Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well some say you bypass it for better(?) tone, others say you remove it. Bypass = short circuit, Remove = open circuit. Which is it?

remove = take it out and put a wire in its place.

bypass = run a wire parallel to it and the electricity will go through the wire because it has less resistance.

both yield the same result.

I see, remove and replace with a link. I thought some people were saying remove and leave open circuit. (A capacitor doesn't have any resistance though, it is a storage device).

Referencing this schematic (http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19507.pdf) it's C3 we're talking about, correct?

If so then removing it entirely would open circuit the treble volume path and cause it to be inoperable.

You're not wrong Alan.

A capacitor doesn't have any resistance though, it is a storage device

Don't want to step on any toes, but I feel the need for a clarification. A capacitor blocks DC, but has a reactance which is a inversely proportional to the frequency of the signal passing through it. Reactance, which is a component of a devices impedance, can be thought of as AC resistance. A capacitors "storage" function is generally something that comes into play when filtering a power supply. In a tone control circuit, it is more likely acting as a steering circuit, allowing higher frequency to pass easier, while lower frequencies are attenuated.

So we were all right or wrong depending on how you look at it!

Peter; The easiest way to bypass the cap, is to wrap a wire around both ends of the cap, a tiny bit of solder, or if you do not want to muck it up with solder, wrap it very tightly as Kevin does, and you will hear more bottom end from the horse, I did it with my c64-4001 and that horse has tons of bottom, although, I'd like to have the new switch, which would be cap in or cap out, I think I might want to use the cap as an option when I use the horse with the toaster as sometimes I think that with the cap bypassed and I'm using the toaster with the horse, I can't get rid of enough bottom...hope this helps...R

"You're not wrong Alan"

Do you speak from experience?

and if you have bypassed the capacitor try this:
bridge pickup only, then turn back the volume pot to about 70-80% and
turn the tone pot almost to cut.
Is this a nice deep sound? But never muddy...

Sorry, forget about my last post, I made a bad mistake. All rubbish! It is probably not a nice deep sound,
because the tone circuity is in parallel to the pickup and not in parallel to the output.
Like it is in my Hofner "Shorty" bass.
Sorry,
Wolfgang

I had to have my 4001 rewired anyway, so I had it done to spec but without the cap. My 4080 I'd rather keep original, so I tightly twisted a short jumper wire around both leads of the cap itself.

HUGE difference.

A fast & easy solution, also fast & easy to remove.
Of course, the best thing would be to have the new tone switch so you can really note the difference.