NBD: 1965 Hofner 500/1 and a Weird Issue

[Fender4Me]

Well, I bought my first Hofner today. A 1965 500/1 Beatle bass in original condition. Its a really nice playing bass. The issue thats driving me crazy is with the pickups. Ive watched the various videos on how to use this control panel so, I think I have an understanding of it. The problem is that when I switch to only the neck pickup, it sounds really weak. The bridge pickup sounds strong by itself and when they are both on, it sounds like they are both working at 100%. Ive cleaned the switches with Deoxit. The left volume control for the neck pickup does not operate correctly either, When I turn it down, it sounds like it is only reducing the treble output. The right volume knob works fine. When I measure the resistance of each pickup, I get a goofy reading of around 78K too. Any ideas? Thanks, C

 

[J-Bass RMR]

Beautiful 60 year-old bass!
Hope you get it sorted out. (patience! I know you will...)

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Well...it sure looks good. Really good.
The old Zenith makes a heck of a good backdrop too!

 

[Fender4Me]

Thanks guys. I’m thinking that the pickups need to be rewound. I have to crank my amp up quite a bit compared to my Fenders. Are there any decent replacement pickups that don’t cost a fortune ?

 

[digmeout]

It depends on your idea of a fortune. Your bass being a 65 needs the tab mount pickups. There are some genuine tab mount Hofner pickups on Reverb for $120 dollar each. https://reverb.com/item/36484881-ge...aple-pickup-for-63-67-basses-nickel-h511b-tab

 

[Fender4Me]

It depends on your idea of a fortune. Your bass being a 65 needs the tab mount pickups. There are some genuine tab mount Hofner pickups on Reverb for $120 dollar each. https://reverb.com/item/36484881-ge...aple-pickup-for-63-67-basses-nickel-h511b-tab

That’s not too bad. Are the pickups the same for the neck and bridge positions?

 

[digmeout]

That’s not too bad. Are the pickups the same for the neck and bridge positions?

I'm not sure, they don't list the ohms for the pickups. I think the vintage basses had the pickups wound differently for neck and bridge. I think I'd ask the seller, and maybe do a little digging. Somewhere I have a book that has all this info in it. I'll see if I can find it and report back if so.

 

[Stempelloos]

Höfner Pickup H511-TAB

Thomann sells them for $ 95,-. (Additional import duties apply to this shipment due to U.S. Customs Regulations. These will be collected by the delivery service before or upon delivery.)
The Höfner site mentions the resistance: approx. 9kΩ: Hofner Quality.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

Firstly that is a very nice looing 500/1 bass, I hope you have many happy years with it. Like others have said I would have the pickup checked if there is a break, or Is un soldering the pickups & swapping them over an option?

 

[godofthunder59]

Those 65 Hofners have pretty weak pickups, I own two ( one since '71) the controls are a bit weird, I think you might be experiencing the solo switch that boosts or cuts. Honestly it's been a while since I've fiddled with mine I'll pull it out and give you a update.

 

[digmeout]

I'm not sure, they don't list the ohms for the pickups. I think the vintage basses had the pickups wound differently for neck and bridge. I think I'd ask the seller, and maybe do a little digging. Somewhere I have a book that has all this info in it. I'll see if I can find it and report back if so.

Found the book but believe it or not it does not mention different pickup resistance for the neck and bridge. A reference on hofnerhounds says the typical DC resistance of A staple pu is 8 to 10k ohms, and bridge and neck are the same. Leading to the neck pickup being louder. Which could be addressed by raising the bridge and lowering the neck I suppose.

 

[Fender4Me]

Update: As an experiment to confirm the correct operation of the control panel, I temporarily installed a set of new Fender Jazz pickups and everything worked perfectly. After further testing, I found that the neck pickup is bad. I ordered a new Hofner replacement and will find someone to rewind the original pickup. I figure it'll be a long wait and I don't mind having a spare pickup around. The neck and bridge pickups are the same on 63-67 500/1's. Thanks for all of the help guys!

 

[depalm]

Nice bass!
I’d take these pickups
to be inspected by a good repair guy. Maybe worth to get it rewound.

I also own a 65 Höfner.

 

[P. Aaron]

Bass looks cool. Ever since I was a kid listening to the Beatles, you see that bass and it's just iconic now.

 

[JKoehler]

Tom Brantley rewound the bridge pickup in my 61’ Hofner, and did a wonderful job. I would highly recommend him.

Purchase New Guitar Pickups

tombrantleyrewinds.com

 

[gip111]

Just for the heck of it, did you try wiring the suspicious pickup straight to the output jack?

 

[ravelax]

Nice bass and nice to hear you managed to figure out what the issue was. The real star of this thread however is that radio! Wow!

 

[Fender4Me]

Just for the heck of it, did you try wiring the suspicious pickup straight to the output jack?

Yes I did. It has an ohm reading of around 1 Meg ( super high) so, I figure the wring is full of that green stuff.

 

[Fender4Me]

Thanks. One of my many passions is restoring antique radios. That one is all original. I only restored it electrically. Works great too.

 

[Fender4Me]

Well, Im at a loss. Its not a pickup issue. Let me try to explain again what is happening. When I switch to Treble On, I get full volume from the bridge pickup and it can be varied by the right volume knob. When I switch to BASS ON, The volume drops by 75% or so. With both pickups OFF, it sounds petty normal. Switching between Solo and Rhythm produces a very slight boost in volume in the Solo position. I see most people play these with the Bass switched on as well as Solo. As another experiment, I disconnected the bridge pickup from its volume pot and soldered the neck pickup there and it seemed to work fine. Any other thoughts?