John Squire acquired a Höfner T2S sometime before 1987, as the earliest known photo of him with the guitar dates to around that time. There isn’t much information available about his early guitars, but some sources suggest that this Höfner was one of his first “real” guitars, indicating that he may have acquired it much earlier.
Squire’s first guitars were the sort of cheapies everyone kicks off with. He swiftly moved on to a Höfner 335-style semi. A guitar that he still owns years later. ‘I’ve still got it,’ he grins. ‘But I’ve, erm, painted it with a splash of household gloss.’
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The Stone Roses Studio Sessions
According to producer John Leckie, this Hofner was the second most-used guitar on the Stone Roses album, following Squire’s pink Fender Stratocaster.
John Squire, meanwhile, played his pink Fender Stratocaster and custom-painted Hofner 335 copy in a far corner, opposite that occupied by the studio’s grand piano, with two screens supporting a horizontal one that served as a kind of roof, while a third served as a makeshift door. Inside this setup, Squire used a Fender Twin reverb with JBL speakers, rented from Dreamhire, and played lead parts on the Hofner and rhythm on the Strat, captured with either a Shure SM57 or SM58 together with a Neumann U67.
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Later, the Höfner gained public recognition when Squire used it in both the I Wanna Be Adored and Fools Gold music videos.
Specs, Paintjob
John’s Höfner was a thinline hollowbody model produced in Germany sometime in the late ’70s. More specifically, it was likely made in 1979, as by 1980 the T2S model no longer featured F-holes, whereas John’s guitar clearly does.
It was either a T4S or a T4 ST, with the only difference between the two being an octave switch, which is difficult to spot on Squire’s guitar. If you happen to find any clear photos where this switch (located just below the lower F-hole) is visible, be sure to leave it in the comments (update – it has been confirmed that this is in fact a T2S model; thanks Jussi)
Regarding the paint job, Squire initially decorated the guitar in the mid-’80s with a Jackson Pollock-inspired artwork. Later, sometime before the I Wanna Be Adored music video was filmed, he repainted it with the same design featured on the I Wanna Be Adored single artwork.
Just recently, John posted on his Instagram profile that he has stripped the guitar once again, and he plans on re-painting it.
John posted pic on his instagram about this guitar. It`s actually T2S.
Cheers
Thank you! I updated the article.