Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Willcutt guitars in Lexington, KY, has a pretty good selection, but it's about an 8-hour drive from Raleigh.

I'm looking to build a partscaster and I want to get a neck shape that is as close as possible to my 620. Hoping someone here has some advice.

Looking forward to a report! I did something a bit different and love the result. I made the 5th knob a 'bass contour' for the neck pickup. Very simple - just use a 1M pot and wire it the same, but with a 2n2 cap across the lugs the wires are attached to. The control lets you dial out the woofiness ...

I do, and will check later today. It's the light blue component next to the 3-way switch, correct? If that's it, I'm guessing that I'll be able to find one that will fit -- are they readily available? Yes, the blue can and yes, easy to replace. This one looks about right (72 cents): https://www.mou...

Looks like the only electrolytic cap is the 22uF (C11) on the power rail. It's the one that looks like a soda can. If it's conducting DC (bad/fail), the supply voltage will drop to near nothing. Do you have a digital multimeter to check voltages? Should be 9V on one side of that cap and 0V (GND) on ...

What you're describing, combined with knowing it's got some years on it make me suspicious of dead capacitors.

Do you have pictures or a schematic?

Holy wow. That's beautiful. What a find!

Hey Jason, what did you do in terms of pots and caps when you put the hums in? If 500k pots is the way to go on all of them, wondering if they need to be audio or linear taper or a mix? 500K audio taper for volume/tone pots. One thing I did differently was use a 1MA for the 5th knob and put a 2n2 c...

Aceonbass is right on. Didn't realize Creamery had these for sale. Just a couple months ago I had some Firebird mini-hums built into toaster cases. Looks like Jaime has gone the same route with these: twin blade design with Alnico magnets. I really think it's the best money I've ever spent on a gear...

That is one sharp looking guitar. Wish they'd do a 620 in Walnut. I went through something similar with my 620. Hit the right formula for me this year. Had a guy I know wind some 60s style alnico Firebird pickups in toaster cases. Just brilliant. You mentioned using the 5th knob as a 'bass contour'...

That is one sharp looking guitar. Wish they'd do a 620 in Walnut. I went through something similar with my 620. Hit the right formula for me this year. Had a guy I know wind some 60s style alnico Firebird pickups in toaster cases. Just brilliant. You mentioned using the 5th knob as a 'bass contour' ...

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the links. Pretty much nails what I've run into and been trying to work around. I love the way germanium clips/distorts guitar signal, but I've found it's too noisy for my taste for amplification stages. Spent almost a year working on a pedal preamp that uses low-noise/...

I've had the Mastery bridge for a few years on my 620 and love it. Got it because the screws on the standard bridge would work their way loose a bit and start rattling/buzzing. I didn't expect the guitar to sound different, but it was noticeable - deeper and richer to my ears. I like it.

I've reworked the insides of my 620 yet again and this time I think I've nailed what I'm going for. I'd started using a 20-foot cable and the dullness was bugging me so I've gone to: 1M Vol/Tone pots 500K 5th knob 10n Polystyrene tone caps 560pF cap/470K resistor (parallel) for the treble bleed. Ple...

Hey gang, Wow has it been nearly two years since I first posted this topic up. Just thought I'd say after living with it for all this time that I really like the mastery, it does add a fullness and I'd buy it again if for any reason it broke. Mine took little work to get it set up with a great acti...