This Hofner Verythin John Stowell, built in Hagenau, Bavaria, Germany, and signed by master luthier Thomas Stulheim, features a laminate Spruce top and laminate flame maple for the sides, back, and neck. The Verythin is a ‘center block thinline’ design, with a solid Spruce center section and hollow ‘wings’, all intended to resist feedback at stage volumes while still providing the tone of an arch top.
The fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece and pickguard are Ebony, and the position markers are Mother of Pearl. The frets, which have only light wear, are fairly large. Tuners are gold-plated Schaller models with ebony buttons. The single Hofner pickup was designed by Kent Armstrong and runs through standard, passive volume and tone controls.
This Hofner Verythin John Stowell example sports a lovely ‘Violin Varnish’ shaded finish, but was also available in a clear, untinted version. The guitar in good playing condition though there are a few scratches and dents and dings, as can happen when a guitar is used as intended.
Model: Verythin J. Stowell
Body Wood: Fully bound spruce top with deeply flamed maple back and sides, thin hollowbody construction.
Neck and fingerboard wood: Maple neck, bound ebony fretboard with pearl square inlays.
Scale length: 25 1/2″
Nut width: 1 11/16″
Nut material: Bone
Bridge: Adjustable ebony floating compensated bridge with stylish ebony tailpiece
Pick guard: Ebony
Finish: Violin Varnish Burst
Hardware colour: Gold / Ebony
Pickups and switching: Single floating custom Kent Armstrong neck pickup, master volume and tone controls.
Tuning gear: Schaller 16X1 tuners with ebony keys
Condition: Shows signs of wear
Case: Original hardshell case