Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi! I´m a proudly lefty Rickenbacker 4003 bass user from Spain, and I´m new user in this great forum too!

I bought the bass 2 months ago via internet, and I love it, but it has a problem:

- The output level from the bridge pickup is very low if I compare it with neck pickup level, I suppose that it isn´t normal, and my luthier says to me that the only solution is to change the pickup, he measured voltage of the bridge pickup and voltmeter read less than 100 mV, when neck pickup read around 250 mV (he didn´t measure impedance). What can be happenning with this pickup? Must I change the pickup? Bass is from factory...

- When I select pull position in push/pull vintage tone control pot, bridge pickup doesn´t sound. This is very rare for me and luthier says that electronics are good. Is this normal? (maybe a rhetorical question...)

I hope you can help me! Thanks and cheers for all!

Sounds like your bridge pickup is not wired right. It almost sounds like you only have the cap-in and the push pull sends the whole thing to ground or something.

I agree. No matter what the guitar tech says, your problem does not sound normal. Of course it is not normal for the pup to cut out when the tone pot is pulled. My bridge pup has always had less output in terms of volume, but I always thought that was due to the preceived volume since it's sound is thin compared to the neck pup.

Mine is the complete opposite, and I have already leveled the pups in terms of height as best as I can... can this be because my neck pup is a toaster? Sorry to digress...

Regarding your problem, go see another tech... that one is probably not seeing the problem (it doesn't mean he is not good, but that sometimes happens) It's like doctors and mechanics, if you are not happy with what they say, you can as well get a second opinion.

If this is straight from factory, did you buy it from someone in the US or via a spanish retailer? If the bass is new, you have a warranty, of course being in Spain makes things a little difficult to get it to the factory... but try to see if you can.

Cheers!

jc

First, welcome aboard Enrique! Congratulations on getting your first Rick.

As the others stated, the vintage switch being up and no sound from the bridge pickup is not right. The bridge being low compared to the neck is not usual either - usually the bridge is louder than the neck.

Here is a schematic of the 4003 - http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19507.pdf

What is not shown on that schematic is the Vintage Switch. See C3? The switch on the tone pot for the bridge pickup has two wires that short out the C3 .0047uF cap. Here is a poor drawing showing that:

http://www.geocities.com/johnallg/temp/ ... ap-Mod.jpg

The wires I talked of are the red ones going to the Treble Tone Switch.

SOMETHING is not right with your wiring.

thank you for your answers! and for schematics, they could be so useful for me!

I really love the bass, but I´m a little dissapointed with this problem...
So as some of you said, and my luthier doesn´t say, it´s sure that there is a problem with the wiring, but... is that problem the reason for the weak level from bridge pickup? Or is this low sound due to another problem, in bridge pickup windings? I´m thinking about buying another bridge pickup...

thanks again for all!

jc-sz wrote:Mine is the complete opposite, and I have already leveled the pups in terms of height as best as I can... can this be because my neck pup is a toaster? Sorry to digress...

Mine is the opposite of this too. But I have the stock Hi-Gains. A Toaster is much quieter than either a neck or a bridge Hi-Gain so yes, your Toaster should definitely be quieter.

hey guys, do you think is a good idea to mount an old bridge pickup (1973) from a 4001 on a 2008 Ric 4003?? thnx!

Look at the pole pieces on the 1973 pick up. Do they have screw tops(meaning you could adjust them with a screwdriver)? If so, the pickup has some collector's value. Not sure if the sound will be distinctly different and/or if it's what you are looking for.

PS - We always like pictures.. because:

1 - They are cool to look at and

2 - Forum folk can give better advice

Rock on!

arkada wrote:hey guys, do you think is a good idea to mount an old bridge pickup (1973) from a 4001 on a 2008 Ric 4003?? thnx!

Enrique, I do not think it is the bridge pickup, I think it is the wiring - my bet is the tone switch was added by someone before you bought it and it is not right.

As for the '73 bridge pickup, it will sound fantastic (I like 70s pickups best after a horseshoe bridge pup) but since I am sure you have a wiring problem it will not fix your problem. As Marc said, if the '73 has screws for poles (not button-head nails) it is worth a lot to collectors.