Instrument: A beautiful and rare Höfner 4550 with handwritten body date 10.11.1958 in completely original collectors condition. The 4550 was introduced in 1955 and built until 1970. At that time it was positioned directly behind the very expensive Höfner top of the line models and was one of the large models with a 17" body. Visually, it resembles the sinfully expensive Committee models, which earned it the name "Poor mans Committee" in collector circles. Today it costs only a quarter of a Höfner Committee. A typical feature of this early model is the very high arching of the top and back. The 4550 is much rarer today than the 4550 S with cutaway. Cutaways were new and fashionable at the time, hardly anyone wanted the classic full-body models.
Material: The guitar is made entirely of maple, with a wonderful fine flaming all around. Top and back are perfectly bookmatched. Three-piece longitudinally glued maple neck with a mahogany strip, incl. neck foot and headstock elaborately crafted throughout. Beautiful rosewood fingerboard with pearloid rectangular inlays in five frets. Headstock inlay also made of white and brown, beautifully marbled perloid. Black stained pearwood bridge, three-ply nut, open brass tuners, nickel-plated tailpiece with Höfner crest. Beautiful dark marbled perloid pickguard, very rare in this version.
Instruments history: Unknown. The guitar came to us as part of a small Höfner collection, due to the almost flawless condition it can't have been used much and has probably rather had a calm living room life.
Restoration work: Complete cleaning, body blown out, tuners disassembled, cleaned and re-oiled, original nitro varnish refurbished with bale polish in several passes, fretboard and fretsticks lightly sanded, fretboard oiled, fretsticks polished. All in all very little work, the guitar was and is in a unique top condition.
Current condition: This beautiful Höfner is in original condition down to the last screw. Wait - not quite: we have replaced both the worn out nails of the tailpiece and the rusty tuner screws with new round-headed screws from the early sixties from our stock. The cognac-coloured varnish in combination with the cream-white patinated inlays and the beautiful and richly worked pearloid is a feast for the eyes! A vintage archtop can hardly be more beautiful than with this nobly Höfner feeling. In addition, wonderful, full sound, probably well played in the first years. The guitar must have always been treated with great care, because there are almost no scratches, dents or play marks worth mentioning. There are some superficial lacquer cracks on the sides, we have sealed these and they are absolutely harmless. Considering the age of the 4550 of 65 years after all, this is truly remarkable. Of course there are no breaks, cracks or other damage to the wood, all glue joints are bombproof. The playability is excellent, pleasant string action, adjustable by the bridge screws. Fingerboard and frets are also in mint condition. The 3-piece longitudinally glued neck is pleasantly contoured and straight thanks to the total of three glued joints. The guitar is 100% odourless and clean. In this condition a wonderful playable instrument, but also first choice for collectors! If you want an early 4550, you can't miss this one, because you won't find a better one.
Measures: Overall length 41,7”/106 cm, body length 20,5”/52 cm, lower bout width 17,3”/44 cm, waist width 10”/25,5 cm, upper bout width 12,2”/31 cm; body depth 3,1”/8 cm, scale length 25,2”/64 cm (zero fret to saddle), fingerboard width 1,7”/4,2 cm at nut, 2”/5 cm at 12th fret; overall weight 2.170 g, string action on 12th fret 0,08”/2 mm (adjustable).
Purchase and payment: Send us an e-mail to info@german-vintage-guitar.com and you will receive your invoice immediately. Or simply order here through the shop. We are happy about a direct bank transfer (SWIFT), because this is free of charge, in contrast to the PayPal payment with its service fees.
