Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hope you don't mind me re-opening this topic... my question is related.

The neck toaster pickup on my 1966 450/12 has died... I took the pickup to a guitar repair shop and they are telling me that there is a break in the coil winding. They are suggesting a rewind, with 44AWG wire - and have asked me "how many turns?"

I haven't a clue... any idea how many turns on a 1966 neck toaster pickup?

I asked them if it was not a case of winding so many, then checking the resistance... then winding more until that required resistance is achieved?

Forgive my ignorance in this subject... I just don't have a clue.

Trust your rewinding to no one else but Sérgio Silva here on this Forum! He knows exactly what number of turns is appropriate for a 1966, based on the equivalent DC resistance of the finished coil and the per-unit length resistance of the gauge wire used.

Thanks Elys..

I suppose that I should mention that I am living in England. I guess Sergio is in the USA?

I was kind of reluctant to post it, unless I have to - but if Sergio is the Man, I would be willing to do so.

Sergio is in Portugal I believe???

You should be aiming for about the same DC resistance as the new 7.4k scatterwound pickups. You could always just buy a new one, or have your old one rewound. If the pickup winder was very careful, they could unwind your pickup, count the winds, measure the wire gauge, and see what the insulation type is, so they can duplicate it as close as possible. I would bet Sergio would love to help you though.

Sérgio Silva <[email protected]>

He is really a great guy, Bruno, and yes he is in Lisbon Portugal. Quick and easy to mail your pickup to him, and totally trustworthy to take the best care of it. He is a custom manufacturer of pickups for Rickenbackers, as well. And he is the best in the business.

The only thing wrong with Sérgio at all is that he still refuses to sell me his Jacklyn, a vintage beauty 1970 4001 But someday, I know he will redeem himself and send her to me

You called?
Jaclyn? Sorry, but

Lisbon? Excellent! email coming your way, Sergio...

TY for the advice - guys!

Hey Elys, thanks for the endorsement hehe.
Well, you'll be sad to know that a few days back Jaclyn took a very nasty blow on the neck pickup, which dented the pickup cover badly, cracked the (non-original) pickguard, and killed the pickup. S**t does happen indeed. Which is why I'm looking for a toaster pickup cover. As for both the pickup and the pickguard, no problem - I'll make new ones.

Sergio's pickups rock.

Oh Sergio, you must stop beating Jacklyn like that! Whatever she has done, she must be forgiven and handled gently, always.

Maybe it is time to send her on a rest cure? She can come to the US, and I will nurse her back to health. I am sure that she is much more broken up about her beating that she allows you to see. Someone must help her pick up the pieces and put her life back together again. Her fractures and pain runs deep. I received this graphic plea for help from one of her sympathetic doctors just yesterday, as she lay unconscious in the hospital emergency room in Lisboa :

Hehe! Actually she was resting peacefully on her (open) hardshell case, when a heavy and pointy object fell off the top of an adjoining bookshelf and landed smack dab on her neck pickup. How unlucky can you get? At first I really feared for her er... structural integrity, but then found out there was no cause for concern in that department. Now all she needs is a new toaster cover, a new "toaster" pickup , and a new pickguard. Not a daunting task.

All joking aside, Sérgio, I am glad that her damage was not worse, and that you will be able to fix her. I am sorry for the loss of the original pickup cover and pickup, but no one will ever really notice that it is a replacement.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for the old girl

Elys, that means Sergio will sell Jaclyn to you for far less than originally planned. (Just keeping your dream alive!)

Yes, I can always dream..... ah, Jaclyn!

I once saw a display ad for a certain brand of guitar in a guitar shop in the mid-70s. Something about a really great musician being written up in a newspaper review as playing his guitar at the concert on stage as if he was making love to it, complete with a photo of him on stage playing the guitar. The next panel showed a morning-after photo of the same guy smoking a lit cigarette in bed, half-covered by a sheet, with his guitar on the other side of the bed, also covered halfway up the body with the sheet, also with a lit cigarette in the headstock between two strings. I nearly fell out on the floor right there laughing. I tried to buy it from the dealer but he wouldn't sell. He couldn't understand why I wanted the ad and not the guitar itself he was selling. I did not have the heart to tell him that it was because it was not a Rick

To quote Paul, "har!" haha. Actually, both the neck and the bridge pickup currently on Jaclyn are my own. The original ones are safely tucked away in a drawer.