OMG! my bridge pickup is dead!!

[gibsonlp]

Hey guys.
Today my local luthier called me with grave news about my 72 4001 - the bridge pickup is not working anymore!

It is really strange as it worked fine all this time and a week ago it simply stopped working at a rehearsal, I came back home plugged the bass in and it worked fine, I touched it a little bit and it stopped working, this time for good.
I hoped it would be a simple disconnected wire, but from what my luther told me the pickup is dead (his ohm meter showed 1 when he connected it directly to the pickup as if it is not plugged it all) and it is probably something inside the pickup itself.

Any suggestions??? any way to fix it? does any of you guys happen to have a "spare" period correct pickup?
What year range should I look for? I mean - what is the latest 4001 pickup that will be with the same specs as my 72?

Thanks
Shocked and sad

[henry5]

Send it to Sergio!!!!

[gibsonlp]

Thanks, I should have thought about it myself

Sergio - I moved the topic to your forum, any recommendations? I love the original pickup sound, any chance of fixing it so I won't notice the difference?

[rickfan60]

It is very unusual for a RIC pickup to fail like that but it can happen. I don't know if that is 1 ohm or 1000 ohms but It could be a short in the coil. Rewinding may be required. Contact Sergio for advice.

[gibsonlp]

Thanks,
He said that it is not "0" that says there is a short, but 1 which is the same value you get when you don't connect the ohm-meter to anything.
I am not really an ohm-meter genius so I can't tell if his story makes any sense or not...

[chuck_king]

What you're describing is not a short, it's an open circuit---apparently, the pickup wire broke somewhere. If it's the wire inside the pickup, you're probably SOL, but if it's the connecting wiring or solder joints it might be salvageable.

It is very unusual for a RIC pickup to fail like that but it can happen.

I don't know about the "very unusual" part. I've had two pickups go bad out of eight Ricks I've owned over the years. One was an old one from a '76 4001---I got a replacement from Sergio. The other was in a brand new 660, only a few months old; it was replaced under warranty.

[rickfan60]

YMMV I guess. In over 30 years and about as many Ricks I have never had it happen. High Gains are not potted so the coil windings can move a bit. Over time the enamel can rub off causing a short. In the case of your 660 it was almost certainly a defect.

[soundmasterg]

The bridge pickup in my old '73 4001 was bad when I bought it. I sent it to Tom Jones from TV Jones and he rewound it and it sounded fantastic. I wanted to keep it when I sold the bass but the buyer insisted on it being in there.

That said, I'm sure Sergio could fix it....either by fixing the existing pickup or rewinding to spec. The number of turns can be counted, and new wire wound on to the same number of turns....takes some patience, but it can be done and the pickup will sound close to how it does now.

Greg

[s4001]

I had Lindy Fralin rebuild mine. It's smokin' now.

[rickfan60]

I had Lindy Fralin rebuild mine. It's smokin' now.

Smokin'? Jeez Scott, they're not supposed to do that. Maybe your amp is messed up. You are right Lindy does an excellent job. I had him do a 70's Fender pickup a few years ago. It was impossible to tell by looking that it was rewound. The work was impeccable.

[pflash4001]

Seymour Duncan did the neck pickup in my '79 4001. It turned out great!

[pflash4001]

Seymour Duncan did the neck pickup in my '79 4001. It turned out great!

[loendmaestro]

I had Lindy Fralin rebuild mine. It's smokin' now.

Same here! My '74 breathes fire now....

[rickcrazy]

Hmm... So many myths still surrounding old Rick pickups, I see... *Ahem!*

[gibsonlp]

Yesterday I finally took the bass to our rehearsal room, the "new" pickup sounds amazing!
Sergio - your job was top notch! Thank you very much!