Okay this is just plain weird

[ksdaddy]

I pulled out my old Hopf Saturn 63 tonight, first time in a few months maybe, who knows... It's stored with the rest of them, no temperature or humidity extremes. Yeah, it's rainy today but it's not like that's unusual.

 

The guard is clear plexiglass and was soaking wet! It had water droplets and foggy condensation all over it, both sides. The high e string is rusty too (no surprise).

 

But no condensation anywhere else on the guitar. Not a drop. No stickiness or anything. I don't know if you can see it in the pic, but there's droplets all over it.

 

It's haunted, I tells ya.

 

[Kimbabig]

Sorry, I was drooling on it.

[stevef]

I pulled out my old Hopf Saturn 63 tonight, first time in a few months maybe, who knows...

 

[Golem]

`

 

 

"The piano's been drinkin' .... not me."

 

 

OK, there hasta be two things, a source of the moisture,

and reason for it to condense. Since the finish looks OK

on the ax, I suspect the case as a source, rather than

the wood. A reason to condense ? Salt is hydroscopic.

Did you wipe down the PG with a cloth that had already

wiped your sweat offa the neck and other sources ....

and so deposit a salt film on the PG ?

 

 

 

`

 

 

 

 

`

[ksdaddy]

Nah. I'm not sure if that guitar has ever been wiped down in the 24 years I've had it.

 

I may have washed some of the dust and grime off the case a couple years back. Sheesh, could that moisture have hung around inside that case that long?

 

I know it sat in the case for at least a couple years a while back and when I did finally take it out (to see if it still recognized me!) the pickguard was yellowed a lot more than it was and had a rough texture, almost like it was outgassing like old Gretsch binding and was going to disintegrate. I freaked out momentarily and (fuzzy memory) I may have removed the guard and buffed it with some polishing compound. I can't recall, but I made some moves to rejuvenate and preserve it. The pic below was taken a couple years ago and you can see the outgassing(?) damage.

 

Maybe that has something to do with it, who knows.... all I know is that dragging it out of the case and noodling some unplugged rockabilly last night brought back some old licks (and attempted licks) that I thought were forever gone in the mist.

 

Kinda like running into an old girlfriend and discovering you don't need that little blue pill after all!

 

[Dub-T-123]

Those are so sweet. I want one.

[BigKahune]

Man, that is weird.

 

But, that is so 60s. Very cool. B)

[Hall]

No mildew smell in case? No answer. Do a setup; everybody else does.

[retrosurfer1959]

It was crying cause you weren't showing it any love.

[retrosurfer1959]

Or whatever the 60's plastic was made out of has reached it's half life and is reverting to some strange mix of toxins

[ksdaddy]

Ooh goody. It could be a variation of toad licking.

 

Lemmee see here.... (sluurp...)

 

Nah. Nothing.

 

My living room walls have always been fluid and the people on CSI have always sang their lines. Everything is nooooorrrrrmmmmaaallllllllllll1234567890hhhhhhhhhh

[Dub-T-123]

Now I want it even more. How much do those usually go for? I know Eastwood makes a copy but...

 

Edit: I just checked out eBay. I guess I should rephrase my question.. What do you think is a fair price for a nice one in good condition and what is a year to look for? I've been interested in these since I first saw one.

[ksdaddy]

I watch for them once in a while. The ones I've seen on ebay have been priced just downright stupid. When I first got on ebay in 1999 there was a matching Hopf bass, It went for about $350 and I was a little shocked. Now look at what they expect to get!

 

I paid fifty bucks for this thing in 1986 and people thought I had lost my mind. I've had many hollowbodies and paid huge money for some. This one just has a resonance and acoustic.... what's the word.... vibrancy? It just comes alive in your hands. It feels like playing a nice old pre-CBS Jaguar but sounds more like a Gretsch.

 

Here's more pics:

 

Hopf with a dirty girl

[Dub-T-123]

I love it! If I got that guitar I'd keep the picture on it.

 

If you're ever interested in selling it tell me because I'd love to buy it. I'm gonna keep an eye out for good deals. That guitar would be so perfect for my style. The sound and look... So cool!

 

I'm not going to lie I'm really jealous and especially for 50 bucks.. Man..

[daveinspain]

I think your guitar has weeping pick guard syndrome....

[Dub-T-123]

My pickguard is so depressed it's become self-destructive. It's always covered in scratches...

 

I try to tell it..

[TommyK]

Isn't that the one with the nekked... plastered on the back?

 

 

My money is on outgassing. Since it's been sequestered in a case for months on end, I'm thinking the liquid fraction of the plastic guard condensed on the surface. Some may have migrated to the strings to rust them. It might not be water at all. What'd it taste like?

 

That and the brackets are starting to show their copper / nickle

 

Maybe it's HOpf's way of saying, "Let me out to play more often, p-b-b-b-b-b-b-leeeeeeze?"

[sparky scott 29]

Cool guitar. I wouldn't mind trying one of them out.

Then, again, I never seen any before, so what are my chances of playing one??

[Versatile]

Is it something to do with religion?

 

 

 

[ksdaddy]

Could be. That old Hopf is a miracle.

 

And the girl on the back could be praying....

[TommyK]

I would suggest, in the interest of science, when you are ready to put the Hopfmeister to bed again for a month or two, remove the pick guard and sequester it in it's on container. Probably want to avoid plastic bags, as some plastics, when the come into long term contact with other plastics, tend to assimilate the other plastic, thereby welding the two together. Maybe wrap the guard in paper toweling, cardboard, or brown paper to 'soak up' any liquids which MAY be coming out from within. Then, long about January, open up the Hopfmeister and see how she looks.

 

I have a small Kodak camera collection. One camera, the > > > S-20 Instamatic < < <, has a metal case which was covered with some sheet vinyl, or other plastic, to give it an olive green color and a leatherette texture. This plastic always seems wet or greasy. The metal parts also have a green corrosion, which usually is caused by leaking batteries, but in this case it could be the plastic out-gassing, or maybe sweating is more appropriate. It was built between 1967 and 1971.

[ksdaddy]

You're probably right, it's outgassing of some sort. I used to spend a lot of time over on the Gretsch forum and the subject of outgassing came up frequently. There were instances of old Country Gentlemen that spent years in their cases and when they were opened up, the binding was all laying in chunks in the case. Others had no ill effect. Old celluloid(?) guards on some Gibson archtops did the same thing.

[KL]

I think that the material the guard is made of is breaking down due to age ksd.