Hofner 456 model (1950-51) 
 In 1949 Hofner continued production after the war, and this was one of the first models. The old construction mode for the body was still used, with the rings glued on the binding, a very expensive artisan process that disappeared in 1952. 
 There are many differences with the following instruments, they were only built with these characteristics for two years and the production was very small. It is extremely rare to find a guitar like this, in such good condition and with all the original parts. 
 It is the deluxe version of the 455 model with more bindings on the fingerboard and on the body. Precious the varnish, which retains the shine of the original sunburst in three tones as the first day. It has a tap at the end of the body where the varnish has jumped, you can see in the photos. 
 The frets are original, although a little marked in the first positions, but they allow you to play comfortably with a very low string height and without fretting or humming. It also has the old headstock and the design of the neck, fingerboard in rosewood. 
 It has been completely revised and is in very good condition and fully operational! 
 
 "This guitar has been authenticated and dated by the official Hofner vintage website. His photos appear in it to illustrate the characteristics of this model, as it is one of the oldest and best preserved. Also for keeping all its original pieces, since very few examples can be found from this period.It belongs to our private collection, you can see it on the official "Hofner vintage" page at this link: http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/archtops6/arch19.html 

 "When Hofner re-commenced production in Moehrendorf, Bavaria after WW2 in 1949, the 456 was one of the archtop models offered. A very similar archtop had been produced with that model designation before the onset of the war when Hofner were based at Schoenbach in Bohemia. 456 was intended to be Hofner's mid-range archtop, utilizing nicely flamed maple for the body back & amp; sides, with a maple top. A good standard of ornamentation was used on the guitar, with binding / multi-purfling around body top & amp; back edges and soundholes, with the rosewood neck also bound. Pearloid strips were used for the fretmarkers, and on all but the very earliest guitars, a pearloid / tortoishell / pearloid celluloid fascia covered the front of the headstock. problems differentiating between the 455, 456, and 457 models, particularly as Hofner seems to have continually revised the detail cosmetics of these models over the years. The main basic difference between the 456 and the slightly later 4 57 is that the 456 had a maple body top and the 457 had a spruce top. Both the 455 and the 456 had maple tops, but the ornamentation on the 456 was of a higher standard than the 455. For example, the 455 was not provided with binding to the neck initially, though later examples (after the demise of the 456 ) did gain this feature.Initially the 456 was only supplied in brown sunburst finish. Later, a natural blonde finish was available, and some examples even have a red-burst finish.As with the rest of the Hofner range, the 456 was available from c1954 with the option of factory fitted electrics.The 456 disappeared from the range in 1962, by which stage the 457 model would seem to have been taken over as Hofner's principle mid-range archtop. "