Since the companies foundation in 1887 Hofner luthiers have always placed a high value on the traditional methods of guitar construction, from the sourcing and storing of woods correctly to the individual hand crafting and final detailed finish of each instrument.

Our small team of Master Luthiers travel the world looking for only the  finest tonewoods and hand select every piece from the origin, not from agents, to ensure the correct growing conditions are present. The wood we select must meet a very strict set of criteria specifically conceived for musical instrument manufacture.

We don’t use kiln dried woods, all our wood is air dried for at least 3 years and the wood for our Master Series instruments can be stored for over 20 years. This seasoning process, although time consuming, offers the player many valuable benefits including; improved tone, greater frequency response and less chance of cracks or movement of the wood during the instruments life. 

Traditional methods also play a major part in our guitar construction with our master luthiers overseeing every stage. All Hofner jazz guitars and basses are hand made with the Chancellor, New President and Jazzica guitars having hand carved, tap tuned tops. The Chancellor is our flagship model constructed from all solid tonewoods & entirely hand made from start to finish in the traditional way. Each year a select range of Hofner guitars are available in our unique hand applied Violin Finish. These limited edition guitars are numbered and signed by one of our Master Luthiers. The immeasurable benefits of using these traditional methods of guitar construction combined with the master luthiers skill and pride in his work bring a desirability and worth of ownership to Hofner that no other guitar maker can match.

The Hofner Wood Store