A Quandary? (Rickenbacker Content)

[BigBoneRed]

Hey TB... The bass in question is an '81 Rick 4001, it's in VGood shape overall, playable, stable, and set up nicely- to my liking..
BUT- there's a problem with the bridge PU, it has very little, to no output whatsoever, regardless of which jack I'm using.
Have been playing it this way for some time, (years), but every now and then it occurs to me to fix it. Then I remember reading a story
about Chris Squire, and one of his Rics having the same problem. After having it repaired, he decided that he didn't like it, and had it
put back the way it was..hehe. So.. if it was good enough for CS that way, maybe I should just leave it...?

 

[Michael4bass]

That story about Squire is total BS. You might want to check the the wiring and ohms of the pickups.

Bassically, Michael

 

[BigBoneRed]

That story about Squire is total BS

Really?
>One article, from a fairly legit source~
Why would they lie about it?

Bass Player Article
By Nick Wells Contributions from Brian Fox published 26 June 2024
“When I first visited the Rickenbacker factory, I thought I was going to get a hero's welcome. But they were like, ‘Come take a look at our repair room’”: Why Chris Squire’s relationship with Rickenbacker got off to a rocky start

"It emerged that the RM1999's bridge pickup, which Squire referred to as having a “tinny sound”, was defunct by the time Tobias got to it. “It was actually dead. I installed a new pickup from Rickenbacker, but Chris didn't like it, so I put the old pickup back in. It would pick up a little from the working pickup and make some sound, but not on its own.”

 

[JMacBass65]

Well, you might also want to confirm it has "low output". An 81 4001 will have the low end sucking capacitor wired in there (unless someone removed it), which sorta gives one the impression that it has "low output". First thing I'd do would be to pop the hood on that thing, find "the cap" as it is known to be called, and wire a jumper in there, bypassing it. THEN compare its output to the neck pickup. You might find that suddenly, it has decent output and sounds "right". However, that capacitor is one of the secrets to the classic Ric sound, IMHO.

 

[BigBoneRed]

Well, you might also want to confirm it has "low output". An 81 4001 will have the low end sucking capacitor wired in there (unless someone removed it), which sorta gives one the impression that it has "low output". First thing I'd do would be to pop the hood on that thing, find "the cap" as it is known to be called, and wire a jumper in there, bypassing it. THEN compare its output to the neck pickup. You might find that suddenly, it has decent output and sounds "right". However, that capacitor is one of the secrets to the classic Ric sound, IMHO.

Bridge pickup is really just barely audible, even when soloed/max'd.
Cap is still in place, last time I checked.. haven't done any further diagnoses other than that.
..need to get an ohmmeter and check some numbers

 

[woodyng2]

Bridge pickup is really just barely audible, even when soloed/max'd.
Cap is still in place, last time I checked.. haven't done any further diagnoses other than that.
..need to get an ohmmeter and check some numbers

This. And if you find the output is very low, maybe consider having that pickup rewound.
I had a similar situation with a customized build, but didn’t want to wait to have the pickup rebuilt, so I purchsed a new
bridge pickup from CA (Classic Amplification). I can totally recommend them, but the last I heard he moved to the UK,
not sure if he’s still in business. There are other replacement pickups readily available, but the CA I got was very similar sounding
(Better,really) to the classic 7.5k ohm higains. It was called a “60s flattop”.

 

[tubedude]

The Creamery, in the UK, makes great Ric pickups.

 

[ctmullins]

Aftermarket replacement. And add the bridge cap push/pull while the patient is on the table.

 

[sunbeast]

I would first check all the solder joints for the bridge pickup and probably just reflow/resolder each joint to be sure. Particularly in the bridge pickup cavity there can be some pretty weak/brittle wire connections that may have been partially broken if the bridge pickup was ever removed (it can happen when removing the pickup cover for example). If none of that helps, then I’d try as suggested bypassing the high-pass capacitor- for testing purposes you don’t even need to solder around it and could just wrap some wire (like the extra wire at the end of a resistor or capacitor) across it (or sn alligator clip lead, or even conductive foil or similar). If the output is still much lower than the neck I’d unsolder the pickup and take a reading with a DCR meter across the two leads- it should measure a stable reading somewhere in the vicinity of 7-11kohms. If the reading is far off of that or bouncing around a bunch then there could be an issue with the coil wire. If there isn’t a coil issue then it’s possible the magnet has lost its gauss and may or may not be salvageable- Ric uses fairly primitive cheap “rubberized” ceramic magnet material- you could probably just grab a generic block of ceramic magnet material in similar dimensions and put it on there and it will give a higher output than the original (though likely overpower the neck pickup unless you also swap the neck magnet with the same material). Classic Amplification uses individual ceramic disc magnets per string and in my experience have the same or somewhat higher output than stock Ric pickups depending on the specific example (the problem with individual discs is that you need them to be well matched for output balance).

I love Classic Amplification Ric pickups and have them in both of my current modern Rics, but if I was in your situation and the coil wire was the issue I’d just get the original pickup rewound- it’ll be cheaper and you’ll retain the original part. You’ll want to unsolder and measure the neck pickup so the bridge can be rewound to match more or less. This guy is well-reknowned for rewinds and has experience with Ric pickups (they use finer wire than many other companies, you’ll want to recreate that unless you want to change the tone): Rickenbacker — Purchase New Guitar Pickups

 

[Ellery]

Dude, rip out all of your old pick ups and electronics and mod it. Do that classic mod where you have a Seymour Duncan humbucker at the neck. That would be cool. This is your excuse to mod a vintage Ric, and keep the old stuff in a drawer in case you want to sell it or restore it.

 

[J Wilson]

For a player like Squire who no doubt had quite a few basses. If he liked that one bass for the sound it made from its electronic foibles, well he could do that, and the roadies could get him another one at the drop of a hat.

For the rest of us mere mortals, I'd not walk around with a bass with a wiring or bad pickup, I'm playing with fire on a gig that the whole thing could go dark, and I want both pickups to work for the tone choices that allows.

I'd have it seen to by a qualified, experienced tech and put back in fighting shape at my soonest opportunity. If indeed it's only a wiring fault, great. IF the pickup is bad, I'd replace it with the stock Ric replacement or a Seymour Duncan replacement.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Those Rick keep their value over time so I would have an expert looking at it and replace the defective part with an original if needed.

Or, if someone can repair or rebuild the defective pickup, it’s still better for keeping its value.

 

[newfuture]

+1 for bypassing the treble cap. I ran mine also an 81) with it for 15-20 years or so not knowing it was even in there, nor would it did before learning that if you get rid of it, the solo bridge pickup sounds good!

It currently has a bypass push / pull.

Level difference with and without is more than I would have expected.

 

[Smartsoul72]

I will say that if you want to have the pickup rewired, check out Tom Brantley Rewinds. I think he is very proud of taking care of Geddy’s Ric p’ups. He’s done work for me & I highly recommend.

 

[ahbradot]

What would you do..?
Repair it with OE Parts/Specs
Repair it with Aftermarket Parts/(Pickups)?
Play it as is and call it good
Sell it and put it all into silver coin

This poll will close: Jan 15, 2026.
--------


"Jan 15, 2026" .......... so does the Health Care Marketplace deadline.

 

[erratick]

I will say that if you want to have the pickup rewired, check out Tom Brantley Rewinds. I think he is very proud of taking care of Geddy’s Ric p’ups. He’s done work for me & I highly recommend.

He worked on Geddy's Jazz pickups for sure and offers Jazz bass pickups. He doesn't currently offer Rick style pickups on his site.

Is that a custom service? Something not offered on the website?

 

[sunbeast]

He worked on Geddy's Jazz pickups for sure and offers Jazz bass pickups. He doesn't currently offer Rick style pickups on his site.

Is that a custom service? Something not offered on the website?

I linked to his page about rewinding Ric pickups in my post above

 

[erratick]

I linked to his page about rewinding Ric pickups in my post above

Ahh rewind only. No new.

 

[farace]

Your “low output” pickup might actually be dead. When I got my ‘83, I thought the neck pickup was very low output; I was getting something out of it (I thought). Turns out it was somehow picking up signal from the other pickup, whether through induction or leakage I don’t know. Actually removing the pickup from the circuit showed it to be open. As has been recommended earlier in this thread by others, I sent it to Tom Brantley for a rewind. He’s quite reasonable, and uses the proper gauge wire (if I remember correctly, Ric uses 44 gauge while most other companies use 42, but I won’t swear to that). I’m very happy to second the recommendation of Mr. Brantley.

 

[sunbeast]

Ahh rewind only. No new.

Yeah I think that is his real claim to fame- vintage-correct rewinds. That's how Lindy Fralin started too. Then they found particular recipes they liked and started making their own pickups. I think Geddy Lee must have publicly acknowledged his work at some point so he started rolling the Geddy Lee Jazz pickups. The market for aftermarket Ric pickups is much smaller