Another Dead Hi-Gain?

imnoone · Post by **imnoone** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 5:21 pm

Hello all. My 4001's neck pickup gives no sound, so I set the multi-meter on 20 Ohms and the bridge pickup reads 8.2. At the neck p'up, though, right before the gray insulation starts, I noticed that the white wire's insulation looked melted away. I peeled back a little of the gray insulation and confirmed that the white jacketing looks pretty cooked. At the spot where the white was melted, I managed to get a reading of .200 with the meter cranked up the 2M. This doesn't seem promising, any clue to what happened or what I can do about it? Thanks!

imnoone · Post by **imnoone** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 5:40 pm

I peeled back a little more of the gray insulation and it looks like the white jacketing may not actually be melted, but repeat measurements still show very little, if any resistance. What's the best thing to do? Replace it or have it repaired? If repair is the way to go, who's the man to see? Mr. Lollar, Mr. Fralin or Mr. Jones?

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:01 pm

You need to have the meter set to something that is at least 15k to get an accurate reading from the pickup. That pickup should read from 8k to 12k or so. The best way to read it is to stick a mono plug into the mono jack, turn all controls up full, put the switch in the neck position, and measure it on the mono plug. Put one lead to the tip and the other to the shaft, and you should get a reading. Now switch to the bridge pickup on the switch and you should get a reading there too, measuring the same way.

If you already have the pickup(s) out of the bass, then you can measure right at the wires. Don't bother pulling insulation back on the wires to measure...just measure on the ends of the wires where you solder the pickup to the switch or pots.

If the neck pickup is dead, then there are lots of guys around who can rewind it. I've had very good luck with TVJones in the past who rewound a dead bridge pickup from my '73 Ric bass I used to have. He did a fabulous job. I know him, Jason Lollar, and several other pickup guys personally, and they're all good. Take it to whoever you're comforable with, and whoever gives you the best price. Or you could get a new one too.

imnoone · Post by **imnoone** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:37 am

Thanks Greg. I tested it again and it does look dead. At least it's not an super expensive fix.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:11 am

Lee, from your descritpion I believe this dead neck pickup should be quite easy to fix, I mean, it does sound like there's a problem in the output leads rather than the coil itself. What year is your 4001, by the way?
I might set you up with the neck pickup on my March '86 4003. For free, I hasten to add. Feel free to contact me off Forum.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:29 am

I just checked - your 4001 was made in 1983.
My 1986 Rick is a well-used Mapleglo 4003 with black binding, tuners and nameplate, and chrome hardware. When I got it in September 2004 from some guy up in Canada the treble pickup was perfectly dead, so I decided to built a new, hotter one and to install a treble-pass capacitor in line therewith to make it sound 'distinctly Rickenbacker' again. Not much later the bass pickup gave up the ghost as well, and I built a new one from scratch which I'm now willing to let you have for free, provided you promise to write a rave review on it haha. Seriously, I've been trying to sell the 4003 locally for many months now, but the fact that it looks really abused apparently puts potential buyers off. I might have it refinished, but if I do I'll keep it. Meanwhile, its (non-original) neck pickup is available if you can use it.