To the OP: I know of 1 other original Hohner like Prince's.

I'm not sure of the owner would appreciate me revealing much about it, since it's a very rare instrument.

FYI, I'm also the guy who convinced Moridaira to start building the H.S. Anderson vintage re-issue mad cat model, and I take care of the worldwide distribution of those, so people contact me with questions all the time.

The back plate on P's Hohner is to cover up a hole that was made to install a wireless system inside the guitar.

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:44am]

MiceElfAgin said:

Thanks for your response, it's appreciated.

I don't mind not knowing who's the owner of the one you know of, of course. I'm just trying to get an idea of how many could have been made with the "HOHNER limited edition" headstock inlay.

I'm also trying to find out how exactly that Hohner logo ended up on some Moridaira-made guitars. Did Moridaira have a distribution deal with Hohner USA? Or did he simply sell some guitars to Hohner and Hohner wanted their logo on those? But either way, how come there are at least a few guitars with no logo at all? (Prince had a Hohner without any logos.) I just don't understand that if some guitars were orderd by Hohner, then why did they agree to sell some without their logo?

I'd really appreciate if you could share as much info as you're able to.

Do you perhaps know exactly how many Moridaira-made Hohners Prince had? My guess is 2 with logos and 1 without logo, but of course I could be wrong.

Moridaira is the hohner distributor for Japan, and has been since a really long time.

The Hohner ltd edition mad cats were just regular h.s. andersons, but fitted with a hohner logo in the Morris factory.

I have no idea of the one without logo, do you have some pictures by any chance?

Is it the one on the right here?:

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:44am]

Years ago the member Neversin on here posted pictures of his Hohner guitar with serial number but that one didn't have the extra 2 lines on the headstock, it had only had the Hohner logo and a shiny cap on the bridge. I can't seem to find these pictures anymore.

MiceElfAgin said:

I need that book!!!

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:44am]

MiceElfAgin said:

JorisE73 said:

Years ago the member Neversin on here posted pictures of his Hohner guitar with serial number but that one didn't have the extra 2 lines on the headstock, it had only had the Hohner logo and a shiny cap on the bridge. I can't seem to find these pictures anymore.

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Thanks but are you sure it was an original Moridaira-made guitar with the original nacre-inlay logo (as opposed to a shiny decal, for example)? Prince's Hohner headstock logo is 'HOHNER limited edition' so I'd be very skeptical about anything that looks different.

BTW, a guy on Etsy is selling 'HOHNER limited edition' decals but those are simply cut out of sparky-silver self-adhesive foil. They will never look like a real mother-of-pearl inlay.

I guess. The serial matched and he had the original flyer of the guitar in the pictures with his guitar.
Here below is a similar flyer but he had a different flyer with 2 Mad cat's on it without the extra lines on the head.

http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Hohnerguitars_1979.jpg

Maybe you can ask him for the pictures. I orgnoted him but didn't get a response.

[Edited 5/30/17 4:23am]

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MiceElfAgin said:

OK, now that the lunatics are taking over (business as usual on the org) other topics about the guitars, I think it's better to try to keep this one place for those who know and care about instruments.
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As the subject of the possible original purchase price of Prince's first Hohner came up and everyone keeps repeating the $30 figure Prince once stated – it's about time to set the record straight: average Fender guitars in 1979 came with list prices within the $500-700 range. The handmade, very high quality Hohner couldn't have been that much cheaper then and I think anyone with a brain can see that. Even if Prince got a REALLY amazing deal it must have been around $300, not $30. For 30 bucks you could get a single pickup in those days, not a handmade guitar.

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BTW, an HS Anderson catalog shows the Japanese retail price of the MadCat to be ¥80,000.- and the YEN-USD rate in 1979 was 219. Add some for the cost of shipping and tax(es) and that comes out at least $400., probably more.
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[Edited 5/30/17 11:20am]

If Prince bought it through a dealer, he probably didn't eat the shipping. Dealers buy instruments for about 50% of retail is my general understanding, so I don't see why it couldn't have been sold new in the US to him for close to that conversion rate price (less if he negotiated). Then, if he really did buy it used, that drops the price even more.

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:45am]

MiceElfAgin said:

Please don't start this nonsense here too. I don't know if he bought his first one through a dealer or second hand (I do know that he bought his second Hohner second hand) – but dealers don't buy instruments at half price, your information is wrong.
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Prince could have only bought that guitar for $30 in 1979 in case he bought it off someone who was either madly in love with him and wanted to gift him, or was a criminal, selling stolen gear without having a clue of its real value. That guitar was worth at least $400.- in 1979 so IF he bought it second hand, $300 sounds "a bit more" reasonable than $30.
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You guys all seem to forget that artists tell BS stories all the time and I find it funny that some lunatics on the org take every single word Prince ever said literally. And once someone tells a BS story to fans or the press or even colleagues, people start quoting it endlessly – and friends and colleagues will "remember" it 40 years later. I'm not blaming them, this is human nature. This is how our memory works – that's why it's often useful to do some research and separate the BS from the facts.
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I'm not saying any of Prince's friends or colleagues are lying, but after a few decades memories become hazy. I've talked to one of Prince's often quoted technicians too and while he was genuinely nice and helpful, he did get a couple of details wrong too as plenty of photos proved. This happens.
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Just a personal example: for years I've been managing and producing a legendary songwriter duo. Whenever a journalist asked them how many songs they've written, they always said "A THOUSAND" without hesitation. I've had their entire catalog and full collection of manuscripts so I knew the real number was between 550-560. Once I mentioned this to them and they went "Oh OK, that's it then, we were wrong." No big deal of course. Next time a journalist asked them the same question – one of them quickly replied: "1200!" Shortly after that fans started INSISTING that is the truth "after all, they said it themselves!"
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This is how the entertainment industry works. And it's OK. We can still use our brains too, can't we...
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[Edited 5/30/17 13:02pm]

I don't think I'm wrong. I actually know dealers who have discussed this with me. And here's another post on a different forum that says the same thing (from dealers). Dealers typically pay 50-60% of retail value for a new instrument.

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:45am]

Serial nr sn 21779 means it was built in 1977.

So If Prince bought it around '82, it might have been a second hand already, and if he bought it in a pawnshop, he might have got a good deal on it.

I read in an interview he bought it because the leopard pattern of the pickguard matched a strap he had.

How knows? Those mysteries are good fun.

To the "expert" claiming dealers get 50-60%, these days they make around 10%, 20% if they are really lucky. Maybe on some chinese crap, but definitely not on the A-brands.

And I'm on top of the guitar food chain, so to speak...

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MiceElfAgin said:

Another thing worth noting in regards to the serial numbers: the 6-digit numbers you see on HS Anderson (and Hohner) branded guitars are only a part of the full serial numbers. They only identify the month of manufacturing, not the actual instrument. The instrument is identified by the additional 3-digit serial (above the 6-digit one) that is almost never visible from concert photos as it is much lighter than the main one.

So although it would be a spooky coincidence, we cannot entirely rule out the possibility of Prince having two guitars with the same "217791" sn stamped onto them, only identifiable by the additional 3-digit numbers.

[Edited 5/31/17 6:48am]

Almost correct.

My '79 had indeed a serial number under the date code, nr 517 IIRC.

But my '84 only has a date code.

I found the interview in the dutch 'Oor' magazine where Prince claimed his guitar was a cheap toy and piece of junk (Dirty Mind era):

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vlammie said:

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MiceElfAgin said:

The point is: the quoted $30.- purchase price is ridiculously unrealistic for any decent instrument in either 1979 or 1980, regardless of the discount, regardless of whether it was new or second hand. It must have been at least $300 and that's a low estimate too. Plus: Prince did have money to afford decent instruments already in 1979 and he had quite a few professional guitars before the Hohner too. By that time, he wasn't the poor kid dreaming of a cheap guitar in front of the pawnshop window...

I guess that I don't really understand why your opinion is that something with a converted MRSP that was $220-ish new would be $300+ used or new and hanging on a wall for 2-ish years. Just because it was already rare? I don't know if people were collecting recently-made Hohner short-run guitars back then like they do Fender American-made limited editions today.

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But I know plenty of professional musicians who have their top-end gear and then pick up "lessers" to play with as projects. I mostly play for fun, but I also have the nice jazzmasters, the nicenicenice acoustic, and then an $80 banger that I bought ... at a pawnshop.

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Why'd I buy it? Because it sounded pretty okay and looked unique. I don't think you ever stop getting a kick out of cheap or weird or unique guitars, even if you have the high-end stuff.

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But yeah, $30 would probably be too low, but that's about $100 now, right?

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:48am]