I recently purchased a MIJ Hohner G11NPU. It is a beautiful electric acoustic guitar. Unfortunately I am unable to find any information about this model.
I can find information on G11Ns or G11Ms, but what does NPU stand for? The electronics do not look like they were added later on. Did Hohner produce a G11N acoustic electric guitar? I have attached pictures of the guitar. The serial number is 806301.
Any information would be welcome.
Up to this point, I’d have said No. But the fact you have one contradicts that. N is natural (as opposed to M for mahogany) and I’d guess PU is Pick Up.
I don’t think that’s the serial number by the way. Is it on the neck block rather than a brace? If so it’s a production number of some kind. I’d expect the serial number to be on a brace for a G11 and to be five digits starting with a 0 or 1.
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Can you post a photo of the inside of the guitar where as Phil says the serial and production numbers are usually to be found?
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I was going to suggest asking about it on the TDPRI Hohner forum since that’s where the collectors hang out. But I see it has already been posted and nobody there has seen one before either.
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Here are some pictures from the inside (have to post them 1 by 1 as a newbee)
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The mic is held in place below the bridge with the wing bolt
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Electronics extracted
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My mistake. SN is 08341. See picture.
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…and here just as proof for the model number…
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Close up of the potentiometers and the circuit
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I spoke with the Hohner Germany customer support, who had not heard of this guitar model in his 25 years with Hohner. At his suggestion I reached out to their distributor, Moridaira, in Japan.
Today I received a very nice reply. Unfortunately, neither the Moridaira rep, nor some old-timers from Morideira and Morris whom he reached out to do remember this model. So, for now the G11NPU remains a mystery.
Any additional information or leads are always welcome.
They certainly made a lot of different guitars over the years, and the documentation was often incomplete, so it can be very hard to reliably trace older instruments.
Steve
Update on the G 11 NPU:
I found an advertisement for a Hohner transducer HPU-1 (image below). Based on this I believe the ‘PU’ does stand for Pick-up, as suggested by PhilW earlier.
I want to give a shout out to Bill at Russo music in Hamilton, NJ who worked on the repairing the electronics. The transducer was shot, but despite some heroic efforts and some temporary success the electronics could not be resurrected so he installed a Baggs system. The guitar now sounds fantastic and is waiting to be played.
Sounds like a wise decision, I hope you enjoy playing it!
Good find, never seen that before.