Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Don-I have a 360/12 that on occassion will not put out any sound through the bridge pick up. I've pulled the pickguards, and checked for bad connections, but everything is solid. The neck pick-up and combination of neck and bridge do work, but I inspected the pick-up selector switch and it seems to be operating properly, but can you advise on what I should be looking for? I do have a digital multimeter if it is needed. Thanks!***Mark

Mark: While we await Don's diagnosis, do you have a stereo output jack and if so, is it possible that you sometimes plug into it with a mono cord by mistake?

Or (worse) do you sometimes plug into the "top" Ric-O-Sound jack?

Gary: That is where I was going. Great minds think alike, or perhaps fools seldom differ.

Miguel-It's a possibility as I have not pulled the pick up out yet. The wire does feel as though it is solidly soldered, but maybe I should have a looksee to verify that. Thanks for the input guys!

Could be either something not working right with the jack or a wire touching another wire shorting it out. I have seen a few Ric's that the Stereo jack sometimes doesn't make contact right. A good dose of DeOxit D-5 contact restorer should do the trick for that but best to take it to someone who has alot of experience with Ric's to sort it out. another thing is sometimes the contacts on the switch can get weird and just need to be cleaned with the spray stuff or a bit of #600 wet or dry sandpaper between the the two tabs.

Oops.. forgot to add this..Sometimes the plating material Switchcraft uses is funky. The nickle plating turns weird. That stuff needs to be kept clean. The plating process they used starting after production was moved to Mexico in the mid eighties can be inconsistant.