The Rickenbacker Club Part Twelve

[Michael Schreiber]

My question is. Shouldnt the neck pickup still work even w nothing connected to the bridge pickup lead and ground wires? Or because I broke the circuit it only works w both pickups installed?

From my understand, you are right, yes. But maybe I overlook something, so I better share the link to the schematics:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Maybe a ground connection became lose?
In every case: Good luck!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I am pretty clueless on electronics, but if you are replacing the pup anyway, I'd strongly suggest getting a replacement one by Classic Amplification, better made, quieter, less fragile wiring, and they will wind it however you want it, presumably reverse wound too.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I just finished building a Ric 4003 clone using stock Ric hi-gains, and its about as quiet as any single coil bass, in theory because I shielded the cavities and pickguard with copper tape. Off the shelf, Ric's have no shielding whatsoever, which can't be helping the hum.

 

[drewphishesp]

yeah I may its odd tho that I get no sound out of it at all now, not even from the neck pickup. checked all the wires and they seem to be good. im hoping someone who knows chimes in

 

[Spidey2112]

Hey guys. Just picked up a rick. Love it but the hum was driving me crazy. Welll i went ahead and attempted the rwrp mod bc I am pretty capable of soldering etc but it went horribly wrong.

Long story short the magnet broke completely in half and the leads came out of ghe pickup.

No big deal really ill just order a new pickup assembly and kick myself for my 150 mistake.

My question is. Shouldnt the neck pickup still work even w nothing connected to the bridge pickup lead and ground wires? Or because I broke the circuit it only works w both pickups installed?

That blows, Drew... not sure I would want to find out if it works, or not, in that state... serious. I suppose it's possible, a bridge pu could experience a complete open circuit, and with a flip of the selector switch you might still have a neck pu available to you... not sure which Ric you bought (congrats!), but plug into the mono jack, as opposed to the Ric-O-Sound...

Not familiar with the mod you were performing, too...

 

[Relsom]

This mat seem like a dumb question, but are you testing it with the mono or stereo jack?

 

[drewphishesp]

it blows and ive been kicking myself all night about it but poopie happens, with all the stuff ive done to my basses this is the first real "oh S#@t" moment. I was just curious so i restrung it and plugged it in, and now I just get nothing. dead air. I only messed with the bridge pickup so I hope I didnt do any real other damage. too it

the mod is to reverse the wind and revrse the polarity so when both pickups are on full the 60 cycle hum is elimnated. like a jazz bass. problem was its an older bass and the magnet was not in great shape

 

[drewphishesp]

always use the mono jack

 

[mapleglo]

Can you take a picture of your wiring? Maybe one of us can see something you may be missing.

 

[drewphishesp]

ok good news! the neck pickup works. i must have jostled something loose when I was messing in my oh crap state at 5 am

 

[drewphishesp]

either way, besides dropping in a new pickup, no more work on the rick done by me...

fenders are great in the fact that repairs are so easy and simple, I bit off more than I could chew with this I guess

 

[Michael Schreiber]

it blows and ive been kicking myself all night about it but poopie happens, with all the stuff ive done to my basses this is the first real "oh S#@t" moment. I was just curious so i restrung it and plugged it in, and now I just get nothing. dead air. I only messed with the bridge pickup so I hope I didnt do any real other damage. too it

the mod is to reverse the wind and revrse the polarity so when both pickups are on full the 60 cycle hum is elimnated. like a jazz bass. problem was its an older bass and the magnet was not in great shape

Surely sucks, but don't worry; can hardly be any serious damage. Maybe a lose solder point, and of course the magnet.
And even by this mishap you know your bass better - and are getting familiar with the wiring. Others like me would have been way too shy to even try doing this mod; and didn't gain that experience.
Just saying; feel free to also be proud to have started this mod.

 

[jdubbass38]

Very cool, glad you like it!
About the cover: If it doesn't keep you from playing / learning a style or technique you like, feel free to keep it on - otherwise I rather advice to take it off at least to try out how it works. Just saying: While it looks cool, it should not prevent you from improving on your bass. In my case, I prefer having the cover on when playing with a pick using it as a hand rest - but I prefer having it off when learning to slap or plucking with my fingers.
Happy playing! \m/

Thanks! Yes, I primarily play with a pick for live shows and the cover does make a nice hand rest like you said. I'll definitely be playing some finger style for practice or messing around on...how could I not...digging in this bass screams vintage Geddy Lee tone!

 

[Michael Schreiber]

ok good news! the neck pickup works. i must have jostled something loose when I was messing in my oh crap state at 5 am

Great!
See, not as bad as it seemed
Glad that you found the error and could fix it!

 

[Korladis]

Thanks! Yes, I primarily play with a pick for live shows and the cover does make a nice hand rest like you said. I'll definitely be playing some finger style for practice or messing around on...how could I not...digging in this bass screams vintage Geddy Lee tone!

I'm going to put the cover on my 4003S back on. I keep hitting my hand on the bezel's thumbrest when playing with a pick, and it hurts.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Having just wired my clone, I feel your pain, quite a rats nest of wire in there. I still haven't got the Ric-o-sound jack working, which I suspect is more mechanical than electrical. The wire leads to the pups are really fragile, wish they had come up with a more robust setup. Oh, and ditch the pup cover, they put the pup in that location for a reason, obviously, it's right at the theoretical 36th fret location, a "sweet spot" in tone and string tension. I put in a Tubeampology Treble Bezel, looks great and has a built-in thumbrest. Mine has the recessed thumbrest, so my palm skates over it with a pick.

 

[jdubbass38]

Just curious... does anyone use the Ric O Sound input for recording or live shows?

 

[mapleglo]

Yeah, I go back and forth with the pickup cover. I have it on my Jetglo in the form of a horseshoe, while my Mapleglo and 5 string came to me without the cover in place. I think about putting one or both back on, but haven't done so yet. Of course, the 4004 has no cover. Oddly enough, that's become my favorite for the time being.

Just curious... does anyone use the Ric O Sound input for recording or live shows?

I've used the Ric-o-sound for both. It's a cool feature. (it's an output, by the way, if I may nit pick...)

 

[Michael Schreiber]

Just curious... does anyone use the Ric O Sound input for recording or live shows?

I tried it - liked it for playing; Bass pup connected to the bass amp, and treble pup to the guitar amp -
But after recording, I disliked it; felt incomplete to me, so I prefered playing both pick ups through both amps.
Though, in our band now, I don't bi-amp anyway; don't need it, yet.
But if I get the chance to play metal or doom, I would surely bi-amp again, using the mono output.

 

[Relsom]

I just happen to have a pickguard without a bridge pickup laying around. You should have a meter....In case it screws up again, seemd something might be intermittent, check these meaurements out. The output referenced is for that of the neck pu and measured from ground and the output terminal of the neck tone pot.

 

[Relsom]

Oh....it's from a 4001 so it won't have the push/pull cap switching option. Not sure when they even started that..