Hofner 500/1 Funky red finish

[Spyders]

I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps I should take off my pick and put it away for safe keeping. I pulled the control plate and there doesn't seem to be any corrosion on anything in there so I assume the offending substance must be coming out of the side of the pick guard.

What do you guys think?

Spyders

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Spyders.:

Yes, this is what I've seen before, and it's downright nasty. The nitric acid is attracted to the metal, and corrodes the copper in the parts, and even attacks the copper flashing on pre-nickel electro plating . That's why you're seeing green crystals in the corrosion.

 

[Spyders]

I spoke with Gary at North Coast Music. He is a Hofner dealer and says he had never heard of the corrosion problem before. I assured him it was quite real as My Hofner was affected by the exact same problem and that all of the metal in proximity to the pick guard was corroded. He contacted Hofner and says they claim they have never heard of the corrosion problem either. He says Hofner told him that the cloudy paint problem is due to the humidity in the room on the day the guitars were painted.

It seems to me as though there must be some kind of connection between the red cloudy paint issue and the corrosion around the pick guard. I have only heard of the cloudy issue occurring on red hofners and I have only heard of the corrosion issue occurring on red hofners so I'm thinking the two issues must be related.

Spyders

 

[Davel]

I've had the nickel finish on my 500/1v62 hardware cloud over badly but nothing like this. That's just down right nasty!

TD

Hi all - new here and saying hey to everyone. Also, I've just acquired a Hofner 500/1. This isn't my bass, but here's a link to a bass that looks identical:
http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/gallery/bass/bas42.html

I think the info associated with that bass may be somewhat incorrect. I'm sure Hofner made a transparent red-burst that was at the 2000 NAMM, but I think Hofner offered the 500/1 in this finish (as well as a transparent blue) in the US around that time frame.

Can anyone shed any additional light on the history of this bass? I removed the control panel expecting to find a label indicating the model and serial number. Unfortunately, there's no label. However, judging by the specs, this appears to be a '63 reissue.

While I'm a bit bummed by the hazy/cloudy finish issue (the finish is polyurethane and not nitrocellulose), this bass fit my needs/wants perfectly - I wanted a fairly recent German 500/1, but something a bit out of the ordinary. In spite of that, I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to restore the finish and whether that would affect any kind of resale value (I don't intend to sell this bass, but I never intend to sell any of my guitars, but usually do at some point ;-)

Anyway, any and all input/feedback/suggestions are greatly appreciated! (BTW, I e-mailed Hofner, but haven't received a reply.)

I'm the owner of the red Hofner on the vintage Hofner website. I saw the bass in a LA music store in July 05 and purchased it in August 05. I'm the first owner. The music store stated that it came in with a bunch of brownburst 500/1 and was not ordered by them . They said the shipment came from a LA warehouse. It already had a cloudy / purpleish paint and the metal had already patined .I was informed that there were two red basses at the 2000 nam show. One with gold hardware and a perfect finish...the other a poor paint job and regular hardware that was sent to a LA warehouse. . also the packaging on the bass ( when the music store received it ) had some dust on it I have the original tag from the music store and the serial number on it is 00008. Any clue to when it was made? It could possibly be the second bass or it could be an 05 model. there are no identifying marks or code other than the tag 00008.

 

[Thornton Davis]

Remove the control panel on the bass and you'll see a label inside the body. It should have some manufacturing information written on it. Since the year 2000 Hofner has used a serial numbering system that starts with a letter. A = 2000, B = 2001, C = 2002, etc.
The factory serial number should be written on that label. These were only produced in 2005.

TD

 

[Paul Boyer]

I'm not so sure about the "cloudy" finish/corrosion link. I don't think the finish had anything to do with it. My special (illustrated above) has perfectly clear finish, but terrible corrosion. I think the corrosion problem is entirely linked to the pickguard material, and it may have been stock material that was used in the time period when the red- and blue-burst basses were made. Now, I don't see that kind of corrosion on my blue-burst, but it was just horrible on the special red. I don't know whether this bad pickguard material was from a bad batch and affected only a few, or if it was material that was tried for a while and later replaced with an alternate material. However, I doubt that Höfner has "never heard" of this problem. It may be that the guy Gary talked with didn't know about it, but somebody must have heard of it. It could be that there are very few affected and that nobody remembers.

 

[Davel]

Remove the control panel on the bass and you'll see a label inside the body. It should have some manufacturing information written on it. Since the year 2000 Hofner has used a serial numbering system that starts with a letter. A = 2000, B = 2001, C = 2002, etc.
The factory serial number should be written on that label. These were only produced in 2005.

TD

Hi Thorton; no label in body when I removed the control panel... what now?

 

[Davel]

Hi Thorton; no label in body when I removed the control panel... what now?

I also don't have the corrosion problem yet.. and the bass resides in it's case for protection. It's neck is also almost perfectly in tune with only a couple of notes being a couple of "cents" off!