Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well, I have sinned. The trouble with collecting Rick basses and playing maybe four gigs a year is that very little time is spent with any one instrument. Case in point, my beautiful BBR Cii, for which I waited more than three years. A few weeks ago, Jeff Hansen came over to re-possess his MG 4003, and took a stroll through the Rickenbacker National Forest. He really wanted to test drive the different models in the forest, and really liked the look of the BBR Cii. So we plugged it in, tuned it, and he proceeded to put it through its paces. "Huh," he grunted. "Neck pickup is dead." "What?" I asked. Sure enough, flipped the microswitch to the up position, and nothin'. I received the bass in January 2009, and probably put an hour or so on it, but never checked to see if everything was working. It's certainly not been dropped or anything, and I suspect the pickup was dead from the start.

I took it over to a fellow in town who helped me put together the 4-2-5 Cii, and he checked for any loose wires or failed solder joints. Everything checked out, and he said it must be the pickup because it's not the connections or the switch. He ran it through an amp, and noticed that with the amp turned up all the way, he could just barely hear signal from the neck pickup. Does that seem like a short? Break in the winding?

So, now what? I've had it more than a year, so are the mechanicals still under warranty? And if so, should I excise the pickup and send it in for replacement? Or do I have to return the entire instrument (and pay shipping both ways)? Should I go to my dealer (Northcoast) and see if he can fix it or advocate on my part?

Or should I send up the signal for SuperSergio?

Not the first I have seen. I replaced a pickup for Gary Wilkinson on his Lemmy that died a short while after he got it. The HB's are potted and I don't believe they are repairable. Personally I wouldn't ship it back for warranty due to the cost/risk factor. I would just spend the bucks on a new pickup.

Personally, I'd contact RIC customer service and ask them. As I understand it, the finish is warranted for 1 year, the rest for 5...

"Huh," he grunted. "Neck pickup is dead." "What?" I asked. Sure enough, flipped the microswitch to the up position, and nothin'.

So that's why it sounds so good!



I agree with Ken and CJ. Shipping it both ways would cost around the same as a new pickup (temporarily unavailable, of course...unless you bought a chrome-covered HB1 and swapped out the cover) but exposes you to the risks of the UPS Gorillas and the hassles of packing and sending.

Give Kenny a call and see what he thinks. Maybe you can just send in your pickup and RIC will swap it.

rickaddict wrote:

So that's why it sounds so good!

You speak the truth Mr. Tool. I love the sound of a soloed 4004cii bridge pickup - terrific mid-range bark!

Bummer about the pickup Paul, but it should be covered under warranty. Hopefully RIC will let you send back just the pickup for testing.

Other than the gold casing on this one ... am I to understand from looking in the Ric Boutique, that the HB1s are the same for both guitars and basses ? There are no tonal differences, ohms, winding capacity, etc. between guitar and bass versions ?

On other Ric pickups (High Gains, Toasters, etc.) aren't there differences in physical size and output for bass and guitar pickups ?

Same pickup, Rich.

86kubicki wrote: You speak the truth Mr. Tool.

Did you tech check the solder connections at the pickup? There are four solder pads under the foam surround on the pickup, maybe there is a shorted connection there.

jps wrote:Did your tech check the solder connections at the pickup? There are four solder pads under the foam surround on the pickup, maybe there is a shorted connection there.

Or open.