Rickenbacker Bass Pickup

[mkat]

One thing I want to point out was back in the 70's, just about every bass you saw was a Fender Precision. Also all new basses, even Ricks, came with flatwounds. So the roundwound tone became associated partly with Ricks, and that was also a revolution of sorts, since even when I started playing bass wasn't as up front as it is today. You could get a bright tone from a P bass, but that wasn't as common as using a Rick for that tone, and playing with a pick. So this is why you saw so many prog bassist playing Ricks. They didn't want the "Fender Bass" tone. The fact that the Jazz bass is now far more popular is part of that trend towards a brighter tone.

Now I eventually changed my Ricks so much that they didn't really sound like Ricks any more. They still had that vibe, but got more low end etc. I think the design works well with the flats they came with, but can be a bit thin with roundwounds. At least with the older pickups.

I'm a finger player and have never played with a pick on bass so the tone tends to differ significantly. I don't really use effects much and didn't at all when gigging. I did most of my gigging in the mid 80's to late 90's, so the stock Fender sound was not something I wanted anymore. I really liked the Stingrays, which have the punch, except that I felt the dynamics were somewhat lacking in comparison.

One other thing I really disliked about the 4001 was the bridge. The tone and feel of the strings after installing a Badass II improved things for me on both the 4001 and pbass. I tried flats but didn't like the sound or feel of them. I was after something different, possibly a more modern sound (if that exists) and my playing was changing too with all sorts of influences.

I have a jbass too, which is good for certain things. Now days, I like some higher end basses and an improved Fender style with two dual coil humbuckers and an on board preamp.

[Possum]

....

The best thing to do is if you ever get a pickup there is no information on, is mic the wire and use as exact a replacement as possible. Then take some digital calipers and measure the actual thickness of the coil. Then unwind and count turns per layer. If you follow that you should get real close. I did that on a '51 Nocaster bridge pickup and it came out about 6.25K. I ran into specs for those later on and mine was dead on.

[David Schwab]

I'm a finger player and have never played with a pick on bass so the tone tends to differ significantly. I don't really use effects much and didn't at all when gigging. I did most of my gigging in the mid 80's to late 90's, so the stock Fender sound was not something I wanted anymore. I really liked the Stingrays, which have the punch, except that I felt the dynamics were somewhat lacking in comparison.

Yeah, Ricks have a hollow type thing going on in the low end. When people say "punchy" with Ricks, it's more about treble. I would never use the word "punchy" to describe a Rick. Bite and snarl are more like it. My old drummer used to call it a "ginky bass" because that's the tone it makes. The Variax bass calls the Rick patch "Clang"!

One other thing I really disliked about the 4001 was the bridge. The tone and feel of the strings after installing a Badass II improved things for me on both the 4001 and pbass. I tried flats but didn't like the sound or feel of them. I was after something different, possibly a more modern sound (if that exists) and my playing was changing too with all sorts of influences.

It's a beautiful looking bridge, and a total PITA. I eventually replaced mine with a Badass II, and then later a Schaller 3D.

It's ironic that Ricks sounded modern compared to P bass, but now they are kind of archaic. I had goteen mind to sound really nice. I called it a "baby Alembic". The reason I kept playing them is as a bass they are very nice. I like the neck and the look of the body and all the little details. I also replaced the small frets with larger ones to wear a bit better with the Rotosounds I was using at the time.

I have a jbass too, which is good for certain things. Now days, I like some higher end basses and an improved Fender style with two dual coil humbuckers and an on board preamp.

Currently my main bass is my old Ibanez SR-885LE with two of my Jazz humbuckers. All my other basses are getting face lifts. I've been used to the fuller tone of humbuckers for a while, but the Jazz thing is nice too (my Jazz pickups are a bit fatter sounding than single coils though).

Lately I use the neck pickup for almost everything. Never thought I would do that!

[David Schwab]

The best thing to do is if you ever get a pickup there is no information on, is mic the wire and use as exact a replacement as possible. Then take some digital calipers and measure the actual thickness of the coil. Then unwind and count turns per layer. If you follow that you should get real close. I did that on a '51 Nocaster bridge pickup and it came out about 6.25K. I ran into specs for those later on and mine was dead on.

I still have some of the wire I removed from mine. It looks like 44, but I didn't mic it.

You can also see where the coil was wound to, because they spray painted the pickup black after the coil was wound!

I sent a message to Sérgio over at the Rickresource forum. He rewinds a lot of Rick pickups. He said he doesn't count turns, but winds to resistance. He said about 8K is right. He also said if you have the foam in there to remove it because it reduces the sensitivity of the pickup.

I used paper tape over the screws, but haven't wound it yet.

[soundmasterg]

Well, I'm flabbergasted LOL. There are plenty of reasons not to like a 4001. It has a unique sound that's for sure, but not all ears can use the tones given a style of music. I've been playing bass, writing, arranging and recording music for years - I also have ears that hear and listen funnily enough



I really like the Ric 4001 sound on record, but I could never get close to the sound or a sound that you claim is punchy and so on with various rigs live. I learned roughly 80% of all Rush material (bass lines) up to Moving Pictures and really liked Geddy Lee's tone (even though I don't think he used the 4001 on all those recordings). BTW, I had a pretty fat sound in the higher register on my '67 pbass using round wound strings, so no issues there for me. So, IMO my 4001 was no comparison to my '67 pbass, with a set of stock single coils, with respect to tone and punch . I tried like hell to make the 4001 sound usable and it just didn't happen for me, the reason is that the pbass sound had the fundamental qualities that my ears wanted to hear. This is not a bad reflection of the 4001's, just that they're not for me. So, now you know why at least one player doesn't like them.

Yeah, I agree that the sound isn't for everyone. The thing is so many people go on and on about how great a Pbass or Jbass or >insert your favorite bass here< and they diss the Ric and they've never played one. Or they are trying to get the sound of the Fender with a Ric for example. What I was trying to say is that each bass gives it's own sound and feel, and you should use them for what they are instead of trying to make them into something they aren't. So many people will walk in and see you're using a Ric bass and make some derogatory comment about it that it isn't a Fender, and thats before they even hear it. That is what the comment about hearing with your eyes was about. There is one guy who is a Pbass snob at the jam I go to and will diss anything other than a Pbass, even though the Harmony H22 that the host uses sounds better than the P for that particular style of music to most people down there. He is particularly dismissive of it when I bring my Ric down there, even though a lot of other people seem to like the sound of the Ric.

The Ric with flats can cover a lot of territory of the P and J basses, but still has sort of a clear piano type sound that is more aggressive with less overtones than the Fenders. With rounds it gets even more aggressive ala Rush and Yes, though Geddy used his Jazz bass for Tom Sawyer and some other songs and it still has some of that aggressive character of the Ric, though it isn't as aggressive and snarly. I think a large part of that era of Geddy's tone was his use of distorted and overdriven Sunn tube amps. I use flats on my Ric because I'm going for more of a Beatles vibe than the more modern bass sounds, but I plan to get one eventually and string it up with Rotosounds for that more aggressive and bright sound. I agree that while the stock bridge looks great on the Ric, it is a total POS.

Greg

[Electricdaveyboy]

some more pics

Of the Rickenbacker Bridge pickup

[RedHouse]

Of the Rickenbacker Bridge pickup

Any chance you can tell me what screw (length and thread pitch) is used to attach that black backplate to the chrome mounting bezel?

[Electricdaveyboy]

Yeah,
funny thing the screws for the bobbin are 6/32 but the elevator plate screws are metric M5.

[RedHouse]

Yeah,
funny thing the screws for the bobbin are 6/32 but the elevator plate screws are metric M5.

Are you calling the black plate (in your pic, under the magnet) the "elevator plate"?

[David Schwab]

Yeah,
funny thing the screws for the bobbin are 6/32 but the elevator plate screws are metric M5.

You know I was trying to figure what that thread was for Brad based on bolts I had around the house, but I didn't have any the right size.

On my basses they used these thumb screws for the pickup adjustment, and also as strap buttons. I see they are listed as 10-24:

Vintage Style Strap Bolt - 05901 - Rickenbacker Parts - Hardware

Now they show a regular machine screw as a height screw. 10-32 x 1 1/4" Round Philips:

Pickup Mounting Screw Treble Pickup (Bass) - 05106 - Rickenbacker Parts - Hardware

http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/bpickups.pdf

Here's a lot of Rick parts:

Rickenbacker Parts


And another one:

+The Rickenbacker Page Parts

[RedHouse]

You know I was trying to figure what that thread was for Brad based on bolts I had around the house, but I didn't have any the right size.

On my basses they used these thumb screws for the pickup adjustment, and also as strap buttons. I see they are listed as 10-24:

Vintage Style Strap Bolt - 05901 - Rickenbacker Parts - Hardware

Now they show a regular machine screw as a height screw. 10-32 x 1 1/4" Round Philips:

Pickup Mounting Screw Treble Pickup (Bass) - 05106 - Rickenbacker Parts - Hardware

http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/bpickups.pdf

Here's a lot of Rick parts:

Rickenbacker Parts


And another one:

+The Rickenbacker Page Parts

So I guess I shouldn't worry about it and just supply my own screws on my backing plate for this customer.

How long are they typically?
(note: I haven't checked those links you gave me ...yet)

[Edit] ...Doh! just found it on that second link, looks like 10-32 x 1 1/4" Round Philips?

Is this screw the one used to screw the bobbin onto the backplate?

[Electricdaveyboy]

No,
on mine are metric M5x 32mm round head screws.

[RedHouse]

So David you have 10-32 x 1-1/4" screws, and Electricdaveboy you have 5mm x 32mm height adjustment screw(s), am I reading you both right?

So these are the screw sizes we're talking about:

[David Schwab]

So David you have 10-32 x 1-1/4" screws, and Electricdaveboy you have 5mm x 32mm height adjustment screw(s), am I reading you both right?

Brad, when I get the time in the next few days, I will dig up my actual screws and check them out. I have all the parts in a box in the basement.

The sizes I posted are what Rickenbacker currently uses, based on what they sell as spare parts. But I can't imagine that they used metric parts back in 1974.

Also, doesn't the customer have the mounting bracket and screws?

So these are the screw sizes we're talking about:

Yes.

[RedHouse]

Brad, when I get the time in the next few days, I will dig up my actual screws and check them out. I have all the parts in a box in the basement.

The sizes I posted are what Rickenbacker currently uses, based on what they sell as spare parts. But I can't imagine that they used metric parts back in 1974.

Also, doesn't the customer have the mounting bracket and screws?




Yes.

Thanks David.

I suppose he does, I am just trying to dig up the actual/correct dimensions for my own notebook. Sorry if this is annoying either of you.