Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hmmm? Oh, sorry Peter, I was humming some McCartney thing or other...

Jsm610, I just saw the additions to this thread. If you noticed, I have the earlier "Type 1" circuit in my 331LS, but I can try to help you sort things out.

I have one of the Craig Brody transformer boxes:



(Note: I had to find and send him the DIN plug, and when he sent the "finished" unit to me, it had no fuse in it! Other than those glitches, the unit works fine.)

I can open the case up, take a picture, and post it for comparison. We can also check the output voltage at the DIN plug (assuming you have a VOM) and see how they compare.

Hi Gary, Thanks for your offer of help - I'll take you up on it.

Some things I've noticed from your post:

I don't have a fuse at all on my transformer. Some pictures:







Note that the wires/plug look 100 years old. Do you know if Craig added the fuse to his? Do I have the original transformer?

Also, I wondered why you needed to send the plug? Isn't it a standard MIDI plug? Pictures of mine:





I also got some advice to try Radio Shack part #
273-1511 (a 12.6V 3A transformer for $10.49) as a replacement. I would certainly be interested in what transformer is in yours...

Thanks in advance!

John, they sure look like an 1816 bulb to me. Go by a Napa or Carquest store and see if it matches up to one of yours. I would stick with the aluminum or stainless base rather than the brass base bulbs, they have a brass or golden color to them...less chance of corroding...

It's a standard 5 pin DIN plug John, but there are a few different configurations of those just to confuse the issue!

That DIN socket looks in bad need of replacement also. Any idea how many of the 5 pins are actually being used? I've never been a fan of DIN stuff - it's OK if it's not going to take any rough stuff. Wonder if you could replace it with cannon (mike) connectors - much more robust.

Only two pins are used (V+ and V-).

The fuse is meant to prevent the transformer from supplying excess voltage/current to the guitar's lights, if I remember the details correctly; this makes sense because the circuit in the guitar is "priceless", obviously, compared to a transformer.

I will try to open mine up and take some pictures in the next day or so.

I also have the DIN number of the plug somewhere ... I supplied one to Craig because he was unable to get them from his previous supplier for a reason I can't remember ...

Great, I'll look forward to what you find inside Gary. I think the general thinking is the Archer transformer in mine isn't original, so who knows if the voltage rating on it is what I should be using... I'm certainly going to want to put a fuse in there - so I'll be curious how it's wired.

I can't believe there isn't a schematic out there somewhere for these 331's - I've certainly looked. I'd also be interested in any info on what kind of 'book' came with the guitar - does anyone know?

Coming in late...

No owner's book for the 331 that I've heard of.

Can't say 100%, but I don't think that either your box or the Din plug setup is stock. The plug doesn't look a thing like any other 331 I've seen.

Going back to review the rest of the thread and see if there's anything else I can add...

I just picked up a series 1 lightshow - looking different again to Gary's and obviously John's. The transformer looks OLD with pat pending stamped on the casing. Original?? No fuse and a jack to mini jack goes from the transformer to the guitar. Original?? They certainly are a strange beast but are any two the same? ps as a guitar it plays really well and a great sound from the transition pick ups.

Hey Graham, how did you get your photos to go round the corner?

Here (finally) are the pictures of the inside of my transformer:



Graham, it is my opinion that yours is actually a Type 2, as the bulbs are not like mine (mine has a JH [!] date code, August 1970, which predates yours) and that it has been modified at least a little (the jack for the transformer should be a DIN jack like this:

Thanks Gary - mine has the bulbs with 2 pins at the base which push into the board. Do you know where I can source these from?

Sorry, I don't. You might try Newark Electronics' website and see if you can match it up with a currently available bulb. I think this link gets you to a 'bulb search' page:

http://www.newark.com/NewarkWebCommerce/newark/en_US/endecaSearch/searchPage2.jsp?x=2&OrgTT=bulb&newSearch=true&Nty=1&N=1000104+4&y=7&=gensearch&No=0&Ntt=bulb&Ntk=gensearch&comSearch=true

Thanks Gary