Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi,

I'm new and glad to be here.

Last sunday I found a scruffy '76 azureglo 4001 on the fleymarket. I'm trying to restore it as good as I can and I think it will be a beauty. The original wiring was still there but has been rewired somehow. I put the wiring back to original. In the pickguard are 2 holes where the former owner had installed switches. As they were broken and the wiring didn't make any sense, I'm trying to fill the holes with new switches that make sense without having to destroy the original wiring.

The first switch could be an On/off-switch for the filter cap of the bridge pickup (the jumper will just be switchable and I won't have to harm the wiring)
Now I'm looking for a second possibility for a cool gimmick that can be installed as easy as the first.

Please help me to give the second switch a sense. Thank you all

Mich

P.S.: Yes, I'll post some pictures soon

Welcome, Mich!

The second switch can be a mute switch, useful at gigs, in particular. It would just ground the output signal, very simple to do.

Welcome and let's see pics!

You could also get a replacement made by Pickguardian. Send them the guard you have so he can replicate it (the mounting holes vary) and he can leave out the 2 extra holes. Another choice to consider.

Welcome to the forum, Mitch.

johnallg wrote:You could also get a replacement made by Pickguardian.

+1...personally I think the bass will be at its best if it's returned to stock.

Conversely, you could go wacky and put a humbucker in it and drop in a phase-reverse switch, just like a 481!

+1 mute switch: How would I wire it? A switch (What kind of switch, as it should wire 2 ins to 2 outs?) between the pots and the output socket harness or a on/off switch between the ground and the output socket harness?

+1 pickguard: I'll order the pickguard anyway, but as the Ricky was like this, with the 2 holes when I got it, it's a kind of classic mod (like a 50's Triumph Bonneville with a 60's M-Bar) and I'll keep it like this. The pickguard will be kept, in case I should sell the bass. But as long as I use it, the 2 switches will be handy.

Humbucker: No, thanks. Perhaps I'll do a horseshoe mod, but no hummie. It's a classic, no need for a "turbo boost".

Mich

This is how it looked, when I got it:





But now, not even one week later, it almost looks like new

Please notice the small switch next to the 3-way switch and the hole between the pots and the jackplate.

Well, one thing you could do is to put the .0047 inline cap on a mini switch to wire it in/bypass, like the new 4003 basses have the push-pull. The other hole could be used for a variety of things, but any hardware store should sell a metal or plastic push-in grommet plug that will be unobtrusive for less than a buck. This would be a lot cheaper than a new pickguard, give some usefulness to what is already there, letting it tell its own story, and you still have a functional, mostly original bass.

I'd use the hole down at the knobs for the inline cap switch rather than the one by the pickup selector switch, so you don't accidently flip it in the middle of a song. You should have a plug so nothing gets through to the wiring, and a white plastic plug will not be noticable.

metal plugs: http://www.stimpson.com/standardholePlugs.htm?col6=open
plastic plugs: http://www.alliance-express.com/barrel-plugs

iiipopes wrote:Well, one thing you could do is to put the .0047 inline cap on a mini switch to wire it in/bypass, like the new 4003 basses have the push-pull.

Hi Scott,

thanks for your reply.

As the cap is still on its original place I would like to leave it where it is and make an on/off-switched bypass wire. I've read somewhere about the possibility to simple bypass the cap with a wire, so I think the bypass should work with an on/off switch too.

I'd like to give the second hole a sense, so I don't think I'll put in a plug there. But thanks anyway for your good idea

Wow! You found a 4001 at a fleamarket! I wish we had fleamarkets like that around here.

Normally you don't find instruments like guitars and basses on the fleamarkets here in Luxembourg either. I just had loads of luck

soultan wrote: ...I would like to leave it where it is and make an on/off-switched bypass wire. I've read somewhere about the possibility to simple bypass the cap with a wire, so I think the bypass should work with an on/off switch too.

That is what the factory push pull switch does.

Nice find!

You could have switchable tone caps. I put such a switch on my P-bass and I like it (on that bass it switches between 0.047uF and 0.1uF). Or you could have the switch bypass the volume control on one of the pickups.

ken_j wrote:

soultan wrote: ...I would like to leave it where it is and make an on/off-switched bypass wire. I've read somewhere about the possibility to simple bypass the cap with a wire, so I think the bypass should work with an on/off switch too.

That is what the factory push pull switch does.

Aw, Ken -- you beat me to it!!! -- That's why I said in/bypass instead of in/out in my original post, and why I said like the new 4003 push-pull.

analogpackrat wrote:Nice find!

You could have switchable tone caps. I put such a switch on my P-bass and I like it (on that bass it switches between 0.047uF and 0.1uF). Or you could have the switch bypass the volume control on one of the pickups.

That is a good idea. I recently put a 0.1uF cap in my bass and like the results.

iiipopes wrote:

ken_j wrote:

soultan wrote: ...I would like to leave it where it is and make an on/off-switched bypass wire. I've read somewhere about the possibility to simple bypass the cap with a wire, so I think the bypass should work with an on/off switch too.

That is what the factory push pull switch does.

Aw, Ken -- you beat me to it!!! -- That's why I said in/bypass instead of in/out in my original post, and why I said like the new 4003 push-pull.

I knew what you meant. Quite a simple mod.