Pre-war and post-war Rickenbacker

joe long · From: San Antonio, Texas

What are the differences in the pre and post war Bakelites? Were there any 7 string post war bakelites? From what I have read, the post war bakelites had a smaller pickup. Is there a big difference between the 2 pickups. Thanks very much for the imput.

Rick Aiello · From: Berryville, VA USA

There are volumes written about this ... searching the archieves will yield hours of reading pleasure.

Some folks have very strong opinions on the topic ... so here's a non-opinionated "quick list" ...

The bakelite forumula apparently went through many changes ... phenol-formaldehyde is phenol-formaldehyde but additives and fillers changed .... to reduce the brittle nature of the polymer.

The oldest ones '35 & '36 were the most brittle.

String attachment changed ... bigtime. From string thru the body ... to tailpiece ... back to string thru the body.

The pickups have two basic parts ... the magnets and the bobbin.

Wire gauge, number of windings, etc seemed to be fairly consistant ... until the last years ... where smaller gauge wire was used. The average DC resistance is around 1.5 - 2.5 k ohms .... some of the last to be wound were in the 6 k ohm range.

The magnets varied wildly ... even though most folks don't realize it. There is alot more to them than their size.

Pre-War 1.5"ers actually are very inconsistant in their strength (I'm seein' more and more of that ... and keepin' records).

A strong pair (fully charged) can reach flux densities up to 210 gauss (mid gap ... probe sitting in-between the top and bottom flange ... at the mouth of the magnet).

I have had prewars that would only charge to a MAX of 120 gauss ... some 130 .... some 150 ... some 180.

As you can see ... not all prewar magnets are created equal ... certainly a function of the steel grade.

Post war 1.25"ers are much more consistant and stronger ... most charge to 220 - 230 gauss. I have yet to see any sub 200.

Again ... its a steel grade thing.

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