Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

i have to ask, could it be that the cover is made of plastic..?

It could be...

Welcome to the forum, Oren. Yes, the cover is chromed plastic.

Welcome to the forum, Oren.
The pickup cover is also copper flashed before it is chromed to help shield the treble pickup from noise.

Welcome onboard, Oren.

thats a relief, i started to think my bass could be a fake or something, cause i always thought those things were made of chrome metal.

thanks for the fast reply guys !

anoher question by the way, after i removed the cover i was surprised to find that the metal base that hold the pickup has some very sharp corners, so i put some tape around the edges.. maybe someone could offer a more creative solution..?

Pickguardian make a replacement cover that may be of use to you.

rickenbrother wrote:Welcome to the forum, Oren.
The pickup cover is also copper flashed before it is chromed to help shield the treble pickup from noise.

Yes, welcome to the forum!

Actually, the copper isn't there specifically for the shielding (though it and the other metals on the cover do this), it's mostly there so the plastic can be chrome plated. Chrome plating pretty much has to be done by electroplating, meaning the part to be plated has to conduct electricity, plastics aren't too good at this. So, to make the plastic conductive, you can do a vapor deposition of copper, then do a typical electroplate, often plating copper, then nickle, then the chrome. But that's probably more info than anyone really cares about...

-cj

Hi Oren, welcome!
What bass do you have?

But that's probably more info than anyone really cares about...

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orenso2 wrote:anoher question by the way, after i removed the cover i was surprised to find that the metal base that hold the pickup has some very sharp corners, so i put some tape around the edges.. maybe someone could offer a more creative solution..?

I rounded mine down with various grades of engineers' abrasive paper because the bass-side front corner would cut into the ball of my thumb whenever I got a bit enthusiastic with my slapping technique...

iamthebassman wrote:

But that's probably more info than anyone really cares about...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wake up, Ronn! Pay attention!

cjj wrote:

rickenbrother wrote:Welcome to the forum, Oren.
The pickup cover is also copper flashed before it is chromed to help shield the treble pickup from noise.

Yes, welcome to the forum!

Actually, the copper isn't there specifically for the shielding (though it and the other metals on the cover do this), it's mostly there so the plastic can be chrome plated. Chrome plating pretty much has to be done by electroplating, meaning the part to be plated has to conduct electricity, plastics aren't too good at this. So, to make the plastic conductive, you can do a vapor deposition of copper, then do a typical electroplate, often plating copper, then nickle, then the chrome. But that's probably more info than anyone really cares about...

-cj

What he said.......
also http://www.rickresource.com/phpBB3/view ... 4&t=379010