Mattias Hohner in Trossingen, founded the Hohner Company, south of the German city of Stuttgart, in 1857.

It’s first product was the harmonica (invented in 1821), and accordions. In the 1960s, the company produced it’s own version of Ned Steinberger’s revolutionary headless bass guitar, patented by him in 1980. These proved highly successful.

They were well made, and substancially cheaper than the graphite originals. Hohner was soon augmenting it’s headless range with a fretless bass and a five-stringer.

It has continued to produce high quality Steinberger-licensed instruments.