Wishful thinking Lee wishful thinking.
Pickups For Banjo
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Hi all
So i got the Fishman Rare Earth Pickup yesterday and started to fit to my RK-75 and TBH at first all was easy until i came to mounting the Jack socket to the Flange as detailed in the documentation and i don’t know if its just the RK flange that has bigger hole/slots than others but the supplied plastic spacers just don’t sit over the hole right so starting to force the bracket in wards which then twists the bracket that the jack fits on
I eventually took them of and made some wooden spacers that are much better and keep the bracket in the right position to mount the jack.
The other issue now i’m faced with is when i put the resonator back on the screws on the underside of the bracket are catching the inside of the rims so i’m not sure if i should notch the resonator on the inside or will this affect the banjo should i ever sell it…
Also the soldering process is very tight and not sure if my eyes are up to it
It says on the box that its an easy install…lol
Any advice appreciated
Horrible vid here but maybe it helps
:
@Ben thats really helpful as its so much easier to see that to fit blind… i know i should have got a pro to do it as i now need to solder it up and the diagram only mention the White and Red wire and theres a black one as well…
Really appreciate your help… above and beyond
Thanks
Ok so here’s an update
I’ve now managed to get it all installed but it’s not working so I can only guess I’ve soldered the wires wrong
There are 3 wire… red, white and black
The documentation only says connect the red to the shortest terminal, the white to the longest and no mention of the black wire, which I’ve used as the ground
Any advice would be great thanks
Make sure you have a good solder connection and that none of your connections/solder are touching anywhere else and shorting. In the pic the red wire looks like a large piece of solder is hanging down. Maybe the angle, but check when you screw it up. There should be a plastic sleave or something that goes over the wires before the metal cover screws up too.
Hi Jono
Thanks for that.
A fried of mine had a look last night who’s an electrician and guitar enthusiast and he said all looks ok with the soldering but we could not get the pickup to work so I’m thinking it might just be a bad pickup they sent 
There’s no supplied plastic cover for the wiring
Thanks
Oh dear, that’s a shame. These things can happen. Surprised they didn’t put a little tube to go over the wires. That usually helps stop wires earthing on the casing. Hope you get an exchange for it.
True pal just hope the next one is working
Just a thought… Did you install the shim that goes between the bridge and the head?
Apparently reading somewhere else, there should be a thin metal strip that sits under the bridge that the pickup detects.
Yes pal I installed the shim
I went over every detail but still couldn’t get it to work
I don’t know how well it works in a band, but I use this pickup that this guy makes. In fact I have 2 and he actually makes a stereo one now for banjo that sits just under the bridge. No battery needed. I recorded this with the 2 pickups.
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Hi Jono
Ok thanks for that just not sure now if all I can get is a swap as I tried to install which void a full refund
Yes I see what you mean, but then how else would anyone find out they have a faulty item until they have wired it up.
Like you say, they should at the least exchange the item. For the price, I think they should come up with a design where no soldering is needed and the wire just clips onto the pickup instead.
I know pal I can’t understand why soldering is involved just bad design I guess
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Quick update…
All sorted now and working well and the wiring above is correct just a faulty part
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Glad you got it sorted mate.