Sometimes I think I should just give up

[nukebass]

So, last year, I decided I was going to put a humbucker in my 4001 (I had a thread on it and posted some pictures and stuff) only to find that the used humbucker I bought wasn't humbucking, but a single coil. Having tried a few things, like disconnecting some of the wires and such and learning that the pickups are sealed, I gave up and bought a new one. Everything was good with that one. More recently, I measured one of the humbuckers on my 4004 and found that it was a single coil, too. Being under warranty, I sent it back to RIC and they fixed it up and sent it back to me. The repair slip said something to the effect of fixed the lead wires. I had assumed it was an internal short like I assumed my used pickup had so I thought about emailing and asking what they did. I got lazy and didn't ask and then the more recent HB thread popped up where John Hall describes how these pickups were made. So, of course, I begin to wonder how anything could be wrong internally and pull out the old used "single coil" pickup. At this point, the ground wire and the #1 wire (black) are hanging loose off of the pickup (part of my earlier troubleshooting process). Looking at it again I notice a small string of something going from the #1 glob of solder to the pickup surround. It may have been flux or something. I'm not sure, but I scratched it off. Then I decide to test it again and use a clothespin to force the clear and red wires together (everything was separated for my split coil mod) while forcing the blue and ground wires to ground. Yep, measured 15.1 kOhms. Dang it!!!!! Now I have a perfectly good HB pickup (well, if you consider the butchered wiring) that I have no use for. I figure I should sell it, but then I get to thinking that my 4001 toaster has been noisy (even before the mods I did, but the mods don't help any-except the humbucker) and maybe I should stick a humbucker in the neck. Now I don't know what to do...

I should probably just quit messing with soldering!!

[johnallg]

So, last year, I decided I was going to put a humbucker in my 4001 (I had a thread on it and posted some pictures and stuff) only to find that the used humbucker I bought wasn't humbucking, but a single coil. Having tried a few things, like disconnecting some of the wires and such and learning that the pickups are sealed, I gave up and bought a new one. Everything was good with that one. More recently, I measured one of the humbuckers on my 4004 and found that it was a single coil, too. Being under warranty, I sent it back to RIC and they fixed it up and sent it back to me. The repair slip said something to the effect of fixed the lead wires. I had assumed it was an internal short like I assumed my used pickup had so I thought about emailing and asking what they did. I got lazy and didn't ask and then the more recent HB thread popped up where John Hall describes how these pickups were made. So, of course, I begin to wonder how anything could be wrong internally and pull out the old used "single coil" pickup. At this point, the ground wire and the #1 wire (black) are hanging loose off of the pickup (part of my earlier troubleshooting process). Looking at it again I notice a small string of something going from the #1 glob of solder to the pickup surround. It may have been flux or something. I'm not sure, but I scratched it off. Then I decide to test it again and use a clothespin to force the clear and red wires together (everything was separated for my split coil mod) while forcing the blue and ground wires to ground. Yep, measured 15.1 kOhms. Dang it!!!!! Now I have a perfectly good HB pickup (well, if you consider the butchered wiring) that I have no use for. I figure I should sell it, but then I get to thinking that my 4001 toaster has been noisy (even before the mods I did, but the mods don't help any-except the humbucker) and maybe I should stick a humbucker in the neck. Now I don't know what to do...

I should probably just quit messing with soldering!!

If you do it, you could also change the volume pots to be the push/pull switch kind and run wires to where the black/clear wires are joined and floating and also ground and with the switch turn the humbuckers into single coils with a pull of the switch.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19521-HB1%20Wiring.pdf

[nukebass]

I have that on the humbucker I put in my bridge pickup. That's how I found the single coil problem in the first place. The sound was the same pushed and pulled! Standard push pull pots are nearly too big for the control cavity, though, so I'd probably just go with a standard pot.

[aceonbass]

Ryan.....If your adding an HB1 to your 4001, be sure to reverse the red and blue wires or it will be out of phase with the other pickup when both are on. Also, the volume pot and tone cap are not optimal in a 4001 for a humbucking pickup. Push-pull pots (if you remove the ground tab on the bottom)are about 1 1/32 tall, so you may have enough room.

[nukebass]

I hadn't thought about the phasing issue. Is the HB now out of phase with the toaster I have installed? I usually don't use them both at the same time so haven't really paid much attention. I had to cut the grounding tab off of the push pull switch I have now and it still barely fits. My current wiring job isn't exactly neat

[aceonbass]

Yes Ryan. Your HB1 is out of phase with your toaster.

[nukebass]

Well, if I have to open it up anyway to fix that...