Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

ok so a while back 6 maybe 7 years ago i removed the cap on my 83 4003 and every other Rick I've had since then. I'm playing it today and switched to the bridge pickup and notice a significant drop in volume and power. Even when i plug into the stereo jack its not as loud as it used to be. What has happened and how do i fix it?

anyone? anyone?

Check and clean/realign the jack contacts/switch.

either a wire/pickup short or loose connection/bad cable ? is the neck pickup muck louder ? did you use a straight wire to replace the cap or jumper to short the cap out ?

Based just on the description I really can't say--like Jeff and Ron have suggested, do a thorough search of the passive components and think about what you're plugging into. If you have the patience, sometimes it's best to trace the path of the electrons from the hot pickup lead to the output jack and see if anything is oxidized or making contact with something else. You may also want to test the magnetic strength and the resistance measurement of the pickup itself and see if either is less than you expect.

jps wrote:Check and clean/realign the jack contacts/switch.

As well, check the contacts of the pickup selector switch.

hey guys yes the neck pickup is significantly more powerful than my bridge pickup right now. I used a straight wire as a bypass and completely removed the cap. everything looks normal under there, so I can only imagine that the pickup itself is losing its magnetic strength. Is that common in a 27 year old bass?

Sometimes but that sounds pretty excessive. Did you check/clean the jacks and switches, yet?

yeah like I said, everything is normal in there. Guess its time to update my pickups =(

It is more that "everything looks normal; did you actually clean and/or bend the contacts?

well yeah thats what i meant Jeff. It sounds as if the cap was reinstalled.

I would make sure the wire you bypassed the cap with is still soldered in place and not a cold solder joint. Also, I am assuming you have played with pickup heights already. Yeah, I know....

yeah I check that as well. I'm either going to rewire everything and shield the cavity while I'm at it, or replace the pots, switch and pick ups as well. its due for an update anyway. But there is something definitely going wrong there. For the time being I'm going to just play my hofner until I can afford the repairs

Try bypassing the harness and wire the suspect pickup directly to the output.