Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just installed 2 brand new higain pickups - bridge and neck.

The bridge pup is very quiet compared to the neck.
VERY quiet, maybe half the volume.
The neck pup is loud, biting, and growly.
The bridge pup is dull and sort of indistinct.

The wiring is a Ric harness but I had to re-do part of it because according to the diagrams I have part of it was wrong when the previous owner wired in his pickups. I have the harness with the push pull vintage circuit, but converted to a mono output only.

Is this how the new bridge pups sound?

What should I check first as far as my wiring?
I think I have all good solders, and I believe the wiring is correct.
Could it be the treble volume pot?
How do I test that?

Will de-soldering and re-soldering again harm the pots?

Another thing...

When the selector is in the neck position the volume is higher than when in the center..and much much louder than when in the treble position...

And I'm not sure, but it seems like when I have the selector in the middle position with volumes dimed, and I roll back the treble volume it seems like the volume actually INCREASES slightly...

Is it possible that a bad pot or a bad solder is sucking up power until I roll back that pot?

I need your help!

THANKS!

Unlikely. It is, however, likely that you messed up the wiring and you could be running into phase issues. I would firstly check pickup height... eg: raise the bridge pup. If that doesn't work, come back here.

Thanks for your input - - but the bridge pup is just about touching the strings at this point.

As far as phasing I have both pups wired the same way - the hot lead to the selector switch and the ground lead to the pot housings...

Good closeup pictures of the controls would help too. Oh, and welcome to the RRF!

I am going by diagrams found at Joey's Bassnotes...can you suggest a better source? THANKS

Welcome to the forum, Wayne. I also think would help if you could post some good close up pictures. I'm wondering if you have the .0047mf capacitor (not the .047mf) in the wiring.

I do have that cap, but also the push pull tone pot, which I thought was to bypass (push, for "modern" sound) or pull (for "vintage" sound, through the cap).

I am incorrect? Should I shunt that cap? But then what is the push pull tone pot for?

Does the volume and bass tone change when you push/pull the pot?

No. the push pull seems to do nothing when its pulled, SLIGHT tone change when turned...

Post some pics, that's the best way we can help you.

I agree, something is not wired correctly, sounds to me. The controls should not act the way you are describing.

BTW, the tone switch shorts out the .0047uF cap in series with the bridge pickup. Cap in, more trebly sound - cap out, noticeably more bass.

What are you using to monitor the bass? The tone cap cuts out tons of bass, you should be able to hear it if its working.

I had the same problem. It's def wiring related. Maybe a wire is touching something it shouldnt. a buddy looked mine over using the joey notes diagram and re-soldered everything nicely. Now the switch is nice and loud in the center position.
Also, maybe your pickup is bad. I just got a vintage neck pickup from rickenbacker and it was super low. Pretty much dead. Used an ohm meter, u might want to check ur pickups.

Thanks for all the reponses.

I have checked, checked, and checked the wiring and I'm pretty satisfied that it's ok.

I have a brand new high-gain bridge pickup from Pick of the Ricks., what ohm reading should I have?

11.4k ohms, plus or minus. Again, pictures are worth a THOUSAND words...