Growing up in the 60's, i remember these being a much desired guitar back then due to restrictions on American imports. I had a Watkins Rapier at the time, so this was infinitely more expensive and therefore unattainable. nice to see one again.
😊 that's a great sounding and looking guitar (the playing helps!) But that guitar is definitely been mangled by some DIY. Since you've taken off the bridge we can see a previous owner drilled holes for the posts for that Ibanez bridge. The original bridge would lay flat on top of the archtop, like on a violin or cello, or an archtop acoustic, and is only held in place by the pressure from the strings. That original style can cause issues if you like heavy bending, as the scratchplate had a protuding pin that held the bridge in place. Without that, the bridge has a tendency to slide if you do more than a semitone bend. The routing for the pickups look like they have been rather crudely widened out, likely as you suggested in your last video to fit bigger humbuckers, in which case I'm not sure original pickup frames will still fit, but I believe they can be purchased from Hofner directly if you want to try. The tone controls on the Verithins are wired weirdly. I got so fed up with mine. I had it rewired as Vol/Vol/ master tone and replaced the other tone with a selector switch, so I didn't need to drill a new hole. I'm interested in your vibrato system. Mine is a '64 and comes with a licenced Bigsby, made by Hofner especially for the Verithins intended for the UK market (American made Bigsbys wouldn't fit the Verithin's body). The one you have looks like it was Hofner's own vibrato design used in European versions, which technically weren't Verithins. "Verithin" was the brand used by the UK importer and distributor Selmer. Hofner's own identifier for the guitar was the rather less memorable "4574". As far as i know most European 4574s also has different wiring, with only three dials (Vol/Vol/Tone I assume, but knowing Hofner who can guess) and a selector switch, which was a slider switch like those found on 60s Fender Mustangs rather than a tall toggle switch, so yours is either a hybrid or maybe Hofner gave up on the Bigsby at some point in 65. It wasn't unusual for UK instruments importers to make special demands for British bound instruments from overseas manufacturers; this is also the reason for the strange Rose Morris f-hole Rickenbackers of the same era. Unfortunately Hofner lost the trademark to the name "verithin" in the 80s, which is why the modern versions are called "Verythin".
Hi, thanks so much for your insightful comment. Very interesting to hear about the scratch plate and that it is vital for the original bridge to be stable. Good to know if I decide to try and find one to replace this Ibanez one. Also interesting to learn that the model name was originally 4574. Again, thanks for sharing your knowledge about this guitar. Much appreciated 😊 Thor
That guitar is almost exactly the same age as I am... she is a bit prettier than me tho... lol... One thing for sure , she belongs in your hands Thor. Sounding great as always !!
Cool guitar and video! I have two of these vintage Verithins and some experience with other old Höfners. Before you invest $$$ in vintage parts like pickup rings and bridges: get a neck reset, as you will not be able to use these taller pickup rings or bridges in your setup. Neck resets are a common thing with hollowbody Höfners this old. They lack of sustain block and very minimal bracing makes these guitars fold up on themselves over time. If you check your string break angle, you will see that there is hardly any angle on your guitar. This is also the reason why your strings are jumping out of the bridge slots. Adding to this, there should be minimal bracing underneath the pickup holes - two braces, precisely. It appears that the person who installed the DIY wooden pickup rings cut these braces in order to get the pickups further down into the body. Problem here is that you're now only making a fairly delicate top construction structurally weaker. If you're happy with the guitar as is, just enjoy it... if not, some more serious luthery would be the right call. All the best :)
Thanks so much for your advice. I can see what you mean about the break angle and that the neck probably will need a reset to have it return to former glory and the possibility to put the pickups back to where they used to be. Realistically I will not put a lot of money into having this fixed, but will take it down from the wall every now and then to give it some love and play it as it is. All the best, and thanks again for your good advice.
@@GUITARSGIZMOS Thank you. You pretty summed up what I was thinking. I built a champ and it sounds wonderful at three. I can bring it up to about five, maybe six with no distortion. I upgraded the speaker to a warehouse ceramic. Of course I have no tone on mine. But set at about three with the guitar at seven or eight sounds very nice for playing at home. I love the VeryThin such a cool guitar. I like all your videos.
@@garypannone7755 How cool to build your own amp. I think I would be too afraid to fry myself in the process or at least not dare to turn on the power to check if it works 😆Very cool tone from these little amps. Thanks for your encouraging words on my videos. Much appreciated. Cheers!
