The Colorama was the budget Hofner solid guitar in Selmer's catalogue. It was made specifically for the UK market it was very popular in the UK between about 1961 and 1964, and was responsible for launching many budding guitarists into the world of rock bands and electric guitars.
In the early 60s Hofner was looking to up production numbers of their solid body budget guitars – one of the approaches was developing a finish that could be applied without wasting the time to let paint dry – covering the body in a red vinyl material, with white piping running all the way around the edge was the solution, which, along with a move to a bolt on neck resulted in greater speed of production to meet the demand for red solid body guitars.
This 1962 model is a superb example of this version of the Colorama II. The pickups are the "diamond logo" type controlled by the rectangular control panel with the scratch plate mounted jack point. The pots are dated 1961 which is common for an early 62 Hofner model. The guitar is all original with the exception of the reissue tuners and control knobs. The guitar would have been produced with a trapeze style tailpiece, however it was fitted with this Bigsby style unit by the retailer when it was first sold, which has section of matching red tape applied to body underneath the tailpiece unit.
The guitar is in fantastic condition with the vinyl being kept very well over the years – there is a very slight separation of the piping at the waist of the body and a small, and light, scratch to the vinyl just to the left of the tailpiece (see last 3 pictures) but all in all a great example. Comes complete with perfect period fitted case.
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