Realist going erratic?

[fovea1959]

my (used) Realist hasn't given me a lick of trouble in a year, started cutting in and out in a big band gig last week. (I managed to keep up anyway, but it was a *lot* of work!)

It seems to be sensitive to the position of the wire where it enters the foil sandwich.

Is this common? repairable? should I be shopping for a replacement pickup?

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by fovea1959

my (used) Realist hasn't given me a lick of trouble in a year, started cutting in and out in a big band gig last week. (I managed to keep up anyway, but it was a *lot* of work!)

It seems to be sensitive to the position of the wire where it enters the foil sandwich.

Is this common? repairable? should I be shopping for a replacement pickup?

Well, Realists usually last longer than a year, however that's all the warranty covers! A tech from David Gage told us that some of the pickups fail after around 4 years. I've experienced that problem, and had to replace one. I'm pretty sure you cannot repair it, I'd call David Gage and talk to them since it's barely out of Warranty.

Ric

[fovea1959]

it's probably way out of warranty; 'twas used when I got it...

*sigh*

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by fovea1959

it's probably way out of warranty; 'twas used when I got it...

*sigh*

Yeah,
My educated guess is that it's over the 4 year life span that pickup has on certain basses. If it's bit the dust I'd consider a Fishman Full Circle, unless you do a whole lot of bowing. They seem to hold up better. As long as you have bridge adjusters, all you have to do is change them out for the Fishman. Just to let you know, I'm using a Realist, but I'm probably not going to to there when this one starts dropping out.

Ric