This guitar with a violin-shaped body was clearly modeled after Hofner’s 500/1 bass guitar and intended to exploit the notoriety that the bass had gained in the hands of The Beatles’ Paul McCartney.

Although the violin-body guitar had a bolt-on neck rather than the set neck of the bass, the guitar had the upscale full-width fingerboard inlays while the bass only had pearl dots.

Hofner had previously used the model number on an unrelated, traditional archtop model. The new 459, introduced around 1965, was available in several variations. The VTZ version featured active electronics with treble boost and distortion control. The very rare 459/VTZ Super sported more elaborate ornamentation, gold-plated hardware and a natural finish (similar to Hofner’s 500/5 violin bass).

McCartney had moved on from his Hofner bass to a Rickenbacker by the time the 459 guitar appeared, so the guitar never had much of a chance and was discontinued in 1970. Hofner’s violin-body basses have become vintage classics, but the guitar version remains little more than an interesting footnote in Hofner history.