Info needed on 500/1 switch settings

[Skydog6653]

Help w/ switch settings please. N=8.8 B=8.1 V= full
All sw on its silent
Turning T off there is V
Leaving T off turning B off reduces V slightly
Turning R to S increases V
All sw off no V
Turning S to R there's V
With S, B on, T off, there's V (loudest setting)
With S, B off, T on, it's silent
All sw off its silent
With R, B off, T off, there's V
With R, B on, T off, there's V
Again, all sw on it's silent
I'm sure there are other combinations but this is the general idea. My question is, is this all correct? Should there be Volume at any combination of settings?

 

[fermata]

Assuming neck volume and bridge volume controls are turned up, the only setting that will kill the output is switching Treble On and Bass On at the same time. Otherwise:

Solo allows full volume, Rhythm drops it by 30% (which also bleeds off some treble)
Bass On switches off the bridge pickup and turns down the tone on the neck pickup with a .1 uF capacitor + 8.2k Ohm resistor (that's the darkest tone possible)
Treble On switches off the neck pickup and puts a .01 uF capacitor in series with the bridge pickup (that's the brightest tone possible)

Because the Bass On and Treble On positions kill the opposite pickup, putting both in the 'on' position kills all sound. Many people find this confusing, but that's because they're thinking of them as pickup switches. It makes more sense of you think of them as tone switches. Put them both in the up/off (toward the player) position, and you have two volume controls, like a Jazz bass. (The Rhythm/Solo switch works with all the different settings.)

It's an atypical arrangement, but it works well. When I had a Hofner, I rewired it a bunch of times in a bunch of different ways and finally put it back to stock, because I discovered the stock wiring is a well-conceived design and sounds best with the pickups. Going from darkest to brightest, here are all the tone possibilities:

Neck pickup:

--Bass On (dub tone)

--Bass Off, Treble Off, neck pickup turned up to 10, bridge pickup turned down to 0 (brighter neck pickup tone)

Both pickups (blending is best when neither pickup is turned up all the way):

--Bass Off, Treble Off, neck pickup turned to about 7, bridge pickup dialed in to taste (neck pickup plus extra definition)

--Bass Off, Treble Off, bridge pickup turned to about 7, neck pickup dialed in to taste (bridge pickup plus extra depth)

Bridge pickup:

--Bass Off, Treble Off, bridge pickup turned up to 10, neck pickup turned down to 0 (burpy/honky bridge pickup tone)

--Treble On (tic-tac tone)

The Rhythm/Solo switch also serves as a secondary tone switch of sorts: on the Rhythm setting, the pickups don't play as hot, imparting a more acoustic vibe. Solo opens things up for a more electric feel/sound.

 

[Skydog6653]

All's well that ends well. I had installed the new panel in, 180° off! I had also watched a you tube video that featured a left handed instrument (there are no left handed control panels!) so that screwed me up. Once I reversed the panel, I still had to reverse the pickup to pot connections. Thanks, fermata for all your help!

 

[fermata]

All's well that ends well. I had installed the new panel in, 180° off! I had also watched a you tube video that featured a left handed instrument (there are no left handed control panels!) so that screwed me up. Once I reversed the panel, I still had to reverse the pickup to pot connections. Thanks, fermata for all your help!

Ah, so just a matter of perspective. As you've discovered, the On position should be when the switch is down, away from the player. Enjoy the bass! Hofners are cool.

 

[Skydog6653]

Sorry about the knobs; I have teacups on order.

 

[fermata]

Ooh, lovely! You know, the chrome knobs look pretty good next to the chrome tailpiece.

 

[Skydog6653]

As promised, the teacups arrived today.

 

[Nedster1969]

I always had a problem with the way HÖFNER violin bass was wired. I just couldn't see the logic in it. So I decided to rewire my 500/1 Contemporary Sunburst. I prefer the 0.047μF paper in oil tone capacitor but other values or other capacitors may work as well. I put in the fresh pair of 250kOhm pots so now the left volume (volume 2 knob) is the master volume and the right volume (volume 1 knob) is the master tone. TREBLE ON switch turns the bridge pickup on/off and BASS ON switch turns the neck pickup on/off. The RHYTHM/SOLO switch changes the phase of the neck pickup (RHYTHM or up is in phase and SOLO or down is out of phase). This way I have full control of what is happening with the sound and I have all the possible combinations I will ever need. I am posting my wiring diagram here hoping that you may find it useful.