Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

To all the folks out there in Rickenbackerland... Does anyone possibly have a wiring diagram, or detailed pics of the wiring in a '60's single pickup (HS), Ric Lapsteel? Thanks!

fireglo330/12 wrote:To all the folks out there in Rickenbackerland... Does anyone possibly have a wiring diagram, or detailed pics of the wiring in a '60's single pickup (HS), Ric Lapsteel? Thanks!

Did Rickenbacker make anything other than a single pickup per neck lap steel? I can't imagine there is anything complicated about a pickup and a volume control (and perhaps a tone control).

Hmm. Since the 4000 basses and the lap steels used essentially the same pickup, I would think that unless RIC had a separate lap steel diagram, the 4000 wiring diagram would suffice.

jps, you'd be correct. It's about as simple as a circuit could be. I'm really after wiring it exactly the same way Rickenbacker would have done it back in the day, for restoration purposes. I suppose pictures would in fact, be the better option here, as a diagram doesn't reveal the quirky things Ric did, like use a single grounding wire across the vol. & tone pots by stripping back a single at the contact points, electrical tape, etc...

I have already wired the harness in exactly the same way as my 4000 bass (factory) but it's still not working properly for some reason. The pickup does have a fairly low output but it is output nonetheless, at 3K ohms. Usually when a PU has shorted, or is shorting, the open (shorted) coil can still have inductance but a compromised output and very high, or infinite resistance. It's an early '50's horseshoe. Hmmm, maybe I'll check the tone cap.

I think the wiring loom on the lapsteels were laid out a bit differently from the basses, I'm just not entirely sure.

Just throwing it out there...