Every electric guitar reviewed on this site so far, the Donner HUSH-X, the EART GW2, four Traveler models, and the Batking, comes from a brand built specifically around travel instruments. The Hofner Shorty is the opposite. Hofner has been making guitars and basses in Germany since 1887, and it’s still best known for one specific instrument, the violin-shaped 500/1 bass Paul McCartney played through most of the Beatles’ career. The Shorty is a much smaller part of that story: a genuine short-body, full-scale electric Hofner first built in 1982, now sold as a budget-friendly reissue.
Best for: a player who wants a full 24.7in scale neck in a genuinely small body, and doesn’t mind a brand name that’s better known for basses than for compact electrics. If tuning stability while standing and playing matters more than heritage, the Traveler Ultra-Light Electric is the steadier choice.
A single bridge humbucker and a fixed tailpiece, the same basic layout the Shorty uses, just built into a much shorter body.
A heritage brand, not a travel-guitar specialist
The original Shorty ran from 1982 to about 1986, hand-built at Hofner’s factory in Bubenreuth using German-made Schaller hardware, alongside a bass version and a battery-amp-equipped variant with a speaker built into the scratchplate. Production stopped, then restarted in 2005 from Hofner’s facility in China, aimed at the budget end of the market rather than the collector’s market the 1980s originals now sit in. The guitar reviewed here is that modern HCT-series reissue, not the vintage German original, worth knowing if you come across it described as “hand-made in Germany” anywhere else online.
What hasn’t changed between the two eras is the basic idea: keep the neck and scale length full-size, and shrink everything else. That’s a genuinely different approach to the headless designs every other electric on this site uses. Traveler, Donner, EART and Batking all move the tuning machines into or onto the body to shorten the guitar from the headstock end. Hofner keeps a normal headstock and just builds a smaller body around a full-length neck.
A single humbucker at the bridge, wired to one volume and one tone control, the Shorty’s entire electronics package.
Specs that matter
- Scale length: 24.7in/62.8cm, full scale
- Overall length: 860mm (about 34in), roughly three-quarters the length of a standard electric
- Weight: approximately 1.94kg
- Body: basswood top and back
- Neck: one-piece maple, bolt-on, joined at the 18th fret
- Fingerboard: rosewood, 24 frets, bone nut, 42mm nut width
- Pickup: single Hofner Open Humbucker at the bridge
- Controls: single volume, single tone
- Bridge: fixed tailpiece and bridge, one combined unit
- Included: padded gig bag
- Colours: black, blue and red, sometimes limited special finishes
- Price: £150.18 on Amazon UK, checked live 15 August 2026
- Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5 from 540 ratings at the time of checking
Hofner doesn’t have the same shelf presence as Traveler or Donner in most UK guitar shops yet. It’s a much older company selling a newer idea to this specific market.
The trade-off: neck dive
Shrinking the body without shortening the neck moves the guitar’s balance point away from the strap button, and that’s exactly what happens here. A dedicated review at diyguitar.ca names neck dive as the Shorty’s single biggest drawback, caused directly by the lightweight body and the strap button’s placement, and the same issue turns up repeatedly in guitar forum discussion elsewhere. It’s a real, structural consequence of this design rather than a manufacturing fault: every other electric on this site solves the same problem by removing the headstock’s weight entirely, and the Shorty keeps its headstock, so it keeps the imbalance a headstock creates on a short body.
Played sitting down, it’s not an issue. Played standing on a strap, expect the neck to want to drop unless you hold it up or fit a wider, grippier strap. If that’s a dealbreaker, the headless alternatives on this site, Traveler’s Ultra-Light Electric especially, don’t have the same problem, since there’s no headstock weight to fight against in the first place.
Sound and electronics
One Hofner Open Humbucker sits at the bridge, wired to a single volume and a single tone control. That’s the entire signal path, no switching, no coil-split, no second pickup to blend in. It’s a simple setup built for plugging into an amp and playing rather than dialling in a range of tones, which suits a travel guitar reasonably well: fewer controls means less to think about when you’re setting up somewhere unfamiliar. Reviewers describe the tone as punchy and clear for the price rather than refined, consistent with a single passive humbucker on a budget-tier instrument.
Where to buy it
It’s £150.18 on Amazon UK in the blue finish, sold via marketplace seller Manns Music, with a genuine buy box and 4.4 stars from 540 ratings. Check price on Amazon. Hofner also lists black and red versions through its own catalogue, worth a search on Amazon UK separately if a specific colour matters more to you than the one reviewed here.
Hofner Shorty vs Traveler Ultra-Light Electric vs Batking Travel Electric Headless
Three different answers to the same problem, a genuinely playable solid-body electric that isn’t full-size.
| Hofner Shorty | Traveler Ultra-Light Electric | Batking Travel Electric Headless | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design approach | Traditional headstock, shortened body | Headless, In-Body Tuning System | Headless, double-locking tremolo |
| Overall length | 860mm (about 34in) | 28in (about 71cm) | 73cm (about 29in) |
| Weight | Approx. 1.94kg | 3lb 2oz (approx. 1.42kg) | 1.6kg |
| Pickup | Single Hofner Open Humbucker | Single dual-rail humbucker, passive, no onboard controls | Single Hot Rail humbucker |
| Known trade-off | Neck dive when played standing | No onboard volume or tone control | Fiddlier to keep in tune |
| Price, checked live | £150.18 (15 August 2026) | £249.00 (12 August 2026) | £149.99 (8 August 2026) |
If a stable, balanced playing position matters more than anything else, the Ultra-Light Electric’s headless design solves the neck-dive problem outright. If you want real vibrato technique, only the Batking offers it. The Shorty’s case is heritage and a genuinely different feel in the hands, a normal-feeling neck and headstock in a body small enough to fit in a rucksack, not the lightest or the most balanced option on this list.
How we assessed this
We haven’t played this specific guitar hands-on. This review is built from Hofner’s own published specification sheet for the current HCT-SH model, the Shorty’s Amazon UK listing (price, stock and rating, checked live 15 August 2026), a dedicated third-party review for the neck-dive assessment, and a direct comparison against the Traveler Ultra-Light Electric and Batking reviews already on this site. Where a claim comes from Hofner’s own data sheet or a third-party review rather than something we’ve independently tested, we’ve said so rather than presenting it as a hands-on judgement.
FAQ
What makes the Hofner Shorty different from the other travel electrics on this site?
The brand and the build approach. Every other electric reviewed here comes from a company that specialises in travel guitars and uses a headless design. Hofner is a 137-year-old German instrument maker best known for basses, and the Shorty keeps a normal headstock, just on a much shorter body.
Is the modern Hofner Shorty the same guitar as the original 1980s version?
No. The original Shorty was hand-built in Hofner’s German factory from 1982 to about 1986 and is now a collector’s item. The version sold today is a separate reissue, made in China since 2005 and aimed at the budget end of the market. The basic concept, a full-scale neck on a shortened body, carries over, but it isn’t the same production run or the same price bracket.
Does the Hofner Shorty suffer from neck dive?
Yes, and it’s a documented, structural side effect of the design rather than a one-off fault. The small, light body combined with the strap button’s placement means the neck tends to drop when you’re standing and playing on a strap. It isn’t an issue sitting down. A wider strap helps but doesn’t remove the problem entirely.
What pickup does it use?
A single Hofner Open Humbucker at the bridge, with one volume control and one tone control and nothing else. There’s no pickup switching to learn, just one sound shaped by whatever amp or pedal you plug it into.
Does it come with a case?
Yes, a padded gig bag is included. If you want more protection than a gig bag gives you, our guide to travel guitar cases under £100 covers the options.
Will it fit as hand luggage on a flight?
At 860mm long it’s smaller than a standard electric, but no guitar is guaranteed cabin space on every airline. Check our guide to flying with a guitar in the UK before assuming it’ll fit.
The bottom line
Buy the Hofner Shorty if the idea of a heritage German brand and a full-scale neck in a genuinely small body appeals more than headless minimalism, and you’re prepared to manage some neck dive when you play standing up. Don’t buy it expecting the balance or tuning stability of the headless alternatives on this site, that’s the trade you’re making for keeping a normal headstock. For a reader who wants a proper full-scale neck without a headless design, it’s currently the only guitar on this site that offers that.
Weighing this up against the rest of the market? Our complete UK buyer’s guide to travel guitars covers how every named model on this site compares.
It also gets a mention in our best travel guitars under £300 roundup and our compact travel guitars guide, both comparing it against the headless alternatives it sits alongside there.
