Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Archer is an RS brand. The mounting screws look too long, too. Should be an easy replacement, but don't count on a genuine Rick transformer! You don't want to fry the circuit boards, so go carefully here.

Hopefully a member with one of these will chime in and offer some advice. I agree with Paul - IMO this is very thin ice here!

Oh no. We gotta get that Lightshow working. Best of luck to you John. And if you cannot get it to work and just want to "unload" it, I got a nice crisp $100 bill here!

Vulture!!

John, can you post a pic of a bulb and it's base?

The bulbs look like the size of a auto bulb, industry number 1816. If I can see the whole bulb, I might be able to verify this..

Here are some bulb pictures John:

Some more questions/requests:
- Does anyone have a schematic for the guitar or the transformer? How do the pin-outs map to power?
- Is the power-cable a 'standard' MIDI plug?
- Would someone take a picture of their transformer and post it here?
- Now I get 'bright' lights for about 5 minutes, then 'dim' lights and the transformer box hums. The hum only sounds when the lights should be on (in sync with your playing). Does anyone know if this is a sign of a transformer issue? It seems like if I cut power to the transformer for a couple of minutes and then turn it on again I get bright lights again...
- I seem to no longer get the blue lights to illuminate at all, but they worked yesterday...
- I looked at Radio Shack for a surface mount transformer, but they didn't have the right specs - anyone know a good place with a good selection of transformers?



Where's the 331-doctor when you need him most...

On the golf course, of course!!

Those are car bulbs.

There are a number of online sources for transformers. Let your fingers do the googling.

Craig Brody has transformers.............Reproductions of transformer boxes for Rickenbacker 331 "Lightshow" guitars are available by special order. Please e-mail or call for more details...$650. I think JH mentioned in the past, that these were a bit expensive for what they are?

I saw that Craig sells them. I'm thinking a new transformer is around $30... So $650 sounds steep. Plus I'm not even sure that the transformer is the problem.

The guitar worked fine last nite for about 40 minutes... It was getting hot so I stopped playing... More troubleshooting to come.

There must be someone who has worked on these or has had someone work on one?

John: Are the lights always on while playing? As you are making a bit of a modification to the electrics of this guitar, why not put in a switch (push/pull) that will turn the light circuit on or off. This guitar is cool looking, lights or not.

Peter: The lights can be on or off. The 'extra knob', when turned all the way 'off' cuts the lights. I haven't figured out if it also cuts the heat... More playing needed! I had thought the heat was from the bulbs, but it comes from a metal 'thing' that is under the pickups, you can feel it through the back... This would be a good guitar for a winter show.

My new theory is that the guitar works fine if the transformer 'warms up' for say 10-15 minutes. Does this make any sense? Do transformers 'warm up'?

Transformers do indeed warm up, but this should not affect performance in any noticeable way, either positively or negatively. There is not a lot to go wrong with a transformer unless it is subjected to overloads. Overheating will destroy the lacquer or epoxy coating on the winding wire and cause a short, which can be intermittent but not too often is.

We don't know if this Archer transformer is even the correct replacement. I'd start there.

BTW, I heated up pretty well when I saw that $650.00 price tag. This is not rocket science. Seems to be a case of "what the traffic will bear". Perhaps Craig can comment on this if he reads this.

Well you know what they say Paul, "Transformers, more than meets the eye."