A Quandary? (Rickenbacker Content)

[BigBoneRed]

THANKS for all the replies!!
I appreciate all of your knowledge on the subject.

 

[Michael4bass]

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.”

I've read all of that. My point is that many people think that Squire didn't realize that the HS pickup on his RM didn't work, which is ludicrous. As meticulous as Squire was about his sound, there's no way he didn't know that. Before the band went to IEMs, Squire refused to let his bass be put in the monitors as he felt it would corrupt his FOH sound. Alan had one of Squire's Marshall cabs behind him for his monitor. Squire mentioned many times that the HS pickup didn't sound very good on it's own, and it sounded horrible thru the Brassmaster, which is the reason he started wiring his basses in stereo, so that he could choose which pickup/s would go thru an effect. So if the HS didn't work, he would have noticed whenever he played "Tempus Fugit" or any of the songs using the Mutron-III.

Bassically, Michael

 

[BigBoneRed]

Squire mentioned many times that the HS pickup didn't sound very good on it's own,

^^Agreed^^

No doubt he was well aware of it..
After watching the Rig Rundown about this.. Chris said that he had always thought that the HS in the bridge pos. never
sounded good to him, it was "low output and tinny".
...BUT- it also sounds like he left it that way the entire time he played it? (which I'm also considering)

Cheers~

 

[BigBoneRed]

CONTINUED.....

My multimeter is here now, and I took a few minutes to check ohm numbers on the 4001,( pickups are still installed).
Used a cable that I know to be good, still new really...

Neck: 7.6 ~seems to be within specs..
Bridge: OL ~over limit..

There's a problem somewhere in the bridge PU..?
I know the answer will be to open it up, and have a look. Does that reading indicate any possible
clues as to what I should be looking for, or will it be obvious upon inspection?
Could another component possibly cause that?

Thank You All!!

 

[tubedude]

Some models have an capacitor in-line with the pickup so it will read open.

 

[sunbeast]

CONTINUED.....

My multimeter is here now, and I took a few minutes to check ohm numbers on the 4001,( pickups are still installed).
Used a cable that I know to be good, still new really...

Neck: 7.6 ~seems to be within specs..
Bridge: OL ~over limit..

There's a problem somewhere in the bridge PU..?
I know the answer will be to open it up, and have a look. Does that reading indicate any possible
clues as to what I should be looking for, or will it be obvious upon inspection?
Could another component possibly cause that?

Thank You All!!

Yeah you will have to at least lift the hot side of the bridge pickup to measure it due to the high-pass capacitor in series with it in a 4001.