i was at work today (doing an extension on a house ) and the guy came into the room i was working in and said theres a project for you and hands me a hofner president , i was stunned , it's been in the guys attic for the last 30 odd years and was absolutely filthy , i gave it a wee clean when i got in and did a google and it turns out it's a 57 - 59 i'll get a couple of pics up later on once i clean it some more . Oh anyone have any idea what gauge of strings to put on it ( theres no truss rod) ? cheers
Alan

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What a cool guitar to be given free of charge. Congrats Alan.If I'm not mistaken there were Hofner Presidents in the early Quarrymen/Beatles days.Considering that it has no truss rod and is over 50 years old I certainly wouldn't go for heavier than 10-46 with a wound 3rd. That's what I use on my '66 Harmony Archtone and it sounds great with them.I imagine that back in their early days the Beatles/Quarrymen used Pyramid strings.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Great guitar.

This bloke makes new parts and restores old parts for Hofner

http://www.projectguitarparts.co.uk/Pages/hofnerparts.html

Tell him Nick sent you. Rhumba recently bought one of his pedals and is impressed, as am I.

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No no and no

hi , thanks guys , it was indeed a cool guitar to be given for hee haw (as we say in scotland ) been cleaning away at it , so far this is whats up with it , 1 slider (goosed) 1brass bit missing from knob , and the original pickgaurd is long gone , oh and one winder ferule is missing , otherwise the finish is bloody good for a 50 year old guitar, the brass pegheads have a lovely patina (black) but still not too bad for nothing thanks guitslinger , thats food for thought , and Niki , thanks for that link mate (it'll come in handy ) cheers
Alan

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Pictures Alan ? Please sir.

heres a pic now it's been cleaned up a bit


the fretboard apears to be ebony and cleaned up very nicely all in i can't complain

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Oh man!! That's a real nice looker Alan! Well worth waiting for. You're a lucky man. Congratulations my friend!

thanks mate as i said , i was stunned when the guy gave el presidente to me completely unexpected some more cleaning tonight and i'll get it strung up and see how she sounds , i also need to have a wee dig about inside , i think it's the broken slider that might be causing the problem , no sound when plugged in , but i'll find out later what the score is , thanks again hop

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Alan you're not only lucky,you are truly blessed to be given such a sweet guitar-she's a genuine beauty.I'd love to have one of these puppies in my music room.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

thanks a lot guitslinger , it's going to be well looked after but that will be later , i went to string it up tonight and the neck started pulling away (it's been repaired before , a long time ago ) , so it needs the neck reset , i'll get it all cleaned out tomorow night and make sure i'm getting a good fit before i glue it for good , cheers
Alan

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I hope all goes well for you. It would be a real shame not to have a guitar that pretty strung up and playing. Good luck and keep us informed!!

SO awesome.

Those things didn't have a truss rod???!? I'm surprised ANY of them survived!

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
Composer, producer, Egnater Artist

Have you made any progress with the repair Alan? Looking forward to seeing it all strung up my friend!

My friend claims he bought a 57' LP goldtop from an old women for 10k. He felt guilty and gave it back. I do not believe it but he posted videos on youtube. The part I don't believe is he gave it back.

looks great, congrats. looking for updated pics after repair.

cheers

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It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting - paulo coelho