Taller Grommets ?

[HKC]

Hi there
I have two Rics both with toasters. For some reason the ones on my 360 seem a little lower than my 330.
It may have something to do with the ones on the 360 are the 12K and the other ones are the newer reissues.
I have already tried it out and it does improve the sound significantly but the problem is that the grommets below the screws now fall out. Obviously I could put pretty much anything there but maybe some of you have a solution that is "invisible".

All the best
Henrik

[jdogric12]

You can just double the grommets.

[jps]

Hi there
I have two Rics both with toasters. For some reason the ones on my 360 seem a little lower than my 330.
It may have something to do with the ones on the 360 are the 12K and the other ones are the newer reissues.
I have already tried it out and it does improve the sound significantly but the problem is that the grommets below the screws now fall out. Obviously I could put pretty much anything there but maybe some of you have a solution that is "invisible".

All the best
Henrik

What do you mean by this? The height adjustments screws should have grommets as well as grommets under each corner screw so there is three grommets under each side of each pickup as was done in days of yore.

As Jason said, you can double them up but (IIRC) that was not done (nor, needed to be done) in those aforementioned days of yore.

Did your guitars originally come with grommets, or they they have foam surrounds under the pickups?

[jdogric12]

I was wondering that too Jeff. What year, Henrik?

[HKC]

The guitar came with hi-gains and I replaced them with a set of toasters-
The guitar is from 2000, week 45.

[jps]

The guitar came with hi-gains and I replaced them with a set of toasters-
The guitar is from 2000, week 45.

How are you mounting the grommets?

[maxwell]

Any chance you could attach photos?

[jps]

The guitar is from 2000, week 45.

...the grommets below the screws now fall out

Did the guitar originally have the foam rings, and you replaced them with grommets? Why would the grommets fall out if they are being held down by the pickups? Is there a huge gap under the pickups?

Yes, please post photos of this.

[HKC]

Thanks for the replies.
The guitar came with hi gains and therefore foam rings. The pickups I have on now is the 12K toasters and they seem to be a little lower than the current vintage style 7Ks.
The problem with the grommets is not with the ones that sits on the middle screws (height adjustment) but one the 4 corners which are only kept in place by pressure. I am aware that it's not usually a problem, and I have a 330/12 where it isn't, but in the case of the 360/6 and 12K toasters it is. The distance to the strings from the top of the pickup is a visibly greater than on the 330/12 and by raising the height, the output problem is solved but then the pickup only rests on the two middle screws.
I had hoped that someone else had noticed this with the 12Ks but they are probably not that common.

All the best
Henrik

[jps]

Thanks for the replies.
The guitar came with hi gains and therefore foam rings. The pickups I have on now is the 12K toasters and they seem to be a little lower than the current vintage style 7Ks.
The problem with the grommets is not with the ones that sits on the middle screws (height adjustment) but one the 4 corners which are only kept in place by pressure. I am aware that it's not usually a problem, and I have a 330/12 where it isn't, but in the case of the 360/6 and 12K toasters it is. The distance to the strings from the top of the pickup is a visibly greater than on the 330/12 and by raising the height, the output problem is solved but then the pickup only rests on the two middle screws.
I had hoped that someone else had noticed this with the 12Ks but they are probably not that common.

All the best
Henrik

The 12K and 7.4K toasters are all the same dimensions.

What I seem to understand from your post is that you are trying to get the same amount of output/gain from the toasters as you formerly had with the hi-gains. In the words of a famous character - Fuggedabouit! Use the volume controls on your amp to get louder, that's just how it is. That's why Hi-gains are called what they are.

I suppose, you could go to your local hardware store and buy longer (stainless steel) screws for the four corners, thereby having a way of holding the corner grommets in place if you really need to have the pickups higher up. If it is just the look of the toasters you are after, do a search on how to install toaster covers on hi-gain pickups.

[jdogric12]

The 12k toasters (aka "hot" toasters) should be louder than the 7.4k ones (aka scatterwound) right?

[jps]

Are they as hot as hi-gains? Maybe the 12K toasters have been unwound (not an uncommon thing).

Regardless, it seems Henrik has the toasters sitting too high off the body if the corner grommets are falling out. As I mentioned above, longer corner screws would solve this.

[jdogric12]

Yeah I think hg's are about 12 or 13k. Not sure.

[HKC]

Hi everybody who replied
The problem was never replacing Hi gains, it was that the 12K toasters surprisingly is a little lower (not output but height) than the 7.4 K which made them sound lower (in output) than the 7.4 Ks. I wanted to raise them more than the grommets could handle and therefore asked if anybody knew of thicker grommets but obviously nobody did.
The end of the story is that I have had them raised by adding a small wood ring underneath the pickup which solved the problem. I have had the pickups measured and they are around 12 K and they are also original so others potentially have the same issue buy may not have noticed it. I only noticed it because I had the option to try it against a different 360 with 7.4 Ks on.

Merry X Mas
Henrik