I haven't played Rufus (my bass) amplified for a couple of years. The opportunities slowed down for some reason... I went to a weekend songwriters retreat recently and brought it with me to perform. Checked the electronics before leaving and nothing was coming out of the full circle! Dead silent. Ended up having to pack the Fender and use Rufus for acoustic only jams. Is there anything else I can/should check on the FC? I tried different cables without signal. Any way back from this? I bought this new from Bob and Mark in 2012 - so over 10 years installed - may be at it's natural life. But I hate to say goodbye... I did consider the FC to be one of the best investments I have made in all of music. I do want to start to play out, and was thinking of trying the Lifeline next.
Fishman has a really great repair/replacement policy for the FC. It's talked about at length somewhere around here... If you like the pickup, it's totally worth checking into. They replaced my ancient FC with a brand new one for the cost of a bench test ($50). Edit. Wasnex's link above has a bunch of info I mentioned.
+1 re bassmanbrent's comments above. Fishman's service was incredible when my FC died - IIRC, 7-8 days turnaround including shipping both ways, $50 plus USPS costs.
that's awesome! I will contact Fishman ~ I'll post back and let you know how it went! I was concerned during my last period of gigging (~2018) that I didn't have a backup pickup; I might keep my eye out for a lifeline, so even when the FC is up and running again I have that security for gigs. Defaulting to the jazz is a worst case backup!
No, Rufus and I met years before I became aware of Mr. Reid, whose book continues to confound me. I suspect it's name was inspired from George Carlin's character in Bill and Ted...