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4004 LK Rickenbacker Build

#61
The Freeway Switch is my favorite for three-pickup guitars and basses. This is the scheme I use:

FWS3.PNG
 
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#63
I'm almost done the bass. Just installing the pickups and electronics today. I've got three HB1 pickups. Two of them are dead! The red (hot) wire and shield+blue read 15k on the good one.
On the dead ones it looks like one of the coils is open. I have the black and red coil reading 7.7k on both pickups, but no reading between the blue and clear! How odd is that? same issue on two pickups? Anyone ever take one of these apart to repair? I took the chrome cover off but the black plastic part seems to be glued, I didn't want to force it. Any help appreciated!
 
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#64
Lickmaker said:
I'm almost done the bass. Just installing the pickups and electronics today. I've got three HB1 pickups. Two of them are dead! The red (hot) wire and shield+blue read 15k on the good one.
On the dead ones it looks like one of the coils is open. I have the black and red coil reading 7.7k on both pickups, but no reading between the blue and clear! How odd is that? same issue on two pickups? Anyone ever take one of these apart to repair? I took the chrome cover off but the black plastic part seems to be glued, I didn't want to force it. Any help appreciated!
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I too love the sound of the HB1.

I too have had multiple HB1s just die on me.

They are epoxy filled, so cannot be repaired. I did have a couple rebuilt by Jerry Sentell, but he used AlNiCo 5 rod magnets, so it’s really a different pickup now, that just looks like an HB1 on the outside.
 
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#65
ctmullins said:
I too love the sound of the HB1.

I too have had multiple HB1s just die on me.

They are epoxy filled, so cannot be repaired. I did have a couple rebuilt by Jerry Sentell, but he used AlNiCo 5 rod magnets, so it’s really a different pickup now, that just looks like an HB1 on the outside.
Click to expand...
Multiple HB1s just die? That's just scandalous! Wow.
What a set-back. Today was the day I planned on finishing this instrument, taking photos and such....ughhhh.
 
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#69
Gilmourisgod said:
Nice!!! Now we are Brothers In Sawdust, one of only (3) Lemmy style basses I've seen on TB, the others being mine and by @mapleglo, my Sawdust Sister. I can't put mine down, it's just too cool to leave on the stand. Nice job on the little video vignettes too.
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Just to be clear, I'm all over the Lemmy approach; I just don't have time for all of that tedious carving.... :angel: :cool:
 
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#70
No offense intended CT! Your Ric inspired builds are Epic. I can’t claim any credit on the oak leaf carving on mine, my brother did all of it after I just hogged out the waste to establish the pattern. Kudos to @Lickmaker for doing the carving too, very impressive job. I was thinking the three pups was overkill, but it really does give you some extra useable tones. Thanks for the Freeway switch suggestion, works great! I used Hi-Gains on mine, and don’t regret it. Gotta have that single coil clank!
 
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#75
I can’t remember how many genuine LK’s were built, was it 50? They rarely come up for sale, and for $$$$ when they do, so building your own is the only viable option for most. The Aliexpress clones are……not good, though there are degrees of awfulness people might accept to get an otherwise unobtanium bass. They tend to stain them hideously, and the oak leaf carvings are clearly CNC, but if you could get a “husk”, minus the bad finish and crap hardware……
 
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#76
Gilmourisgod said:
I can’t remember how many genuine LK’s were built, was it 50? They rarely come up for sale, and for $$$$ when they do, so building your own is the only viable option for most. The Aliexpress clones are……not good, though there are degrees of awfulness people might accept to get an otherwise unobtanium bass. They tend to stain them hideously, and the oak leaf carvings are clearly CNC, but if you could get a “husk”, minus the bad finish and crap hardware……
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And could you just imagine trying to sand out the crap finish on all of those Chinese leaves? :vomit:
 
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#77
The Aliexpress version. The comparison with what @Lickmaker has built here is.... instructive.....



Obviously all cut from the same CNC program, with varying degrees of fit/finish, a few different pickup and bridge options and all..... meh.
 

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