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rare vintage archtop?


JackH

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hey doods

 

a few days ago i found this real beat up archtop in my dads shed.

 

i asked my dad about it and he said that he found it in his uncles

basement when they were clearing his house after he died.

 

my dad said somethin about that his uncle was a jazz trumpet player

and that he swapped one of his trumpets for the guitar from a fellow

jazz musician.

 

My dad said it would be from atleast the 50's and it used to have pickups in it

but he pulled them out for some reason....

 

after some reading up on the internet it looks like it would be a hopf guitar

because it has the same headstock and a white plastic cover over the headstock.

 

its in a sunburst colour and the sound holes are kinda weird shaped...

 

i cant take any pics of it because its dark outside and my dad wont let

me bring it in because he says its got woodworm.

 

its pretty bad looking and im wondering if there would be any point in fixing it

 

sorry if this was post was abit long lol

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Well... to identify it or to provide links to help some pictures would be good... But you could do that another day ;-) (Isn`t there a sticker inside the guitar? Can you read it? Does it say "Hopf" somewhere? If the guitar is that old it takes more information and knowledge... Look at the following link... the guitars of different luthiers presented there and you will see the difficulties... Schlaggitarren

 

Other than that... Is there a professional luthier in your area? I would ask him how much it would cost (or if it is worthwile)...

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all right i managed to sneak it in the house and take some pics of it

 

 

Image029.jpg

 

 

Image027.jpg

 

 

Image030.jpg

 

My guess is some type of (Eastern-)Germany made guitar

Max Wild, Klingenthal, thats somewhere in the "Erzgebirge"

 

here's a link that shows similar neck-markers

 

http://www.euroguitars.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=884&sid=0cc705504ddfb6ced80e8642746e4635

 

Peter

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If it has sentimental Value, then yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I think you would end up putting more money into it then it's worth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks cool though, I would clean it up the best you can. Put some cheap strings on it and see if it works.

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The f-holes, pickguard shape and finish almost resemble an old Gretsch Synchromatic, but the bridge and fretboard markers are all wrong for that, so it's likely some sort of European clone or approximation. Sorry, I wish I could be of more help--I think it looks like a cool instrument. The whole woodworm thing concerns me though, so I say that if it's infested you just leave it alone.

 

Best regards.

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I would go the same direction as Peter...

 

The problem is that many of the luthiers there often made very similar instruments at the time...

 

And they often sold their guitars under other names like "Migma"... Could also be "Marma".... I`m not an expert there... But you could try and write the guy who runs "Schlaggitarren.de" (link in my first post).

 

Good luck...

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