Höfner Violin Ukulele - REVIEW

Something of an odd one for ukuleles this week, but one that recently caught my eye. This is the Höfner Violin Ukulele.

Now, at first glance when I saw this I thought 'novelty' but then a couple of elements woke me up a little. The first is that this is 'billed' as an all solid wood ukulele so not the shaped plywood box that I was expecting. The second was the brand name Höfner who shouldn't need much introduction as they are perhaps most famous for the bass guitar that Paul McCartney played which this shape draws from. So, a more serious name and, perhaps, a more serious build. So I grabbed one, but several things were still troubling or confusing me which i'll come on to through the review.

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

One of the first things that confuses me is how limited the availability these seem to be. Maybe it's a European thing, but whilst these are listed proudly on the Höfner website, the only place I can find these on the European behemoth store Thomann. Maybe it was an experiment and maybe they are being phased out, or maybe brand new and only hitting stores now, but they are hardly widely available. The next thing is the lack of real detail as to the build specs (that differ between Höfner and Thomann listings!), and perhaps more importantly who actually made this, but I'll come on to that later.

So this is a 17.5 inch tenor scale instrument made from what they claim to be all solid acacia with a body and headstock shape designed to mimic the Höfner violin bass. My first couple of gripes on that though - firstly, those basses are not this colour and secondly... well... why not make a bass uke instead? Those points aside it's a 'different' shape for a ukulele which I don't find offensive. Despite it being all  acacia the top differs quite significantly from the back and all the woods differ quite significantly from curly rich coloured acacia that I have a soft spot for. I'd never had guessed at this even being  acacia in places. The top is made of two pieces and is quite pale with an even pale use of sap wood to create a central stripe which gives it some interest. The back and sides are two pieces each also and are about the palest acacia I've ever seen despite the back having 'some' striping. The back is also complete with some fairly ugly knots, but at least they are bookmatched. I suspect these are pretty cheap acacia sheets to be honest and think it would look leagues better if they had used darker woods, but something about it is still pleasing me in a weird way - it's not unattractive at all in the body. The core build feels somewhat hefty but to be fair it's very accurate and tidy.

But my first issue. Whilst I can see that the top is solid wood by looking at the edge in section, I cannot say the same for the back. You can clearly see the laminate construction in the back and the inside grain does not match the outer. That's a cardinal sin for me as it is clearly deceiving the customer. There is a European brand that has done that before and tried to claim that because the laminate is all the same wood it's 'solid laminate'. That is, of course, utter claptrap and I think there may be a connection with that very brand that I will come onto later in the review. I also never know how to adjust the scoring for such things, which is why i've written a paragraph on it here!!

The bridge is a tie bar made, oddly, from acacia also. That's not the hardest of woods so not sure it's the best choice. It's also quite scruffy in the finish and looks a little chipped on one corner. Sitting in that is a straight topped saddle that is not specified but looks like a NuBone type composite. Spacing here is a narrow 38mm.

The is no other decoration other than a pretty nicely done satin finish. As I say though it doesn't look like the guitar it is aping and I wonder if a sunburst would be more appropriate. Still, it's tidily finished if a bit 'agricultural' and chunky.

Inside looks over done with extremely hefty notched linings and regular bracing that looks very chunky. It's inside that I can see that the back grain does not match the outer. It also carries the makers label saying it's made in Europe which is my other clue to the origin. I can also spy that the top wood sheets are mighty thick.

The neck is made from either poplar or beech (depending on which website you look at), but either way is extremely pale though not as glassy smooth as some maple necks i've seen which I am always a fan of. Here it's quite 'grainy' and a bit rough in places. It's constructed from three pieces with a joint in the heel and the headstock. Due to the shape of the body I find the heel joint looks clumsy, chunky and just plain weird and also has ugly gaps in it. The neck tapers to a profile that is way too broom handle rounded for me and a very skinny 34mm nut with 27mm G to A. Not my kind of neck at all this and could have been so much nicer.

The fingerboard is made of more acacia and again i'd want a harder wood here considering the wear it will get. It's fitted with 18 frets with 12 to the top of the more unusual body shape. They are not edge bound though whilst you can see the fret slots, the tangs themselves fall short of the edge of the board so there are no sharp sprouts you can feel. In fact the whole fingerboard is extremely smooth and tidy though I still would want harder wood for the board. Simple pearloid position dots face out at the 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th and they are paired with small white dots on the side. Aside from the board wood choice this is a nice looking fingerboard.

Beyond the nut (which looks much more plastic than the saddle) is the headstock shape of the violin bass. It's faced in more acacia and carries the Höfner logo in a gold transfer that really doesn't look like it will stand up to much use of a clip on tuner. The headstock is also massively chunky front to back which is my next clue as to the origin of the uke. Still, they got the shape right I suppose..

The tuners are open gears and extremely cheap in construction on two barred pairs with pearly white buttons. They look, and feel extremely basic yet work ok with good resistance on the tension.

Finishing it off are unspecified strings that look like Aquila but without the swing tag I doubt they are. You also get a half decent padded branded gig bag. Pricing is an odd one as they are not widely available so I only have Thomann to go on (who notoriously change their prices) but at the time of review it was £211 to the UK. Not a huge sum, but not a novelty price either and squarely in a bracket where there is a LOT of alternative choice.

But on to my theory about who made this. Well in fact I think it could be quite obvious myself and would take a reasonable large wager on my thoughts. First, it says 'made in Europe'. Well there are only a couple of factories building lines in Europe I can think of and that's Kremona in Bulgaria and APC in Portugal. The finishing is NOT like a Kremona, but it's certainly like an APC. They too have used very pale acacias and also gone to the trouble of calling laminates solid. They've also called their acacia 'European Koa', but that is a whole other annoyance. They also have quite chunky bodies, headstocks and lame tuners. Yep, i'm saying this is made by APC. Now that brand has some fans, but sadly I am not one of them... and because I could be wrong, let's leave that interlude alone..

Back to the uke as you can see I have very mixed views. I do like the general look and the core body build is good, but I can't understand why they didn't make it a bass or at least go with the Beatle Bass colouring. Some of it is quite chunky and over built, and whilst I like the fingerboard, the neck profile is a red flag for me. Still, it's not massively expensive I suppose and it could redeem itself on tone. Weight clocks in at 605g which is surprisingly low considering the over building and it balances ok at the 12th too. The setup on this is example needs work too with both the nut and saddle needing to be taken down.

Tone wise the real surprise here is the volume which is extremely punchy and decent - this is a noisy little thing with a great bark! Sadly that's not paired with very good sustain as this tails off very quickly leaving a very staccato sound. I suspect that's down to a combination of the shape, thick woods and chunky internal bracing. It' very short indeed and a let down.

As for the core tone this is a seriously bright instrument with excellent note clarity that sounds like cut glass. It's far too bright for my own tastes and I'd have hoped for something with a bit more range considering the use of acacia, but I recognise that some people like these uber-bright sounds. The poor sustain though gives it a very jangly bouncy voice when strummed to the point that it sounds nothing to me like a tenor instrument and even, possibly more of a soprano. Whether you consider that a good thing is your own call, but I personally don't and it's crying out for more voice.

Fingerpicking, the tone comes across at first listen as very music box and very pretty. Again it's extremely bright and chimey which will please some, but the lack of sustain and ability to get any sort of frills into the notes leaves me a little flat. Very 'plinky plonky'. It's not a horrible sounding ukulele at all and functions as a uke, but it doesn't sound like a tenor to me and I am longing for more richness and character.

So a real mixed bag this one. I like the different look of this and the curves and swoops are certainly appealing. Yet I can't help thinking they should have either been a bass uke or at least coloured it like their basses. The build is generally sound, but like some other instruments by the builder I think made this it's quite chunky, quite agricultural and the neck is not for me at all. Great volume  / poor sustain. Crisp sound / overly bright.

Wins and losses, horses for courses. No, it's not a lot of money, but it's really not hard to find several other options for this price or less that deliver a much nicer tone.

Not a truly bad uke, but not a great one either. Buy with caution.

https://www.hofner.com/en/

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: Höfner Violin Ukulele

Scale: Tenor

Body: Solid acacia top, laminate acacia back and sides
Bridge: Acacia tie bar

Saddle: Composite

Spacing at saddle: 38mm

Finish: Satin

Neck: Poplar? Beech?

Fingerboard: Acacia

Frets: 18, 12 to body

Nut: Plastic

Nut width: 34mm, 27mm G to A

Tuners: Unbranded open gears

Strings: Unspecified
Extras: Gig bag

Weight: 605g

Country of origin: "Europe"

Price: £211

UKULELE PROS

Very different looks and nice shape

Generally sound core build and finish
Very tidy fingerboard and frets

Great volume

Excellent note clarity

UKULELE CONS

Why not make it a bass?
Pale mis-matched body woods

Chunky neck with very skinny nut
Awful cheap tuners

Chunky headstock with cheap logo label

Terrible product specs

Low sustain

May be overly bright for some

Doesn't sound like a tenor

UKULELE SCORE

Looks - 8.5 out of 10

Fit and finish - 8 out of 10

Sound - 7 out of 10 

Value for money - 8 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 7.9 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

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