Höfner

Höfner reaches far beyond the famous violin-shaped bass. Founded in 1887, the company moved into guitars in the 1930s and later built archtops, semi-hollows, solidbodies and basses. Today the 500/1 alone spans budget Ignition instruments, Contemporary models and handmade German builds—so the name on the headstock is only the beginning.

MODEL SEARCH

Know the model number?

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OVERVIEW

What to know quickly

FOUNDED1887 · Schönbach

ICON500/1 Violin Bass · 1956

CURRENT TIERSIgnition · Contemporary · German-built

Höfner is not Hohner. Hohner is the separate harmonica/accordion company with its own discontinued guitar history. Höfner is the German string-instrument maker behind the 500/1 Violin Bass and a much broader guitar catalog.

IDENTIFY YOUR GUITAR

Which Höfner do you have?

Start with the complete model code, production tier and label. The body shape may get you to “Violin Bass” or “Club,” but the prefix, serial resource and construction determine what you actually have.

Copy the complete model designation. H500/1, HCT-500/1 and Ignition codes are different tiers.
Identify the production tier. Höfner itself describes current 500/1 choices from budget Ignition through handmade German reissues and specials.
Use the correct serial reference. Höfner maintains separate resources for Selmer-era instruments, 1975–86, 1986-current and special Japan-market V58 basses.
Do not stop at the violin silhouette. Club, President, Committee, Senator, Verythin and other historic families deserve exact-model research.

SERIES & CURRENT RETAIL

One silhouette, several very different tiers

500/1 IgnitionFully hollow short-scale entry versionBudget / currentCommon modern doorway into the Violin Bass

HCT-500/1 Contemporary30-inch scale · centerblock · Staple pickupsMid-tier / currentDifferent construction from a hollow German 500/1

German H500/1Handmade German reissues and specialsPremium / multi-thousandExact year and specification matter

500/2 Club BassFully hollow short scale · multiple tiersTier-dependentSame family voice in a different body

Vintage guitars / bassesPresident · Committee · Senator · Verythin · ClubModel-specificArchtops and early electrics can be important collector instruments

Höfner’s current site explicitly spans Ignition through handmade German 500/1 models. Current and vintage prices vary too sharply for one useful brand-wide average.

USED VALUE GUIDE

Start with the exact model

Höfner is a model-and-era brand. Modern import instruments can trade in the low hundreds, while vintage German 500/1 basses and desirable archtops can move into specialist four-figure territory.

IGNITION USEDOften low hundreds

CT / GERMANResearch exact model

VINTAGE 500/1Often four figures; originality matters

Date the instrument from labels, serial references and construction—not seller memory alone.
Inspect hollow bodies for top/back separation, binding shrinkage and repaired cracks.
Check neck angle and remaining bridge adjustment on older instruments.
Document pickups, control panel, bridge, tailpiece, tuners and pickguard before comparing a vintage example.

CURRENT USED MARKET

See what the market is doing now

Search the exact tier and era: Ignition, HCT/Contemporary, German H500/1 or a dated vintage 500/1.

Search Höfner on ReverbCurrent marketplace examples ↗ Search sold Höfner on eBayCompleted / sold examples ↗

COMPARE

What else lives in this neighborhood?

Compare within construction and tier, not merely by silhouette.

COMPARE WITHEpiphone Viola Bass

COMPARE WITHGretsch short-scale hollow basses

COMPARE WITHVintage German archtops

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Before you buy—or price—one

Hohner/Höfner confusion. One letter changes the entire research trail.
Tier blindness. Ignition, Contemporary and German-built instruments can look very similar in small photos.
Vintage parts originality. Pickups, panels, tailpieces and tuners can strongly affect collector interest.
Serial oversimplification. Use the period-specific Höfner resource rather than one universal decoder.

HISTORY & COMMENTARY

From 1887 violin making to one of the world’s most recognizable basses

Karl Höfner founded the company in Schönbach in 1887. Höfner says guitar production began in the 1930s with steel-string archtops and broadened substantially after the war.

Walter Höfner designed the 500/1, first shown at the Frankfurt Musikmesse in 1956. Paul McCartney bought one in Hamburg in 1961, giving the model extraordinary visibility. The useful field lesson is not “Beatles = valuable”; it is that the 500/1 now spans decades, construction changes and production tiers.

WHAT PLAYERS LIKE

Why a Höfner can be worth picking up

Light short-scale feel. The Violin and Club basses are compact and shoulder-friendly.
Distinctive hollow-body voice. Flatwounds and the short hollow platform produce the familiar rounded thump.
Deep vintage catalog. Archtops, semi-hollows and basses offer much more than the Beatle Bass story.
Excellent search training. The same shape can represent radically different origin, construction and value.

CURRENT RETAIL & REFERENCE

Höfner · A Short HistoryOfficial company history ↗Höfner · Violin BassOfficial 500/1 history and current tiers ↗Höfner · Serial NumbersOfficial dating resources for several production periods ↗

For older Höfners, use the company’s period-specific serial resources rather than applying one universal decoder.