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Rickenbacker 4080 rewiring diagram

rickenfender1

rickenfender1

Aug 20, 2013
33
7
#1
Hi guys, I'm restoring a Ric 4080 that was a complete basket case. I've got a real Ric wiring harness. Ive got all new pickups (yes, real Rickenbacker hi gains) and switchcraft switches. Everything is real. Ric tuners on the bass Schaller on the guitar. Does anyone have a decent wiring diagram drawn up for this thing? I'm surprised that I can't find anything on the net. Thank you in advance,
Chris
 
#2
I found this picture:
4080%20afterBIG4.jpg


Looks like a conventional 4001 wiring scheme, complete with bass-cut cap, but with some byzantine switch to jump between pickup sets (guitar or bass). I might be missing something, but I can't see a hookup wire for both bass pickups. I'm also not sure if the 4080 has a switch that allows you to hear both sets of pickups at once?
 
#3
Axstar said:
I found this picture:
4080%20afterBIG4.jpg


Looks like a conventional 4001 wiring scheme, complete with bass-cut cap, but with some byzantine switch to jump between pickup sets (guitar or bass). I might be missing something, but I can't see a hookup wire for both bass pickups. I'm also not sure if the 4080 has a switch that allows you to hear both sets of pickups at once?
Click to expand...

Axstar, Thank you so very much for the pic. Yes both necks should be able to be on at once. I've got everything wired up except for the switch next to the neck pickup going to the front 4001 switch. My back switch is a switchcraft switch however it's very different than the switch ive seen on other 4080's. Can't tell where the bass pickups connect nor can i get a clear enough picture to show me in detail what goes to where. This is all more like a guessing game. Ive got a Gibson bass 6/string double neck. However the wiring is quite different on that one compared to the Rickenbacker. I can wire just about anything but i don't have any experience with double necks. When I get this right, I'll take very good photos and put them up for the next schmuck like myself who will be doing this. Thank you again for your time and assistance! You are very kind. Chris
 
#6
I think you should be able to pull off the neck switching with a DP3T switch, wire to be on/both/on with the middle terminals as a common. One set of three terminals will be for each pickup.

Edit: Just seen your photos. Looks like a short-form Switchcraft 3-way switch for the necks, as you would have on a Les Paul. That switch isn't complex enough to do what you want. You effectively want two of those ganged together, one for the neck pickups and one for the bridge pickups.
 
#7
I've attached an image of the switch I think you might need. Ignore my previous post about a DP3T switch as they don't work quite how I imagine. I think you need a 4P3T switch. For the switch I've attached, you would wire one neck's pickups to each of the middle two terminals on the top row and the other two pickups to the outer terminals on the bottom row. A possible configuration would be Bass Bridge and Bass Neck on the upper outer two terminals, and Guitar Bridge and Guitar Neck to the lower middle terminals. Treat the middle terminals across the four rows as your outputs, wiring a jumper connecting the two terminals corresponding with the two neck pickups, and the two terminals corresponding with the two bridge pickups.
  • In the first position the top four terminals are running to all four middle terminals. In this configuration the outer terminals at the top are connecting the bass neck's pickups to their middle terminals, but the bridge pickup connections on the bottom row are not connected to their corresponding middle terminals.
  • In the second position, the outer terminals on the upper row are connected to their corresponding middle terminals (bass pickups) AND the inner lower terminals are connecting to their corresponding middle terminals, thus giving you the pickups of all four necks.
  • In the third position, the inner terminals of the lower set are connecting to their corresponding inner terminals, but the outer terminals on the top row are not connected to their corresponding middle terminals, so the bass pickups are muted.
I'm not sure how easily these switches are found; especially in an appropriate side that fits the aesthetics of your guitar. Basically you need a switch that allows you to cycle through the corresponding pickup pairs: guitar neck pickup/guitar neck pickup+ bass neck pickup/ and bass neck pickup. Using the switch you posted up you would be forced to solder the outputs of the two pickups per neck together, which means you cannot solo a pickup on each neck, only solo a pickup per for one of your necks or the other (or have both on). The original Rickenbacker switch looks like a beast, but it is performing quite a tricky function. I can annotate the attached diagram later if it helps.

There might be a way more graceful way of pulling this off! A 4P3T rotary switch would do the job or, lazily, you could simply wire in another Switchcraft switch and have one switch for the neck pickup pair and one for the bridge pickup pair. This would give you weird combinations, such as solo'd bass bridge pickup and solo'd neck guitar pickup at the same time. Might be a nightmare to play with this setup and you would be hacking into the wood and pickguard of a historic instrument.
 

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#8
Trust me, this thing has been hacked before I got it. I am trying to put it back to as close to original (well Geddy Lee style) with the badass bridge which it apparently had before. I'm just getting a little frustrated. That rear Rickenbacker switch is something that I've never seen before. As I said, ive got a double neck gibson 4/6 string. The bass side was hacked when I got it. I used rickenbacker wiring and Rickenbacker pickups on the bass side along with a badass bridge. Sounds just like a Rickenbacker!

I used a 3 position switch with 6 terminals on the under side. Ive got another switch just like it. It's set up like this underneath.
I I
I I
I I
6 terminals with 3 positions. Would that work? Like I said, I used it on the gibby. I really don't want to have to pull that one apart to see how i wired it. Do you think I could just use that switch? Thank you so much for the info!
 
#9
Firstly, here is a diagram that utilises three three-way switches:

index.jpg


I'm a shade confused as to why the black wires from the pickups are being treated as the hots rather than the grounds, but I'm not sure up to speed with Seymour Duncan pickups. The diagram simplifies stuff to the extent that each neck has a single volume and tone control only, and the neck selector switch simply switches between necks prior to the output jack. Think of it as two Telecaster wiring schemes, complete with two pickup selector switches, that meet at a final switch that governs set of Tele controls is sent to the output jack.

I'm looking at EDS 1275 wiring diagrams online. A few people get round the issue by using three switches; one to switch pickups for the the first neck, one to switch pickups between the second, and then a final switch to switch between necks as per above. This means you can use the more readily available Les Paul-style 3-way switches going around.

With the switch you drew up there, six terminals isn't enough. You need twelve if you follow my diagram, set up in four banks of three terminals. With the switch you've currently got in the 4080 you can switch between each pickup pairing, per neck, but you have to solder the hot wires for each pickup pair together. However it seems that Switchcraft pull it off with only nine terminals, using a switch like this: which you must have used in your Gibson:

EP-4378-000-w.jpg


EP-4378-000-w-3.jpg



Without a multimeter I don't know how easy it would be to map all of that out. Four terminals will be taken up by each of your four pickups. You then need to work out the common terminals for each pair of terminals. For example you need to work out the common output for the two terminals that will cover your two neck pickups, and do the same with the bridge pickups. This is why a meter is handy! The Switchcraft is covering the functionality I outlined with the generic switch in my post above, and it is a guitar part rather than a generic electrical component.
 
#10
In traditional Seymour Duncan wiring, the hot is black, the green and bare are ground. If there is a red & white wire, that is the series link (for splitting).
 

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