Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

First Bass I have ever bought online and of course It has a problem. I am hoping some of you can advise me. So after several hours of acclimating i open the case. Looks beautiful. I take it out of the case and pluck a string and klunk the Bridge pickup is loose.. and I mean really loose. So I start to dismantle and this is what I see
The plastic/bakelite??? housing is broken on one side and there are two pieces in the rout of the Bridge pickup
Some more pics
The pieces that broke off
So How am I going to fix this? What is the base of the pickup made from? Can it be glued/welded/expoxied? I will post another two pics after this one.

The Pickguard has a crack but other than this the bass is pretty clean. I love how the lacquer has checkered.
And finally the jackplate

That's messed up! Weren't there 4 screws holding the pickup assembly onto the body?

You can get the screws and the bakelite pickup mounting plate from RIC.

mr barty. i have a plate if you can't get one from RIC. mine had separate stand offs not molded into the plate.

Brian, I may be able to help you out with the same part as is broken. I'll check when I get home. Let me know.

I wonder why they have the washer and nut on the bottom side....

rickenbrother wrote:That's messed up! Weren't there 4 screws holding the pickup assembly onto the body?

You can get the screws and the bakelite pickup mounting plate from RIC.

Thanks for the reply Joey. Yes there were the four screws but interestingly enough the nut and washer from the other side are missing so I think the guy must have known about this but of course never mentioned it.

Ron and John thanks also for your replies. I will be in touch.

I don't think that the mounting plate is Bakelite, Joey. I believe it's styrene or ABS. If so, it's repairable with super glue or a solvent-type cement like Weld-On 3.

I never tested it, but my impression was that it was a thermoplastic...could be wrong, of course.

yes, "blue man" ! hard plastyk it is.

bartyclue wrote:Thanks for the reply Joey. Yes there were the four screws but interestingly enough the nut and washer from the other side are missing so I think the guy must have known about this but of course never mentioned it.

Okay, I get it. It was the pickup loose in the assembly, not the whole assembly attached to the body. An easy fix, but it's something he should have been straight forward with you about.

bartyclue wrote: ... interestingly enough the nut and washer from the other side are missing so I think the guy must have known about this but of course never mentioned it.

These pickup mounting plates didn't come from the factory with a separate washer and nut on the ends. The holes in the end of the plastic plate are made with threads in them, which the big adjustment screws anchor into. At some point, someone must have stripped out the threads on the one side and then repaired it with the nut and washer.

At this point, that plate is so trashed, I'd just replace it. Glue it and it will probably explode at your next big gig.

I'm sure the thing would cost $15 or less from RIC...Or you could take advantage of one of the offers made above.

thermoplastic...

Correct. I would try super glue first.

An eBay transaction? A discount/partial refund could be negotiated with the seller. Some sellers will opt for the discount to keep their feedback perfect. If the seller balks, your options are to keep it as-is, and post appropriate feedback, or send it back for full refund if you feel you were really ripped off. (Return freight will be on your dime, sometimes eBay helps out, sometimes not.)

rickenbrother wrote:

bartyclue wrote:Thanks for the reply Joey. Yes there were the four screws but interestingly enough the nut and washer from the other side are missing so I think the guy must have known about this but of course never mentioned it.

Okay, I get it. It was the pickup loose in the assembly, not the whole assembly attached to the body. An easy fix, but it's something he should have been straight forward with you about.

One would think so... the older I get though, the less I am surprised by what people are capable of, or their actions. Long and short of it is, this is going to be fixed and I am mostly happy with the bass (Although I have not played it yet, which was all I was thinking about for the last 10 days or so ) but it is kind of a drag that it isn't "original" any more. Its my understanding this was a "working" bass and not a treasured collectible.

bartyclue wrote: One would think so... the older I get though, the less I am surprised by what people are capable of, or their actions. Long and short of it is, this is going to be fixed and I am mostly happy with the bass (Although I have not played it yet, which was all I was thinking about for the last 10 days or so ) but it is kind of a drag that it isn't "original" any more. Its my understanding this was a "working" bass and not a treasured collectible.

Okay...Sorry to keep injecting my opinion in here, but...I don't think the seller can be accused of any wrongdoing. At some point, someone repaired the stripped threads on the back plate with a nut and washer. It could have been done before your seller owned the bass. He/She might have owned it for years and never known about the repair. Then your seller sent it to you and the other side of the plate was damaged in transit. It happens. Its a common thing to break, because when the bass is resting in its case on the front side most of the weight of the body of the bass falls on the horseshoes which (obviously) are screwed to the plastic plate.

The other point I'd like to make is...these pickup backing plates were made pretty much the same for many years, and I'm pretty sure that they were identical for a CS bass, V63, or 4003. Finding and replacing the pickup mounting plate will be simple, inexpensive, and nobody will ever know that it's not the original plate.