Hofner HAS-01CE

Electro acoustic, chinese made. Laminated, 21 frets, Belcat 5 way EQ-9050, Volume, you can get more from the Hofner website on the full spec, I'm not too clued up on that side.

This suited my style, I'm a rhythm player using light .50mm picks. I play comedy songs mainly so I just needed a reliable tough built gig acoustic with a decent sound.

I haven't played a venue yet but I did have it pretty loud in the shop and it was warm and I liked it alot, bright and the graphic gave me enough to vary it to my liking.

After a few hours hunting I stumbled across this Hofner and wouldn't let it out of my hands, just loved it. It turned out to be the last one too, they'd sold alot.

The action on this particular guitar suited my taste, it's such a personal thing isn't it, that you know instinctively when you pick it up.

I have no idea about the pickup settings but i'd been looking at a similar priced Aria which looked and felt great to hold but sounded quite dull. When I picked up the Hofner it was instantly bright and more alive.

The finishing was fine, it felt well made and solid which was one of my key pre-requisites.

This feels to me exactly what I wanted as I was dreading taking my other acoustic to gigs being a more expensive and fragile guitar. The Hofner is solid and I have confidence its going to be a good one for the pubs etc. Well I hope so but I got a really hard case too just to be sure!

I'm only taking this one acoustic for now as my gig guitar. My other 12 string is too special to risk some drunk grabbing it 'letsss have a goooo crunch...twang' but I have such a good feeling when picking this one up as its robust and well made. It was just what I had in mind.

I only got it this week...

I've been playing about 20 years. I mainly use a Yamaha 12 string as I can't play lead (there's honesty haha)

I would probably get one again as I haven't put it down all week and my 12 string must wonder where I've gone too!

I think overall I just love the general feeling of it, especially with the capo on, its got a solid bouncy feel when playing it, makes me want to go a bit more crazy on it haha, and it looks nice with the cutaway shape and inlay pattern on the opening.

As mentioned I had been going around a few stores with a budget for a low cost gig acoustic. I was close to getting the Aria AMB-35 which I still like loads but it only had volume and tone and didn't really give the sound I wanted. The next models up were a big jump in price but then this one caught my attention. I know the guys in the shop really well and we had a chat about the alternatives and how popular these had been. I was playing away for ages up and down the store!

Its a personal taste thing but for me this Hofner was amazing for #99 (about $175) I couldn't ask for more and it also left me enough in the budget to get a decent hard case too ! ... Maybe I'll update this after some live gigs too!

Made in China in 2003
Don't let the fact that hofner is a german company fool you, hofner guitars are made in asia these days
No accessories included

? Body shape: Dreadnaught with Cutaway
? Scale length: 25 1/2" (64,5 cm)
? Neck width at nut: 1 3/4" (44 mm)
? Top: spruce
? Back & sides: Mahogany
? Neck: Mahogany
? Fingerboard: rosewood
? Bridge: rosewood
? Active pickup-system with 5-graphic-equalizer
? Chrome-plated, closed tuning machines
? Creme-binding around body, fingerboard and headstock
? Finish: high gloss, top satin

Unplugged sound: Not bad, typical dreadnaught sound only it doesn't make much volume. I play Irish folk music and I use it for accoustic sessions in pubs (don't want an expensive guitar to get damaged during a pub session) For this purpose it's a nice guitar. As for plugging it in... DON'T! It's not a typical sharp cheap-piezo sound but it isn't nice either. I find it hard to explain why I don't like it, it just seems very unclear to me. As if the builders tried to make guitar sound very full and warm when plugged in, but failed miserably but overdoing it. for a recording made with the guitar:

http://members.home.nl/dirk.pons/FieldsSample.mp3

The action is a bit too high in my opinion, but I'm not having it adjusted. It's a cheap guitar and it's not worth the money and trouble. There was nothing wrong with the guitar when I purchased it. (but there was nothing great about it either)

It withstood quite some drunk-as-hell pub sessions so you could say it's pretty durable :) It has a very decent construction and can surely take a punch (German design, Asian build, what do you expect)

As I mentioned before, I would never use it on a gig without backup but this is not because of it's reliability. I have to say this guitar is a pretty solid guitar. It's just that I don't like the way it sounds when plugged in.

Don't know about company warranty but the store gave me one year for free. No repairs needed ever.

I've used it for 2.5 years quite actively for practising and for accoustic sessions. But never as my main instrument. My main instrument is aVicente Sanches classical guitar but I own several other instruments, including a bouzouki. I wouldn't replace if it got stolen. There's nothing I really love about it. What I don't like about it is its sound when plugged in. I did compare it to other guitars and I think for its price it's not bad. It's a nice cheap guitar.