geofio Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 anyone had experience of a treble pick up suddenly not working on their rick?? you can hear it slightly but it is breaking up!! checked all the wiring all the outputs and 3 way switch all appear intact and working, checked underneath the pickup all wiring intact. never had a ric pickup die on me, been working on it for 5 hours now mentally drained any help appreciated guys. cheers George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudburst Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Strangely, one of the only Rickenbackers I've ever played had a very similar fault. It was a black one, secondhand and for sale at the time in CC Music, Glasgow. May be worth giving them a call. This would have been under a year ago, so they may remember the cause. CB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofio Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 cheers cloudburst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacker Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I reckon it's either the switch - crap design - or the cap after it has gone. Very much doubt it's the pup. Have you metered the pup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofio Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 if it was the capacitor would you still hear the pickup very quietly in the background??? dont have any meters taking it to a mate on monday who is an electronics wizard so will see how it goes , hope to hell it is a capicitor not the pup. costly £235!!!! cheers stacker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 The folks at the factory forum at rickenbacker.com or the enthusiasts' website rickresource.com can help you. In the meantime, If you take the hot lead of the pickup loose from the selector switch, you can multimeter the pickup to get a dc resistance reading to earth that will tell you if the pickup is good or bad. Assuming the pickup is good, a few years ago RIC had to change from the traditional lead & tin alloy solder to a different alloy to comply with California environmental regulations. In the transition, some of the solder joints didn't connect properly due to having to reevaluate compatable soldering irons and technique. Even Mr. JH admits there are a few "cold soldered" joints on some instruments that need to be resoldered: heat up the iron, put a small bit of flux on each joint, and heat each joint until the solder flows and resets shiny. If the OP is not confident doing that, then any good shop can do it reasonably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_Arlita Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Mine was doing something similar too, turned out to be a break in the winding. Got it rewound by Bareknuckle, good as new now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 (edited) [quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1362788037' post='2004973'] I reckon it's either the switch - crap design - or the cap after it has gone. Very much doubt it's the pup. Have you metered the pup? [/quote] I must absolutely disagree. The switches on Rickenbackers are the highest quality Switchcraft brand out there and available. It is exactly the same switch that is in countless thousands of both guitars and basses since Gibson put two pickups on guitars in the early 1950's, and has been adopted at one time or another by every serious manufacturer of guitars and basses since. That said, rough handling can bend the prongs, and occasionally the control plate will need to be taken off to adjust the prongs with small pliers, but that goes for any instrument that is treated like a rabid dog instead of a fine musical instrument. Edited March 15, 2013 by iiipopes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-R Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 i would also check it not the stereo output socket, it acts like a switch putting both pickups to the mono output. my friend had that on his jetglo 4003 and i changed the stereo socket and that worked, he never ever used the stereo output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofio Posted March 19, 2013 Author Share Posted March 19, 2013 the pickup was the problem installed a new pickup and back to sounding awesome. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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