Hohner Review: HW90

History: I've played guitar for 47 years - folk, blues, bluegrass/oldtime, acoustic rock and roll. Songwriting. Finger picking more than strumming. I occasionally play with others, rarely in front of an audience. My other guitar is a Martin 000-18.

Purchase: I'd missed out on cheap solid-face acoustic guitars till I stumbled into a May 1999 Acoustic Guitar mag article (which is on the web.) They rated a Hohner highest and though I was open to other brands, depending on sound, I met up with a Hohner first. $270, from Richmond Music Center, VA. If I'd shopped around I could have found it for perhaps $50 less.

What I Like About This Hohner HW90: I hadn't played it hard enough in the store - shyness - and missed hearing it buzz. The neck was bent down some. I sent it back to the Hohner people who replaced it with a better-sounding one. It has a bright warm sound that opened up after a year's playing. It's more a Taylor sound than a Martin and is about 95% as loud as the most expensive Taylors. That is, it's as loud as 95% of Taylors. The tone matches the best of Taylor or Martin (except for the Martin bass; though I like the Hohner's bass for it's balance with mid and hi.)

What I Do NOT Like About The Hohner HW90: I'm not crazy about the look of the do-dads - gold machines, tricky-looking bridge and dots. The ovangkol ply, back and sides, is odd, though it probably adds to the sound. Nothing in the look, though, really bothers me. If the sound's good - and, yes, it is! - I don't care what a guitar looks like. (And a guitar can't look good enough to overcome sound that's not there. I had a more inexpensive Martin before the Hohner and got rid of it because it just never had what the Hohner turned out to have.)

Hohner HW90 Quality Rating: I've described some of it already. Well-made - no problems after 3+ years of playing. Not as artful or quality-controlled as a $1000 instrument, which is fine. A Larivee dealer told me with some heat that the Hohner probably wouldn't last 50 years. Shoot, neither will I. (Actually, I'll bet the Hohner will. And so could I.)

Review Summary: I just ran into a Johnson JD-17 for $299 which is louder and richer all around than any guitar I've played but a few over $2000. There's something a little loose-cannon about it and the intonation challenges my tuning a bit too much. I would have bought it but my daughter's off to college soon, so I expect to be entirely satisfied with new ultra-light Elixer strings on the old Hohner; and too with my little old 000-18, which can send out a shock wave or two.

Rating of this Hohner product: 5

This Hohner HW90 Acoustic Guitars Review Submitted By: Monty Johnston

Review Date: 2006-03-25