, with bronze strings it produces a pleasing sound and gives me immense pleasure to play.

Recorded a short take with the Huttl.

Solo1a.mp3

Willie

@Bill Da Costa Williams

Thank you for sharing this, your Hüttl sounds as good as it looks like!

Buco

Sounded wonderful, Bill.

DJCordhose

This is an old guitar I inherited from my great grand father. He built musical instruments around 1900, but I am not sure if he build this nice thing or if he just played or repaired it. Unfortunately, she is not in a good shape which is entirely on me.

Any idea what I am having?

Willie

Herzlich willkommen, lieber Olli!

AndyW

looks like Yaakov has a Kremona Zornitsa (?). I'm not sure where he's based.

BillDaCostaWilliams

I'm not sure where he's based.

He's in Israel.

ChrisMartin

Well spotted AndyW.

I had seen Yaakov's teaching videos before but not noticed that on the wall.

So we can add him to Ali Farka Toure as a plank-spanker of good taste.

ChrisMartin

Further to my previous post about the damaged Hoyer Solist, here is the story and the finished (?) version.

I bought it as a wreck some years ago knowing it could never be rebuilt as a mint original and the top was so badly damaged around the end block it was only going to be possible to patch it up with extra reinforcing wood added here and there.

I do not have the skills to hand carve an archtop from solid, and I would guess someone who could would have to charge way more than the thing could ever sell for so my aim was more about restoring its looks and even if the acoustic tones were to suffer at least it could be used as an electric with some 'pose' value.

I realised early on that I would have to remove the back entirely to carry out the necessary surgery.

So, as mentioned before I started by soaking the damaged area with a damp t-shirt so I could massage the pieces back into shape and then when dried held them together with small glued patches underneath. Then I was able to reglue the end block, tidy up the rougher parts and patch the splits. I then replaced the back but soon decided I was not happy with the strength of the repairs so I made an access hole in the back, in the area I later aimed to fit the pots and wiring, in the style of many semi-acoustics. To gain access it had to be big enough to get my hand in.

Next I used some 3/4" dowel to make two soundposts to support the bridge as I suspect even with the glued patches that once strung up to pitch the tension would cause the top to move around, or worse, crack apart.

The edge binding was then replaced, as was the binding along the sides of the fingerboard.

Some frets needed replacing and a couple of the fret marker inlays were glued back on, then a general fret level and polish made it playable again.

Then with some filler to tidy up the cracks I resprayed it with tinted nitro spray cans, and luckily I had an old Hoyer decal in my stash and I can't even remember where that came from.

All of this happened on and off over the last six or seven years, fixing something occasionally then putting it aside to concentrate on something else, I always have several projects on the go (the latest is a 1925 Amilcar CS but that does not belong on a guitar forum).

The original tuners and tailpiece remain and the bridge is a typical German archtop type that was a better fit than the Hofner type that came with it.

So, I just added a generic floating pickup I had lying around, no idea what brand, and a volume and tone pot. I had a clear conscience about drilling holes for the pots seeing that the entire top was already a patchwork repair job.

Strangely, it still sounds ok acoustically too, better than I expected.

Made a plastic cover for the access hole in the back, strung and tuned it up, and knocked out a quick 'Misty'.

Job done.

So now it is for sale, cheap, on Reverb and ebay but I have listed it as only available in Australia as shipping overseas would cost more than it is worth.

Was a fun project though, and at least it got saved in a useable form.