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Last night's edition on BBC One featured a badly damaged Hofner. After restoration, luthier Julyan played a bit of 'Apache' with a couple of colleagues joining in on 'The Walk'.

George

Yes, it didn't appear to be a terribly good restoration either- the headstock looked like it had been pebble dashed in black paint.

The restoration looked pretty good to me!

The owner, "Jimmy", looked like an interesting bloke - a lifelong big Shadows fan from Liverpool (or environs). Does anyone here from the North West area know him?

If he's online, he should be here!

The guitar itself was interesting. It was a Hofner Club 60 from circa 1959 (maybe 1960). Interesting Gibson "Trini Lopez" style fretboard markers.

1959 models had the black bar pickups, whereas in 1960, the newer "Toaster" pickups in metal cases were implemented. But this guitar had one of each - a black pickup in the bridge position and a Toaster near the neck. it wasn't a single-pickup guitar converted, because all Club 60s were dual pickup. I wonder what the story was there?

Presumably, the electrics were still in good order, as no mention was made of the pickups and wiring or issues with the control panel.

I liked the look of the c. 1960 Levin acoustic archtop cello guitar featured in a recent edition, although there was no reference to the maker's name on this occasion.

Bill

I watched this tonight on the BBC iPlayer, and I thought it was a decent restoration too. The Repair Shop never restores items to brand new, just top condition and looking like they are still in use.

I loved the kids mnemonic for remebering the notes of the open strings - Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie

I wish I could watch that here in the islands. Hofners where very popular here, and bands used them much in the very early 1960s. They were less expensive and more accessible than the Fenders And Gibsons.

As always, Jim provides very interesting information. Thanks, Jim.

In the vintage car world, preference has shifted from “better than new” to sympathetic restoration, one that preserves the patina and history of the car.

Best,

Andy

I wouldn't have been that happy with the restoration either, the action looked like you could drive a bus under it! And you never saw anyone plug it in to check the electrics.

Having said that, I suspect that if I knew a bit more about the other things they work on rather than just guitars, I might not be happy with those restorations either! Like many programmes these days, it's aimed more at the general public rather than enthusiasts like us.

My main gripe with it is that it wastes too much time chatting, when all I want to see is the work itself.

Uncle Fiesta wrote:I wouldn't have been that happy with the restoration either, the action looked like you could drive a bus under it! And you never saw anyone plug it in to check the electrics.

Having said that, I suspect that if I knew a bit more about the other things they work on rather than just guitars, I might not be happy with those restorations either! Like many programmes these days, it's aimed more at the general public rather than enthusiasts like us.

My main gripe with it is that it wastes too much time chatting, when all I want to see is the work itself.

The guitar was plugged into an amplifier which was under the table when he played Apache at the end.

Regards,
Baz.

Uncle Fiesta wrote:My main gripe with it is that it wastes too much time chatting, when all I want to see is the work itself.

I think we have to remember that one of the key elements of the show is that all items brought in for restoration are heirlooms with an emotive family history attached, which the team want to help preserve for future generations - the human aspect!

Bill

A lot of what you see on-screen is decided post-production by the editors and producers. For instance, the luthier announced that he was about to refret the Hofner, but none of that process was shown (though it must have been recorded). But the refretting process on the Levin acoustic was shown in some detail. You can see that the Hofner refret will probably have been judged to be dispensable within the context of the whole series.