Troubleshooting 370 Pickup Selector Issue

[sixtwentytwelve]

Hope someone can provide me with some guidance on troubleshooting an electrical problem with a 2004 Ric 370 -- the guitar appears to be virtually untouched, sounds fine with the pickup selector in the middle position, but there is no signal when the toggle is flipped down (not even a crackle), and when the toggle is flipped up the sound is indistinguishable from the middle position. I took a look at the wiring under the pickguard and it appears to be factory standard -- no evidence of any modifications, no visible damage to the toggle switch, no sign of any loose wires, nothing apparent at all. Contacts looked clean but I cleaned them anyway -- didn't help. What would be the best way to troubleshoot what's going on? Is there a particular order in which the components should be checked out to isolate the problem? Any insights would be much appreciated.

[johnallg]

With the guard up where you can see the switch working, move it through the 3 positions and see that first at one side only the opposite contacts make a connection and the other side is open, then move to the middle position and see both sets of contacts are touching, then move to the other extreme and see that that side contacts remain touching but the opposite contacts open. You will be watching the 4 blade arms that have the contact nubs on them. If they do not act this way, use needle nose pliers and bend the arm as close to the mounting as you can get. Gentle bending is all it takes to get the arms so they operate how they should. If you have a working Rick, you could move the switch through the positions to learn how it should look then tackle the problem one.

I'd start there first.

[doctorwho]

There is an outside chance that the jacks are "mislabeled" (actually, installed in the wrong holes) ... try plugging it into the other jack and see whether that makes a difference. If it were plugged into the ROS jack, one would experience what you state (one position not having any output).

[sixtwentytwelve]

Thanks very much -- the contacts on the selector switch appear to be doing exactly what they are supposed to do, and the contacts clearly separate when the switch is moved in either direction. However, picking up on Gary's comment, I tried the "Ric-O-Sound" jack and it acts like the (troubled) "Standard Jack" in reverse. On the Standard Jack, there is no sound in the lower toggle position and the top two positions sound exactly the same. On the Ric-O-Sound jack, there is no sound in the upper toggle position and the bottom two positions sound exactly the same. That suggests to me that there's nothing wrong with the wiring to the pickups, but is there a clue to the problem here? Is there any possibility that the factory somehow wired both jacks (albeit in opposite configurations) for Ric-O-Sound and, if that happened, what would I need to do to restore the standard jack?

[BlueAngel]

It sounds like the problem is the switch in the Standard jack, not the pickup selector. This switch closes when you put a plug in the jack and is necessary to switch the guitar to 'mono'. If the contacts are dirty or not closing properly, you'll only get one pickup.

Have a look at the Standard jack - you may be able to see enough with just the pickguard off, or you may have to undo the jack and move it into the cavity. You should see a sprung contact with a nylon spacer on it that is pushed sideways by the tip of the plug and makes contact with another strip - check these are touching and the contact is clean. Sometimes dust bunnies or odd bits of loose wood or finish chips from the making of the instrument can get lodged in there and stop it working, I've come across that more than once.

[doctorwho]

In order to check that the ROS jack is working properly (i.e., both pickups have output), you'll need either a ROS box or a stereo cable.

It does indeed sound like a jack problem ... if the ROS jack is working properly, then it's the Standard jack.

[johnallg]

Here is what the standard jack looks like - the plastic nub arm and the arm it meets must be open when no plug in it and touching when a cable plug is in.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/cart.asp?vi ... lectronics

[sixtwentytwelve]

Thanks again -- I really appreciate the insights. I seem to have it narrowed down to the selector switch or the jack -- I will have to find some spare time to investigate further and figure out exactly where the problem is, but either way it sounds like there's a solution. This is a terrific board; very helpful!!!