Richwood PB copy

[Notfot]

Hi all

i am a brand new member of the forum, just purchased my second bass guitar, purchased as a 3/4 as I wanted a precision but with a shorter more manageable scale length.

anyway I’ll  cut to the chase, I purchased the attached Richwood bass complete with stagg hard case for the reasonable price of £100, the bass plays well now has the chunky p bass neck, is a decent weight and sounds pretty good to my ears baring in mind my limited skill.

the pickup is a bit weedy and the tone control does absolutely nothing, I’m going to change it which is my first question can anyone recommend a suitable replacement?

also I purchased the bass as a 3/4 but it does appear to be a full scale rather than 30”, I notice it has the correct headstock which attracted me in the first place, would this be classed as a pre lawsuit model, I have no idea how old this thing is so any info would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance IMG_9898.HEIC

IMG_9899.HEIC IMG_9898.HEIC

Edited July 4, 2021 by Notfot

[jezzaboy]

There are loads of different P pickups at various prices. Good budget ones are Wilkinson, Entwistle or Tonerider.

If your tone knob is doing nothing, a new wiring loom from @KiOgon of this forum would do the bass a world of good. Great products and value.

Lawsuit models are a bit of a myth from back when certain Japanese/Asian makers were asked to stop doing direct copies of Fenders and Gibsons. But I don`t know anything about Richwood, maybe a UK importer who bought some Asian copies?

[Notfot]

Thanks for your input, I have now ordered a new tone pot and volume pot, I am also going to change the original capacitor, I have a little knowledge of electronics and audio so I’ll start there, my next upgrade will hopefully be a reasonable prices s/h pickup 

[Reggaebass]

I upgraded one of my precision’s with Tonerider pickups , it really made a big difference, they are great value for money 

[Notfot]

Thanks I will check them out 

[Geek99]

56 minutes ago, Notfot said:

Thanks for your input, I have now ordered a new tone pot and volume pot, I am also going to change the original capacitor, I have a little knowledge of electronics and audio so I’ll start there, my next upgrade will hopefully be a reasonable prices s/h pickup 

I’d have bought a no-load tone pot from fender. At 10 the tone control drops out and gives you undiluted pickup 

[Geek99]

Consider also “blues tribute” pickups on eBay; little known but very very good 

[Waddo Soqable]

That's a cool little bass you got there, not bad for the money inc a hard case ... Maida Vale PUs are another good one to consider, it's a guy from the UK who makes and sells them on ebay, they're only about £30

Edited July 4, 2021 by Waddo Soqable

[Notfot]

Yes I did see those on eBay and actually asked the guy who sells them how they compare to Seymour Duncan quarter pounders, to be honest he didn’t really sell them to me which I thought was a little strange 

[hooky_lowdown]

If you want the SD quarter pounder sound, Entwistle Neodymium pickups are what you want, under £30 new.

[Waddo Soqable]

3 hours ago, Notfot said:

Yes I did see those on eBay and actually asked the guy who sells them how they compare to Seymour Duncan quarter pounders, to be honest he didn’t really sell them to me which I thought was a little strange 

Yes well some people don't "hard sell" i think he's just a guy who makes them !.. I have a set and think they're a decent PU, but Seymour Dunc.  are very much a "known quantity" and if they're about the same price as Hooky says, you can't go far wrong grabbing a set of SD, they'll certainly be an improvement on the ones supplied in your bass I'd think !

[Notfot]

Right so I have now got the new tone pot and also a volume pot, I thought may as well replace both all done in an hour or so but low and behold the tone is brilliant lots of adjustment no issues at all, the volume unfortunately works but in reverse ie I turn the volume down and the bass gets louder I turn it up and we get quiet, I have followed the instructions and also copied the pots I have replaced, any ideas what my mistake is ? 

[Waddo Soqable]

2 minutes ago, Notfot said:

Right so I have now got the new tone pot and also a volume pot, I thought may as well replace both all done in an hour or so but low and behold the tone is brilliant lots of adjustment no issues at all, the volume unfortunately works but in reverse ie I turn the volume down and the bass gets louder I turn it up and we get quiet, I have followed the instructions and also copied the pots I have replaced, any ideas what my mistake is ? 

I'd assume it'd just be a case of swapping a couple of wires over, sounds like they're simply the wrong way round ??

[Geek99]

Lots of people on here know the answer to this - why not upload a photo to assist them ?

[hooky_lowdown]

2 hours ago, Notfot said:

Right so I have now got the new tone pot and also a volume pot, I thought may as well replace both all done in an hour or so but low and behold the tone is brilliant lots of adjustment no issues at all, the volume unfortunately works but in reverse ie I turn the volume down and the bass gets louder I turn it up and we get quiet, I have followed the instructions and also copied the pots I have replaced, any ideas what my mistake is ? 

You have the volume pot the right way round, i.e the lugs facing the tone pot lugs?

[Notfot]

Yes I do it’s exactly as it should be by the fender drawing I downloaded, the only extra thing I did was add another wire connecting both tone and volume casings for extra earth, I was struggling to get sadder to adhere to the Potts, the bass is boxed back together now but I’ll be dismantling again as got some new pickups and a scratch plate to fit, 

[danbowskill]

On 04/07/2021 at 22:20, Reggaebass said:

I upgraded one of my precision’s with Tonerider pickups , it really made a big difference, they are great value for money 

The tonerider trp is a fantastic pickup, get a kiorgan loom and still cheaper than a premium pup. Totally change the sound for the best

[Nibody]

We spoke on Facebook not long ago about this bass - its these guys - the company started in 1979 so Im sticking with 80's possibly early 90's, made in china.

"Richwood was founded in 1979 in China to produce accessories for musical instruments. It wasn't until 1992 that we started seeing Richwood acoustic guitars in the Benelux. Richwood started out producing bad quality copies of well-known brands, which didn't make Richwood very popular."

https://richwoodguitars.com/