Hofner HM-83

I bought my Hofner HM83 about two years ago for #450ish.
It has a sold German spruce t\able, Aningre back and sides, rosewood fret board etc. and what I call wooden top tuners -the actual adjusters are wooden. Signed (off? ) by the Luthier featured on the Hofner guitar web site no less.
finish is gloss all around except for the mat/environmentally neutral finish on the table. The strutting design is, as far as I can make out by putting a mirror inside a little different from standard Torres type guitars having an extra vertical tone wood.

The standard of contruction is very very high for an intrument in this value range

Warm and even tone with excellent balance throughout the frequency range - the tone/clarity isn't as rich as a Ramiez E1, but the guitar is half the price. The key word here is the scientific/neutral character of the sound - it allows the character of the player/piece of music come through more than other models.

Perfectly set up upon when received by me.

It has withstood lots of gigging and trip to the Far East and still has the most perfect intonation of any of my instruments, including classical guitars of more than twice the price.

Have not needed to deal with them, but as a long established maker I can not imagine there would be a problem

playing 30 years, seriously for less than ten.
I love the ease of playing and the evenly balanced nature of the guitar. After this price bracket you pay lots more for smaller improvements

Hello,

This is an update/correction to what I wrote previously.. My rating of the guitar has not changed, but I wrote some things in my comments that I want to retract, because I did not understand what I was saying at the time. I recommend that any guitarist who wants to "fix" or "adjust" their own guitar buy a good book on guitar construction before doing so. One of the best is William R. Cumpiano's and Jonathan D. Natelson's book "Guitarmaking - Tradition and Technology". There is more "going on" with the constuction and physics of it that is apparent. First, I do not recommend taking a razor blade to the fretboard. This was an idiotic thing to do/say, and I wish that I had not written it. The problem with the fret buzz on the first three frets would have been (and was) easier solved by going to higher tension strings (Thanks, Bill Creamer for suggesting this to me). The reason is clearly explained in Cumpiano's book, in Chapter 1, "The Guitar's Anatomy". Going to higher tension strings "bows" the neck more toward the strings, eliminating the buzz. This explains why, when I replaced the strings before with lower tension strings, the buzz returned. The action is still a tad high, but that can be corrected by adjusting the saddle. Actually, getting a second saddle and making the correction on that is a better idea in case I want to "undo" my change. Of course, making one change at a time is a "really good" idea.

Hoefner HM-83 Master Guitar. Made in 2004 (I think), in Germany. Signed by the Luthier. Standard classical design. Solid top of German Spruce, back and sides of aningre (light "blonde" color wood, similar in appearance to maple). Neck is mahogany, fingerboard and bridge are rosewood. Gold-plated tuning machines, with rosewood machine heads. Very attractive rosette, that is not too "busy" in design. Overall finish is high-gloss, but the top is matte. Frets appear to be thinner than in some classical guitars I have seen/played. Includes "Gig bag" and video. Colors of wood used give it a distinctive, yet very attractive appearance.

I enjoy playing classical guitar music, so this fits the bill perfectly. Warm, full tone.

Top and back are perfectly bookmatched. Overall, the workmanship on this guitar is perfect. Very high quality wood throughout, frets were perfectly level, ends filed smooth, neck straight. Nut and saddle are properly cut and fitted. Action and intonation are dead on.

The only complaint I had was that I think that the relatively thin frets contributed to some string "buzz" on the 5th and 6th strings at the first and second frets, and required me to make sure that my fingers were right up close to the fret to prevent the buzz. Not so much a problem (because that is where they are supposed to be) unless you are trying to fret the 4th and 5th strings together as in an Em Chord and/or you have thick fingers, as I do. I could have lived with it, but it was getting annoying. I have had "cheaper" classicals, a number of steel-string acoustics, and a few electrics, and never had this problem. The frets themselves seemed to be perfect alignment and height. I put on a set of Savarez strings(520R, high tension). Still some buzz. I removed the strings and checked the fretboard to see if there was some height difference in the fretboard itself.. Couldn't tell.. There wasn't any problem with string buzz anywhere else. Talked to a luthier who said maybe the frets needed to be raised. That sounded expensive and I wasn't sure that I really wanted to give him the guitar for two weeks. And after reading the one review of the HM88 on this site I wondered if I just made a mistake and would have to live with it or try again with a different guitar and check it out more thoroughly before I bought it. Didn't like either of those options..

Some purists will cringe, so for those of you out there, close your eyes.. I took a new, sharp single edged razor blade and very carefully scraped the fretboard between the nut and the first fret, and the first and second frets to very slightly "scallop" the fretboard under the 5th and 6th strings. I probably took off less than 1/128th of an inch of wood. This did not affect the appearance of the fretboard. I have had quite a few other guitars, and never had to do any of this sort of doctoring. I have done a lot of wood working in my lifetime, but somehow to take a razor to the fretboard seemed like I was violating some sacred law of classical guitar lutherie, similar to asking for ketchup for your prime rib at a fancy restaurant... I probably could have tried a few other types of strings, but didn't imagine that they would have made any difference... At any rate, I wiped off the rosewood dust, put the strings back on.. Sounds great, no string buzz. Overall I still give this a 9 because everything else was so good to start with, and the "fix" (at least in my book) was only a nuisance, not insurmountable.

This guitar is very well built and finished. I do not forsee any problems.

Have not used their customer support, so I have no opinion.

Been playing for 24 years. Classical, folk, jazz, rock. I probably should have checked out the guitar a little more closely. Still I would definitely buy a Hofner HM-83 again. I have owned a Yamaha classical, an Ibanez folk cutaway, a Peavey Electric, and a Gibson ES Series electric over the years. Currently I also have a Washburn folk guitar. I wanted a higher-end classical. I looked at a few others before purchasing this Hofner, mostly the Manuel Rodriguez.. But to get what I would have wanted I would have had to spend a great deal more than I did. I may have kept looking, but Naperville Music gave me a good price, and I really liked the appearance. The the lighter aningre sides and back and conservative rosette give this guitar a distinctive appearance without being "overdone". I also particularly liked the tone.