Anatomy Of A Rickenbacker Bass Part 6

[teeder]

I checked my '71, but no pencil marks.

[jps]

Dale did not start working at Rickenbacker till '72.

[ricosound]

Here you go John. One morning back in 1972, a bass that would one day belong to Paul Boyer found its way to Dale's workbench.

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ew, look at all the finish gunk on the truss rods and thrust plate. Do they even work?

[rickfan60]

That has all been cleaned up. The bass is beautiful these days.

[Mik]

I had removed the guard, and the swicth selected for treble, again128k.Same thing whit the center lead unsoldered.
I removed the treble p/u assy,and again all wires look ok

The toaster 7.2k is right on,so, i will check the wiring diagram,just to be sure,and look for a replacement p/u.

Any other idea?

Michel.

[johnallg]

It sure sounds like the coil of the treble higain is open. It could be as simple as taking some windings off the coil to find where it was pinched and broken, or more likely it needs a full rewind, in which case Sergio is your man. Good luck.

[Mik]

Thank's every one.
You've been very hepful.
I will get the treble p/u rewind.
My bass:73 4001,79 Precision P/J EMG,Washburn pro fretless, whit p/j, bass lines p/u.Jay Turser Musicman copy (tuned,BEAD) and a Gibson EB-0 66" medium scale".If i could help anyone in any way, it would be a honor for me.

[Heike]

This is the HS that came in my '85 V63

Interesting. These look like flat pole pieces whereas the HS VRI on my '02 C64 has staggered ones.

Btw, the info I had so far was that the HS VRI cover neither could nor should be removed. So how can it be done then?

Otherwise, as for my taste, the C64 version indeed does not sound too hot, for which I'm grateful. It is slightly overpowering the TT, though, which, however, can be easily emended by backing off its volume a little bit (which makes for a somewhat more of conventional sound). But then, I though that tad of overpowering was another contribution to that typical RIC sound -?

[rickfan60]

Click on the picture and you will see a larger version that shows the poles to be of different heights.

The link you provided points to the drawing of the Hi-gain assembly which is different from the horseshoe pickup. The horseshoe covers are easily removed by taking out the 4 screws that hold the pickup together from the bottom then reassembling the pickup without the shoes. I have not done this but you may have to use some washers to approximate the thickness of the shoe material so the screws fit properly.

The original (magnetic) horseshoe pickups overpower the neck pickups too.

[johnallg]

Heike, welcome! Remember, with an original horseshoe pickup, like in that PDF file you linked, the magnets are the shoes. With the RIHS, the 4 poles are magnetic rods and the shoes are not magnetized.

[Heike]

Thanks for the welcome!

Admittedly, I'm slightly confused... The PDF, at least in the version I've downloaded, contained two drawings: "Treble Pickup Assembly", which clearly is some version of the the hi-gain PU, and "Vintage Treble Pickup Assembly", of which I had liked to assume that it was some version of the Vintage Reissue HS. Alas, I there can't find the four screws with with the horseshoe was fixed to the "PU proper". I just hope they will be there, nevertheless.

Also, would the "PU proper" then fit a Pickguardian PU Plate + PU Guard?

But, of course, most importantly: as it has been said that there indeed will be some change in sound, in which direction will the sound be altered?

Well, as for the "intestines", in a RIC FAQ they got still more precise: "The vintage reissue bass pickups use tungsten steel 'horseshoes' as polepieces... like the originals ... coupled to ceramic magnets (instead of the tungsten being magnetized like the originals)."

[johnallg]

Reading that, I see your confusion!

Here it is - the pdf drawing shows the original (there called Vintage Treble Pickup) magnetic shoe pickup, used on the early 4000/4001 basses till mid 1968, and also a few of the first 4001V63 basses. The only magnets these pickups have are the shoes themselves, made out of tungsten steel. These shoes were also used on the Rickenbach(k)er and early Electro lap steel guitars too. Removing the magnetic shoes from these pickups will DRASTICALLY reduce the pickup output as there will be no magnets to the pickup anymore, just the residual magnetism left in the screws used for the poles.

The present horseshoe treble pickups used on the 4001V63, 4001CS, 4001C64, and 4001C64S basses have a different coil structure and non-magnetic shoes. These shoe's metal will not magnetize and can be bent, whereas the original magnetic shoes cannot be bent - they will snap! The present shoe'd treble pickup, called RIHS (Re-Issue HorseShoe) around the RRF, has 5/16" diameter alnico5 magnetic rods of two different lengths to provide the magnetism. Two short rods for the E and G strings, two longer rods for the A and D. Removing the shoes from a RIHS can be done with a slight (some say none) difference, but you will loose the shoes shielding capability.

In either pickup configuration, the coil is fixed to the shoes by two screws through the bottom plate. These screws pass through oversized holes in the shoes and into the coil form to hold it to the assembly. Then there are two more screws through the bottom plate to hold the shoes to the plate - these holes in the shoes are threaded.

For completeness, the bottom plates vary also - the original magnet shoe pickup's bottom plate is handmade from aluminum. The RIHS bottom plate is the same plastic plate like the higain pickups use.

Wire windings - the original magnet shoe coils measure from 5k to around 6.8k on an ohmmeter. The RIHS coils measure around 12k to 14k. I have a RIHS from a C64 that measures 11.9k and one on my V63 bass that is 14k.

I hope this clears it up for you Heike.

[Heike]

Thanks for the info, John. That indeed was very helpful

[RobRick]

Excellent info!

I have a 4000 bass from 1974, I love how it sounds. Is the high gain PU in that bass a typical one for that period, or did 4000 basses get a modified PU? Thanks.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

notice how handmade those aluminum mounting plates are ! not one are the same ! i prefer those to the plastic ones.