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Hofner Verythin HCT-VTH

 

Review of the Hofner Verythin by The Man in the Jar

In this line of work you can reasonably expect something very special to come along every now and then...

Features of the Hofner Verythin 

Tuners - Sealed mini-tuners with long tulip knobs that work smoothly and accurately. The alignment of the tuning heads follows the concave curve of the headstock, which gives a quaint old-fashioned look. 

Headstock - The old fashioned, or vintage, look continues on the black-faced headstock itself. The dutch-gabled head carries the Hofner log and a decorative swirl of flowers inlaid in pearloid.

Nut - The white plastic nut abuts the fretboard and is tidily cut.

Neck - This is where the true joy of this instrument begins. The fixed maple neck has a feeling of width about that's emphasised by the slim depth profile. It is a real pleasure to sit and play and it looks beautiful too, with the maple grain showing blonde through the clear lacquer.

Fretboard - The medium-dark rosewood neck has a good tight grain. The fret markers are inlaid pearloid dots that make one slight break with tradition - there are three dots on the twelfth fret instead of the usual two. The fingerboard is bound all round with antiqued binding which is finished off with a pinstripe. Very, very pretty.

Frets - The 22 fat frets are well-finished and add to the luxury feel of this instrument.

Action - Good and low from the box with a touch more room to come down.

Body - It's probably no surprise that the Hofner Verythin is Very Thin, less than 4cm to be precise. For me this just adds to the luxury feel of the instrument. The natural finish model I tried had gorgeous flame maple top and back which was finished off with pinstriped antiqued binding. Both the front and back swell slightly giving that lovely belly-dancer look that only semi-acoustics can carry off. Inside, visible through the f-holes, is a block of maple to help eradicate feedback problems that sometimes arise with hollow-bodied guitars.

Bridge - The Verythin carries a standard Tune-o-matic and stoptail of the classic Gibson variety. This is a tried and tested design that has ample scope for adjustment of string height and intonation. 

Pickups - Two Hofner humbuckers sit in black plastic surrounds.

Controls - There's a volume and tone for each pickup sporting classic tophat knobs. The three-way pickup selector sits just below the bridge. I found it was far enough away from the bridge to be out of the way, but close enough to be convenient.

Scratchplate - The three-ply black/white/black scratchplate floats slightly above the body, supported by one metal bracket. 

Strap-buttons - There are two medium-sized strap buttons, one on the bottom of the body and one on the back at the heel.

Output Jack - Set in the lower edge of the body.

Finish - Very impressive finish considering it's a Chinese build.

 

Sound of the Hofner Verythin 

This is the kind of guitar that screams at you to play blues and jazz through a clean amp. And that's exactly what I did, finding a lovely depth of tone in the neck pickup despite the reduced mass of wood in such a thin body. But when I flicked to bridge pickup alone I realised that Hofner humbucker had enough treble brashness to take on and probably beat a 335 in an indie band. 

 

Overall Impressions of the 

If I had to categorise this guitar I'd say it was a cross between a Gibson 335 and a Rickenbacker 330. Surely that's a marriage made in heaven. It's a very beautiful guitar, and as long as you're not put off by a bit of width in the fretboard and fat frets, it offers a very beautiful playing experience.    

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