Rick Bass pickup

[Hugh Bishop]

I have constructed an old 4001 style bass with the Rick bridge/mute. I have put a neck jazzbass pickup in where the mute belonged, but it is too quite. Can any of you pickup wiinders construct a single coil pickup that would fit in this spot. A strat pickup size will most likely work. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[David Schwab]

You're not going to get a lot of output from that pickup location, it's just too close to bridge. If you wind a pickup hotter, than you will lose high end.

My suggestion is to use a FET buffer amp to boost the output of that pickup. Of course you would have to buffer what ever other pickup you were using, but they usually sound better that way IMO.

[Hugh Bishop]

Dave:
Thanks for the feedback. On the bass I have a DiMarzio humbucker in the neck position and a Ric humbucker in the standard mid position. They're both wired into the tip of a stereo jack. The jazz pickup is wired into the second position on the stereo jack. If I use a buffer amp as you suggest do I need to do anything with the other two pickups on the seperate circut?
Thanks
Hugh

[David Schwab]

Dave:
Thanks for the feedback. On the bass I have a DiMarzio humbucker in the neck position and a Ric humbucker in the standard mid position. They're both wired into the tip of a stereo jack. The jazz pickup is wired into the second position on the stereo jack. If I use a buffer amp as you suggest do I need to do anything with the other two pickups on the seperate circut?
Thanks
Hugh

You don't have to do anything with the other pickups since they are going out a separate jack, but you might like the sound of them buffered as well.

On my Rick I have an old Gibson Sidewinder at the neck, which has been rewound, and an old Hi-A (Bartolini) humbucker at the mid position.

The FET buffer really tightens up the bottom end, and brings out a more open top end. It's not EQ, it's just letting the pickups "breath" a bit better due to the lack of loading.

I swear by buffers for bass.

[Instigator]

For my first post I'd like to say that putting a pickup in the mute compartment of a Rick bass is not as outlandish an idea as some might think, however there's only one way to do it properly: building the pickup yourself. A Jazz Bass or a Strat pickup simply won't do: not enough output, non-ajustable polepieces, too far from the strings no matter what you do, and so on. Four years ago I built one such pickup for one of my 4001 basses. It worked beautifully, specially if you wire your Rick with three separate volume controls, one tone control, and no selector switch - if you like that sort of arrangement that is. Me I found I didn't, so I removed the pickup and didn't mod the bass any further.

[soundmasterg]

I know of a guy on the RickResource Forum who has put Jazz bass pickups in the mute area on his Rick basses and he likes them. Of course he has a really bright and aggressive tone and that style isn't for everyone.

[Instigator]

A JB pickup? I'm sure he has to turn the volume on his amp way up to make it heard. Like I said, only a tailor-made pickup will yield decent results in the mute compartment of a Rick.

[Instigator]

Just curious: what about Rickenbacker 4001-style pickups? Has anyone here ever built one? I have been building those for 26 years, and I'd like to hear from potential competitors...:rolleyes:

[David Schwab]

A JB pickup? I'm sure he has to turn the volume on his amp way up to make it heard.

He runs it in series with the neck pickup.

[Instigator]

Hmm... My point exactly. Meaning the pickup in the mute compartment is unable "to stand on its own", thus becoming pretty er... pointless. :p Unless you build it from scratch and make it very hot.

[soundmasterg]

Due to Rickenbacker's zealous enforcement of the trademarks and copyrights related to their products, I doubt that you'll find many competitors as far as making their pickups. Likewise, you'll probably attract the notice of Rickenbacker's lawyers if you try to sell anything that is trademarked.

[Instigator]

Hello, Greg. By "competitors" I did not mean RIC's competitors, but rather [I]my[I] competitors - in a good way, of course. Besides, I certainly know better than to blatantly copy RIC's designs. What I wanted to is whteher anybody had built their own version of a Rick high-gain pickup, like say Seymour Duncan, whose "Rick-style" pickups don't remotely resemble the real thing though.

[soundmasterg]

Hi Sergio, I see what you're getting at now. I would imagine most people don't have experience with RICS, and of the pickup winders they probably don't spend much time designing and making pickups based on the RIC design. Most people have never played a RIC and have this idea about them that they can't do one thing or another, which is completely false, but inertia is hard to beat.

Incidentally, I had Possum rewind some toasters for me and stuck one in the bridge position on my 350V63. Its about 12.5k with 44 gauge and is an old high gain bobbin with the holes drilled to 1/4". I have some fully charged shortie alnico 5 magnets in it right now and it sounds great and really makes the volume balance out between the other two stock toasters on that guitar. It gets the high gain grind and power, but is still warm and percussive like the alnico toasters are. Very cool!

I'm going to have to invest in a winder and get going on winding my own stuff one of these days.....

[Instigator]

[FONT="Verdana"]What I wanted to know was whether anybody had built their own version of a Rick high-gain pickup...[FONT]
Just correcting my lousy English...

[David Schwab]

Hi Sergio, I see what you're getting at now. I would imagine most people don't have experience with RICS, and of the pickup winders they probably don't spend much time designing and making pickups based on the RIC design. Most people have never played a RIC and have this idea about them that they can't do one thing or another, which is completely false, but inertia is hard to beat.

I've got two '72 4001 basses. I have to admit I just replaced the pickups. I actually gave the toasters to a friend of mine and he installed them in a Ric style guitar he built. (the bass toasters were guitar pickups with 6 long alnico mags)

Wish I kept them. Now I like that sound again.

I actually asked Duncan if he could rewind them back when he first started advertising, and he felt they weren't worth rewinding. This was before he made replacements.

Incidentally, I had Possum rewind some toasters for me and stuck one in the bridge position on my 350V63. Its about 12.5k with 44 gauge and is an old high gain bobbin with the holes drilled to 1/4". I have some fully charged shortie alnico 5 magnets in it right now and it sounds great and really makes the volume balance out between the other two stock toasters on that guitar. It gets the high gain grind and power, but is still warm and percussive like the alnico toasters are. Very cool!

That sounds cool! Personally I love Rics.