Rickenbacker Bass Pickup Help Needed

dr bonkers

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My trusty 1980 Rickenbacker 4003 bass ( my first proper bass that I bought used in 1988) suddenly dropped to 1/2 the output level compared to both my other basses, whether switched on neck only, bridge only, or both pickup settings.

The pots test out to tolerance, so I know they are not the issue. The jack contacts test out fine, as does the pickup selector switch.

Since I am in NJ, who would you bring this to in order to diagnose and repair the pickups if the coil contacts oxidized or, egads, the pickups needed to be rewound? I heard this is a common issue for pickups of that era rather than the caps going bad.

I really don't want to have to pull the wiring harness with pickups and send it halfway across the country in case they get lost in the mail, since I know Rickenbacker parts are a small fortune and near unobtainium to get from Mr. Hall.
 
Call Lollar. www.lollarguitars.com

Hall sued Lollar a few years ago for making the Ricky horseshoe pickup reproductions. A design who's patent expired decades ago....

It wasn't a patent issue though. Hall had the gall to trademark the 3 dimensional design, including the horseshoes. Problem is, you can't trademark a functional aspect of a product... which the magnets (horseshoes) are.

Akin to trademarking the round shape of a wheel.

I don't work for Lollar. In fact, I'm a direct competitor of theirs. But Jason knows his Rick stuff pretty well, and he's a great guy.
 
I had a bass pickup just die...turned out to be broken wires somewhere in the coil. Just bought a new one and replaced.
 
I had a bass pickup just die...turned out to be broken wires somewhere in the coil. Just bought a new one and replaced.
Yeah, I really don't want to replace with an aftermarket pickup because the cult of Rick likes original and I loved the original sound.
 
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