Hofner HAS-1

Its a pretty standard dreadnaught that was made in china. I dont remember what the guitar was made out of, I do remember that the back and sides were made out of a wood that is not all that common to guitars.

Not very loud. A bit more top end than low end. It sounded a little lackluster, but definitely not terrible.

Factory set up was a bit high. Fretwork was shoddy. It was pretty though, but not [ital]that[/ital] pretty.

I take the thing home, play it for awhile and I like it okay, for the price that I paid. I decide to take off the stock Daddario 12s and replace them with a set of 11s. Well, the neck bows concave (yes concave, not convex). I've owned my fair share of guitars, about 15 or more ranging from $150-$1700, and I've never had a guitar's neck bow concave when I put lighter strings on. It's not that it bowed a little bit, it's that it bowed A LOT. It was ridiculous. I was able to fit my pinky, up to the knuckle, under my strings at the twelfth fret. Yeah, it was A LITTLE high when I bought it, but this was ridiculous. Could have I adjusted the truss rod and fixed it? Certainly, but I do not trust a guitar whose neck bows in such a fashion to that extreme of a degree.

I've been playing for 6 1/2 years. I have owned several guitars, both acoustic and electric. I've only owned four acoustics (opposed to about 12 or so electrics) and this one was the worst. My Martin D17GT ($1000) was probably the best. My Ibanez V70 is by far my favorite (only $120 so it is not as though I descriminate against cheap gear. I think regardless of the price, whether it be $100 or $1000, good gear is good and crap gear is crap). My Takamine (model name escapes me) is pretty good. But this thing was crap. I bought the guitar thinking that, yeah it sounded a bit lackluster in the store, but usually acoustic guitars sound much better with new phosphor bronze strings on it, but no, the sound actually didnt have that noticeable of a difference.

I've never been so dissatisfied with a guitar, ever. I took it back two days after I bought it. I'll stick with my Ibanez V70 as my main acoustic, thank you.

The Hofner site gives this info:

Body shape: Dreadnaught
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
Chrome-plated, closed tuning machines
Creme-binding around body, fingerboard and headstock
Finish: high gloss, top satin


Mine has a very splotchy finish on the top. There must be something wrong with the high gloss finish. There are also a couple of white marks on the sides.

The neck is easy to play and is comprable to a more expensive Epiphone acoustic.

The last 3 or 4 frets on the neck are arched inward toward to sound hole. I've never seen that before on a guitar. It makes fretting anything above 15 almost impossible, not that anybody plays a dreadnaught there too often anyway.

The tuners are of low quality but functional.
Came with Elixir strings.
The truss rod is accessable through the sound hole.
No accessories were included with this guitar.

This guitar is a fine instruament to keep as a spare around the house or as the sales rep put it "a beach guitar". It's certainly not as good as a $350 Epiphone but it serves nicely as a spare for when friends come over and want to play.

I play mostly ryhtem guitar, blues and some acoustic McCartney tunes like Yesterday, Blackbird, and Every Night. It sounds okay tunning it down a 1/2 step.

The tone is not very full and not very bright. It is middle of the road.

The guitar was playable right off the shelf. The brand new Elixir strings really helped the tone.

The action was good until the guitar was kept in a very humid apartment. A couple turns of the truss rod fixed that problem though.

The top is well bookmatched but as I noted above the finish has a few spots in the finish. The guitar smells like a bottle of Elmer's Wood Glue.

The 4th string will tend to buzz if there are himidity changes. Again, adjusting the truss rod fixes that.

This guitar will withstand live playing at a camp fire or at the beach. I would never consider taking it to a real performance.

The hardware (tuners) will probablt last a few years. I'll probably end up getting rid of it before they fail.

The finish will probably start to wear at the bottom of the sound hole where I rest my fingers. The pickguard is glued on and is adaquate.

There was only one strap button (at the bottom of the guitar). A second strap button would have been nice in back of the neck. PErhaps I'll add that one day, but the wood does feel very cheap.

The guitar is very light. It's probably as light as my Baby Taylor.
The light feel does make it seem cheap - which it is.

I have not dealt with Hofner.

I have been playing for almost 3 years and have a variety of guitars.
I own an Epiphone Casino (natural finish), Epiphone AJ-18SCE, Baby Taylor, Samick Strat Copy, and a Fender Blues Junior amp.

This guitar was acquired for practice and trips to the camp fire. One day it may be used in the camp fire.

If it were stolen, I would not replace it. It's a cheap extra guitar.

I like that it is so light. What I dislike is that the finsih on the top has those marks on it.

I compared this to other low end Fenders and Horner acoustics. This one sounded better, and that's really what counts.

2002 Dreadnought without case.

The sound is about what you would expect from a low end guitar made in China, which is average at best.

The high action makes the guitar unplayable and can not be fixed, because the neck twisted within 60 days after the guitar was purched.

I've been playing for over 35 years, purchased a lot of guitars, but this is the worst ever.

The Hofner representative, based in California, agreed to refund my money in March 2002, but I have not received a dime as of August 2002. The rep. declined my offer to return the guitar, so I told him that I would donated it to charity (AMVETS), thinking he was a man of his word. Oh well...

I've always thought that Hofner's quality was very so-so, but after this experience I will never purchase a Hofner product again.