Some thoughts on Rick pickups and why they need to be rewound so often:
The arrival of a sad and dead Rickenbacker Hi Gain for rewinding yesterday prompted me to think again about the reasons why ... along with old Hofner pickups, I see more Rick pickups that have given up the ghost than just about any other brand.
Wow ... the rubber compound magnet was clearly drilled for the poles by someone with no jig and very thick glasses: uneven gaps, some pole screws touching the magnet, some not. I'll leave the evidence to your own eyes! Shocking.
Nasty, gunky LX tape that leaves sticky residue everywhere ... horrible.
Now we come to the reason why Rick pickups fail .... all this lovely, fine 46awg wire is fine ...
But it all has to come off ... even though it's perfectly healthy ...
Because the coil start wire is soldered directly to a crudely sliced off machine screw driven through the bobbin ... no strain relief at all for the fine wire ... if that screw moves in the pickups life ... it's almost certain to snap the hair thin winding wire! This is what has happened yet again in this pickup's case.
My solution is to solder a short 'pigtail' of insulated wire to the screw ... then separately wrap and solder the fine winding wire to it, taping the 'pigtail to the bobbin in such a way that there is 'give' should the screw move slightly, or the pickup get a blow.
Then the pickup is rewound .... I had to make a special jig to mount the bobbin as the glue used to fix magnet had 'infected' the pole screws and they wouldn't budge. Even with the correct allen key there was a real risk of stripping in the the bolt head. I could have dropped a soldering iron onto them for a few seconds to see if some heat would loosen them ... but with the plastic bobbin it's a tricky job. I figured the heights were set at the rick factory so they should be okay.
... and finally reassembled
Is it just me, or is it ironic that Rickenbacker are legendary for pursuing small pickup makers who dare to try and make replacements, or products that resemble Rickenbacker ... yet their own design and workmanship keeps us in a steady stream of rewinding business?
They seem strangely reluctant to go after the Chinese copyists however ...
Still another Rick pickup lives again ...
Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ...
Oil City Pickups ...
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That's very fine wire indeed!
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
Your question might be answered sooner if you post it in this other thread.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/149931/ash-at-oil-city-answers-pickup-questions#latest
Not easy at all in a Rick pickup: The magnets are large, and rubberised ceramic, drilled to take the poles in some instances. In recent years they have also been superglued to the bobbin base (sometimes crookedly) so are impossible to remove without destroying them.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog