Here we have for sale a visually stunning, highly collectible vintage circa 1990 Hohner Professional ST Viper II electric guitar in a rare, factory-original Snakeskin/Honeycomb graphic finish.
If you are looking for the ultimate 1980s/90s hair-metal aesthetic paired with formidable build quality, this "Superstrat" is an absolute powerhouse. Built during the peak era of Korean instrument manufacturing, the Hohner Professional line is widely celebrated by players for punching far above its price tag in terms of performance and reliability.
This guitar features a contoured solid body dressed in a vibrant yellow, orange, and green honeycomb reptile pattern with a solid gloss black back. The neck is a fast, slim-profile maple design topped with a dark hardwood fretboard and aggressive pearloid shark-tooth position markers.
Hardware & Electronics:
- Bridge: Original black double-locking tremolo system (Licensed Under Floyd Rose Patents).
- Pickups: Versatile HSS configuration (1 humbucker in the bridge for heavy crunch, 2 single-coils for glassy cleans and leads).
- Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone, and a 5-way pickup selector switch.
Brand - Hohner Professional
Model - ST Viper II
Type - Electric Guitar
Body Colour - Yellow / Orange Snakeskin Graphic
Country/Region of Manufacture - Korea, Republic of
Model Year - circa 1990
String Configuration - 6 String
Body Type - Solid Body "Superstrat"
Fretboard Material - Dark Hardwood w/ Sharktooth Inlays
Hardware & Electronics:
- Bridge: Original black double-locking tremolo system (Licensed Under Floyd Rose Patents).
- Pickups: Versatile HSS configuration (1 humbucker in the bridge for heavy crunch, 2 single-coils for glassy cleans and leads).
- Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone, and a 5-way pickup selector switch.
- No tremolo arm
COLLECTOR'S HISTORICAL NOTE:
The Hohner Professional series from the late 80s and early 90s represents a golden era when the famous German instrument company outsourced production to premium factories in Korea (primarily Samick and Cort). Models like the ST Viper II were designed to rival popular heavy-rock guitars from Jackson, Charvel, and Ibanez. The wild factory graphic variants—specifically this snakeskin version—were produced in highly limited numbers, making them an elusive target for modern collectors of 90s shredder history.
Condition report:
Cosmetics
There
is wear and tear to it, I have taken as many photos as I can to try and
show all angles, please do zoom in on the photos to see the condition.
There are scratches, scuffs, swirling, dents, dings, tarnishing, and maybe some rusting and it
needs a really good clean but it is generally in decent condition.
Electrics
The
guitar works as is but the input, pots,
selector switch could all do with a really good clean/tighten up, maybe
some servisol would be a good start as everything crackles and is
intermittent, I think
it's full of dust and grime from years of display and storage. I would
advise a thorough setup for the guitar to get it back up and running
properly. The action needs adjusting, it needs a new set of strings, the neck may need adjusting, it
just needs some general tlc to get it back up to speed again. It is also missing the tremolo arm. Please be
aware of this before you buy
By 1990, the global rock landscape was completely dominated by high-speed hair metal, glam metal, and instrumental shredders. Players demanded instruments built for speed and technical versatility.
The ST Viper II was launched in 1990 as Hohner’s direct competitive answer to hot-rodded boutique brands like Jackson, Charvel, and Ibanez. It sold originally for around 630 Deutsche Marks for the rare graphic versions
Unlike lower-tier copy brands of the era, the ST Viper II was spec'd with high-end woods. It features an Indonesian Alder body for an even, balanced frequency response, and a lightning-fast Canadian Hard Rock Maple neck topped with a premium dark hardwood fingerboard
In the late 80s and early 90s, wild animal prints and neon graphic finishes became a badge of honor for guitarists—largely popularized by guitar heroes like George Lynch of Dokken. Hohner ran this highly complex honeycomb reptile wrap in limited quantities, applying the pattern over a vibrant neon yellow/orange fade across the front face while leaving the sleek body back solid gloss black
To cater to heavy dive-bombs and aggressive whammy technique, Hohner outfitted the model with an advanced double-locking hardware layout: a locked nut paired with a true Licensed Floyd Rose floating bridge system
Production on these graphic variants was short-lived as the music industry shifted toward the stripped-back grunge movement in the early 90s. Because of this brief run, finding an intact, un-modified Snakeskin model today with its original high-output pickups is a rare treat for collectors tracking down the golden era of "MIK" (Made in Korea) history.