Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So, does this make sense? I have 325V63JG H17446, i.e., August 1988. All original, not altered. The toaster pups have phillips screw heads. They do not sound hot, but instead, they sound clean, bright & clunky, IMO. With my little ohm meter connected to the jack, the 4 vol & tone maxed clockwise, and the 5th knob maxed (min'd) counterclockwise, I'm reading approx. 4.5k, 3.0k middle position, and 8.5k, in the 3 toggle positions. Are these pups about 8.5k ohms when you do the math? Ever hear of 8.5k toasters? Any thoughts?

They could have been unwound by a previous owner. That mod was popular before scatterwounds came out.

deaconblues wrote:They could have been unwound by a previous owner. That mod was popular before scatterwounds came out.

So, if they were not unwound from 12k and are indeed 8.5k, are 8.5k an odd ohms and should they be fairly clean but not as clean as 7.5k? Thanks!

They will be as clean, with just a hair more mids and the slightest hair less top end.

Yeah, if indeed this guitar's pups were not altered and my meter readings are correct, of which I'm 99.99% sure, then RIC DID issue this 1988 325V63JG with 8.5k ohm toaster pups!

Is putting an ohm meter across the jack, turning both tone & volume pots all the way up, turning the 5th knob all the way down, and flipping thru the toggle switch at least a fairly accurate way to get pups' ohm readings?

DavyR wrote:Is putting an ohm meter across the jack, turning both tone & volume pots all the way up, turning the 5th knob all the way down, and flipping thru the toggle switch at least a fairly accurate way to get pups' ohm readings?

Not really, due to the inline .0047 capacitor to the bridge pickup, and the loading of the entire circuit.

Since on Rickenbacker 300 series guitars it is so easy to pop the control plate, and the pickup can be isolated at the selector switch, it is better just to do that and be sure.

iiipopes wrote: Not really, due to the inline .0047 capacitor to the bridge pickup, and the loading of the entire circuit.

Does the v63 have that cap? I'm not sure that it does.

It probably does not, since the OP is getting a reading from the jack with the selector switch to bridge pickup position. That is confirmed by the factory schematic:
http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19512.pdf

Whether the particular guitar does or does not have the .0047 inline capacitor to the bridge pickup, the best way is still to pop the control plate and measure directly. Then you can isolate the pickups. Flip the selector switch to either down or up position and measure with the probe from the unengaged leaf at the lug where the hot lead of each pickup is soldered, and put the other probe to ground on the back or side of the pickup. This only works on RIC guitars, because most guitars have the selector switch wired in a different place in the circuit. With the switch "down," and measuring the two hot leads together for the mid and neck pickups, (OK - I'm not going to waste bandwidth for the full ohm's law calculation), the reading will be roughly one-half of the DC resistance of each of the middle & neck pickups. If you have to know each one individually, then the old way of unsoldering the hot lead from the lug, with one probe on the hot lead and grounding to the back of the pickup with the other probe is the only way to be sure. Don't have anything else magnetic near the pickup, or it will skew the reading, and don't overheat the pickup unsoldering the hot lead - a touch and off should be sufficient, with needle nosed pliers grasping the lead at the lug of the leaf on the selector switch and gradually working it loose with just a few seconds of heat applied.

If your measurements are through the jack, then the loading of the circuit will cause the pickups to read less than they actually are. So I'm thinking they are 12 kohm pickups that may have a few turns less.