Photographs of the 480 Series

[electrofaro]

Indeed, cool trio, Chip! Which one is the fav, the go to?

[IHeartRics]

Indeed, cool trio, Chip! Which one is the fav, the go to?

Werner,
I love all three so I tend to rotate them when I play. However, I do tend to use the FG a little more because of the Bigsby. I put a Winfield Vintage roller bridge on it (made with the flatter radius of the neck) and it stays in tune without issue, even if I get aggressive with it. Note that both the MG and FG were salvaged from previous owner mods. I modded them all with 12K toasters in the bridge with a the 0.0047 cap and a Ric HB with toaster covers in the neck. The AG had a black pick guard and TRC which I still have. My mods are Ric-based and reversible to original Ric components (except for the Bigsby ).

[electrofaro]

How do the toasters and hb match in middle setting with both active? I hear some say it works fine, others do not agree, so another opinion is always nice

I liked my 480 JG except for the neck and fingerboard, if they'd been like 330/360 I might've kept it.

[IHeartRics]

I always keep them in the middle position with the toaster wide open and then dial the HB back to my liking which is about 3/4 volume (you'll see that in the photo). I play through Hiwatt amps and it gives it that Ric chime while adding some really nice low end umph and thickness. I always get compliments on the tone.

However, with the 0.0047 cap, the bridge toaster by itself is quite thin, weak, and tooth shattering. The neck HB by itself is quite muffled and muddy. It's weird that together they're incredible but separate not so appealing.

I've been toying with re-modding one to try out removing the 0.0047 cap on the toaster and putting 500K pots on the HB to see what happens. I would hope that the result would be I still retain the sound I get now in the middle position but increase functionality in the bridge-only and neck-only positions. Since I'm cheaper this won't happen until the next string change on which ever one comes due first.

Also, I plan on switching bridges on the '73 MG and the '75 AG. The AG has a little more radius to the neck yet the bridge is flat. The MG has a flat radius but the bridge has more of a radius like the '75. I'm guessing this was due to the transition of parts and designs not in sync in the guitars early production.

[Grey]

Chip, if you have a small alligator cable you can just clip the ends to either side of the cap leads and bridge it. You can hear what it sounds like without any modification. Personally, I will never go back to the cap.

[Grey]

It's funny to look back at this thread nearly 5 years later. This is still one of my favorite guitars.

[IHeartRics]

It's funny to look back at this thread nearly 5 years later. This is still one of my favorite guitars.

480Comp3.png

Looks sweet Erik.

[Grey]

Olivia's Vintage has a spectacular Non-Slant 481 in AutumnGlo for sale. http://www.ebay.com/itm/very-rare-1976- ... 1664935898

[Grey]

Still loving the Trapeze!

[jps]

It does look very appropriate for that guitar.

[8mileshigher]

As a 480 owner, I enjoy this thread, and its periodic revivals !

[electrofaro]

As a 480 owner, I enjoy this thread, and its periodic revivals !

As a former 480 owner I agree

[JakeK]

Still loving the Trapeze!

DSC_0034.PNG

I actually like the look of a trapeze on a 480. Forgive me if you've said it already, but is that a Winfield bracket/unit, Erik?

At first I never liked the 480, but in the 5 years since this thread was started and having played Rich Ferguson's fabulous '72 sea green model, I've got a heart for them.

[Grey]

I actually like the look of a trapeze on a 480. Forgive me if you've said it already, but is that a Winfield bracket/unit, Erik?

At first I never liked the 480, but in the 5 years since this thread was started and having played Rich Ferguson's fabulous '72 sea green model, I've got a heart for them.

I like it as well. I think the 480 is already wild enough with the 4000 profile, and the straight clean lines of the trapeze compliment it. It's also faster to restring and unlike the "R", the string spacing matches the bridge resulting in a cleaner break angle. The bracket is the standard Rick model being held on by the strap pin at the moment. I'd like to pick up the Winfield "R Conversion" bracket but they want an awful lot of money for a bent piece of metal. (50$)

Yeah. They're cool guitars.

[8mileshigher]

Yeah. They're cool guitars.

That's a sentiment worth repeating ! !
There are several pics of my 480 just posted over on the "Short Notice Jam" thread in the Ric Conferences and Confluences sector.