Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have a 5 wire HB1 pickup that I can't get an ohms reading from.
I've checked continuity on all wires from the ends to the pickup and they are all connected.
I have the blue and ground shield wires together. The black and clear wires together and the red as hot.

I measured mine some years ago. Each coil was around 7.5Kohms, 15K for the humbucker wired in series. Except for the coil that was open!

Yes. I concur. Most HB1 humbuckers are @ 15 kohms DC resistance. However, I have one in a custom P-style bass I made about 25 years ago that only measures 14 kohms, 7 kohms per coil. This has the effect of a little less midrange and a little better clarity. Link:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-diff ... ss.755914/

So I guess mine is dead.

Could be. I don't think we actually answered your question: yes, red is hot, black and clear tie the coils together for humbucking operation and blue with shield is ground. Have you tried taking the black and clear loose from each other to measure to see if one coil or the other will work. Granted, it is probably just a curiosity check because everything is encased in epoxy, but if you get a reading of between 7 and 7.5 kohms on one coil and either nothing, wobbling, or extra-high reading on the other coil that would confirm the pickup is dead.

iiipopes wrote: Fri Sep 19, 2025 9:59 am Could be. I don't think we actually answered your question: yes, red is hot, black and clear tie the coils together for humbucking operation and blue with shield is ground. Have you tried taking the black and clear loose from each other to measure to see if one coil or the other will work. Granted, it is probably just a curiosity check because everything is encased in epoxy, but if you get a reading of between 7 and 7.5 kohms on one coil and either nothing, wobbling, or extra-high reading on the other coil that would confirm the pickup is dead.

Maybe only mostly dead. Half dead? Undead!

Way back, when I got my 4004Cii, the bridge pickup was very thin and weak. Investigation showed that one of the coils was open. So I switched positions, putting the bad pickup in the neck position and wiring it for single coil operation. The new bridge pickup (the former neck pickup, which still works fine) I wired for single coil as well, but using the opposite coil, so the two work together as a humbucking pair, like a Jazz bass. Later, I added a push-pull switch to let the bridge pickup operate as a humbucker by itself.

iiipopes wrote: Wed Sep 17, 2025 10:33 am Yes. I concur. Most HB1 humbuckers are @ 15 kohms DC resistance. However, I have one in a custom P-style bass I made about 25 years ago that only measures 14 kohms, 7 kohms per coil. This has the effect of a little less midrange and a little better clarity. Link:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-diff ... ss.755914/

That pickup you have in that bass is probably one of the earlier HB1's. For my 1989 230, the HB2 (same pickup, different mount style) pickups are around 14.2k, and a later example I have is more like 15k. The slight amount of less wire on the earlier pickups is noticeable with more clarity, highs, and a little less mids, as you noted. A better sound in my opinion.