Rickenbacker wiring help???

[ric4682]

I've got a 2007 4003 that I bought new and I absolutely love it but I put some Chromes on it to try and when I plugged it back in the vintage selector switch (which is a push-pull pot on the bridge tone knob) was permanently engaged. The switch feels the exact same, it still moves up and down like it should and has a solid 'click' but the bridge pickup loses all the punch and power and bass that it normally has with the switch disengaged. Do you think it's a short somewhere or has the push-pull pot gone completely bad? I've opened it up and I can't seem find what's wrong. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Ric5]

warranty

 

[Ric5]

The warranty has to be at least a year ... and if it is not under warranty the replacement part is $15. If it were my bass I would simply wire in a standard 330k ohm pot and remove the .0047 capacitor.

 

[ric4682]

Thanks for the replies so far. I just took it to my tech and he called a little later and said that the bridge pickup is done, shot, dead....So I might be having it re-wound by Lindy Fralin or I might be buying a new pickup. A new one looks like it runs about $200 dollars. Does anyone know how much a rewinding is?

 

[ric4682]

I'm not really willing to wait however many months it takes to get a new rickenbacker pickup in there that just might fail again so I'm pretty sure i'm going to have it re-wound considering I had to wait seven-eight months just to get it.
Thanks for all of the replies! If anyone has any info on rewinding that would be great

 

[cassius987]

It sounds like all you need to do is check the wiring and possibly replace the push-pull pot, a part available from the RIC boutique. But I honestly don't know why it would go bad, I've never had that happen and I've got four basses using these switches.

The way the switch works is it wires in parallel a path around the capacitor. Sounds like a wire could have come loose. That would cause it to get stuck in vintage mode.

As for warranty, you're covered for five years with proof of purchase. Maybe you didn't mail in the card like you should have but you can work out a deal if you can prove you're the original owner.

 

[Ric5]

Ric4682 are you in Colorado? If so bring it by my basement workshop. I have worked on many Rics.

 

[I<34080]

So it was working, but was stuck in vintage tone mode, and you took it to the tech where it died while he was working with it? Hmm.

 

[Randall]

new push pull pots and new pickups (75$) are available on the rick site. They might be on summer break but worth a shot.