Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

THAT is the question. My '72 4001LH is nearing the stage where I need to breathe life into the wiring, meaning a more 'factory look'.....

How many of you guys tackle this yourself?? Will I burn my house down??LOL I am thinking of doing it myself, getting a soldering iron and some good cloth-wrapped wire and apply where it's needed.

Or, should I leave it to someone else?? Any pointers from those who know??

Hey John, I don,t know what exactly your looking for, but there was a guy on e bay (I think the user name was largeal, out of L.A.)..that had a complete factory wiring harness/guard from a 72 bass a while back. It was around $150 if I remember correctly...anyone?

You can buy a whole new set of prewired pots and toggle switch from a Ric dealer ... I get mine from Mike Parks ...

http://www.the-music-connection.com/ric.htm

John,
If you still plan on trying it yourself, I would practise soldiering before you try it on your bass, you need to make the tab and wires themselves hot enough to melt the soldier so as to not have cold soldier joints (will come loose in no time, the soldier should flow onto the joint for a good connection) but if you apply heat for too long of a time you could damage components, it really is pretty simple though.
Oh, and make sure you can find a left handed soldiering iron.

I have been getting RIC parts and accessories from Jim Rhoads at Rhoads Music in Pennsylvania. He has the best prices I found and good service as well. RIC bass strings were only $20, guitar strings were $6. He gave me a discount on parts for my bass as well, about 20% off on Schaller strap locks. He is the first person I was go to for a wiring harness and he is an authorized dealer. I have ordered from him several times, and always got my order quickly.

You should have little trouble with a factory wiring harness, as most of the solder joints are already made for you. You should just have to solder the harness to the pickups, mount the pots, attach the control knobs, and play on.

Great replies everyone, keep'em coming.

What about capacitors? I would like to find the blue molded type; but y'know even without them the bass had a pretty bright sound.

My goal is to put it back correctly, and most(probably all) 4001's back then had caps wired in the harness.... What'cha think, guys??

They had an .047 uf. (.0047?) cap going from the middle lug on the treble tone control to the switch, I don't have one right in front of me now and can't remember where on the switch they go to, someone else?
One cap should sound pretty similar to another if it is within tolerance. All it is is a treble pass/bass cut component. There is no magic in there, the only way it changes the tone is to cut the bass and mid coming from the treble pickup (which actually has more mid and less bass already than the bass pickup because of it's location), which results in a scooped sound with both pickups on, all bass and treble, with much less mid. When you back off the bass pickup the sound is much thinner with it because the treble pickup will predominate depending on how much you back off the bass pickup, that is how you get that characteristic (sp?) Squire sound.
The Ric website also might have a schematic for old 4001's.
If you want to wait I can post it tomorrow. (I'm in an internet cafe here in Lima, no computer at home)

Actually all you have to do is look for where the middle lug of the treble tone control goes to the switch now (if there is no cap it will just be a wire with nothing else point to point) and put the cap there, it will go to the correct place on the switch, and I am pretty sure it is a .0047 uf. cap.

Right on, Bob. I was aware of the .0047 uf measurement, I was referring more as to who the vendor was at the time I know that Paul Yan's 4001 Fretless was made within about a month of my bass and his has the blue (ceramic?) molded caps.

I have a 72 4001FL that is I think two numbers off from Pauls, it was made the same month, but is in the USA right now, so sorry can't help you on that. What a coincidence, huh?

Speak of the DEVIL... here I am.
Yes my '72 MG Fretless is just 2 numbers after Bob's Jetglo baby. >>>Bob's: LL1756, mine: LL1758.<<<
(Hey Bob, lets see if LL1757 would show up on ebay someday.)

Bob's right on about the function of the .0047 mfd low cut (everything below 500Hz, I believe) cap. I believe it's between the toggle switch and the Treble Volume pot.

Here's the pic again, John. It's that little dark brown square thing between the 2 rectangular tone caps, closer to the lower one, in the picture. Its two "feet" connect the lower left lug of the toggle switch and the middle lug of the Treble Volume pot. Let me know if you want a larger image. I can email it to you.

John, what's the serial number of your '72 4001 LH?

Paul,
I think he wanted to know the brand of the cap, which I didn't realize either upon first reading. I wonder what the color is of the one between ours?

John,
BTW, If I remember correctly the caps in mine and Pauls were of a different color. I think mine are brown.

Man, there ain't no logo or marking on my .0047 cap. Can't tell what brand. Yes, it's brown, but very dark. I sent the above picture to Mr. Hall asking him if the caps were original and his answer was affirmative (they used whatever brand was available at the factory). I can't remember if I asked you this before: Are the two tone caps of your '72 rectangular too?

Speaking of coincidence, your $1250 initial bid on your '72 was exactly my bid (at the last minute) for my '72.