Vintage Hofner 173 Reboot: Part Three

Part Three: Electronics

Quick Links:    Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

So far, we've looked at the External Features and Hardware of this vintage sunburst Hofner 173 electric guitar. Now it's time to evaluate the electronics. Underneath the pickguard lies a maze of cruddy wiring, which takes quite a while to figure out. 

I'm glad to say that I've finally determined what's connected to what; and what it is that I'm looking at. And if you click the last picture of this post, you'll see a circuit diagram of sorts; courtesy of yours truly and MS Paint.

The set up is basically three H513 single-coil pickups wired to a trio of DPDT ON/OFF slide switches. Up is OFF, and down is ON. Did I say "single-coil"? Yes, I did. There's only one coil, wrapped around the blade. The faux "polepiece" screws don't have anything wrapped around them at all.

It's intriguing indeed; but way beyond my level of expertise. So we'll leave it at that. In any case, you'd be able to get two more sounds than say; a stock Fender Strat. I mean, imagine the how cool it would be to pair the Neck and Bridge pickups, or all three together? Yes, this Hofner 173 would be able to do just that; were it in working condition.

From the switch unit, the signal from each pickup is fed to a dedicated 100K Log (Audio Taper) pot; hooked up to a 0.033uF ITT MPT-1 tone cap. After passing through the Tone pots, the signal ends up at a 220K Lin (Linear Taper) Master Volume pot; which controls the output to the mono jack socket.

The DPDT switches are still functioning, but the same cannot be said for the pots or jack socket. These would have to be replaced, should the owner decide to proceed with repairs. Meanwhile, the only working pickup is the Neck (Bass). The DCR reading is a healthy 7.14K. Poor Discant (Middle) and Treble (Bridge) have gone open circuit; it would seem. 

I actually opened up the Treble (Bridge) pickup, and measured the DCR off the coil itself; but to no avail ~ it was most certainly shorted out or broken deep within. On the plus side, at least I got to examine the innards of an H513 and confirm that these babies are indeed single-coils. With that, I bid you adieu. Thanks for visiting, and I'll see you again soon. Stay safe, stay healthy, and God bless :)

 

Hofner 173 Wiring Diagram