Re: Ric-o-Sound Problem
Posted: Mon May 09, 2022 10:27 am
Electrically that would be exactly the same as using the present stereo jack socket and mono jack socket, only without the convenience of having the choice to go mono.
Likewise, that would be just like using the present mono jack socket, but without the choice to go stereo if you wanted to.
First off, there's nothing clever or special about "Ric-o-sound" - it's just a brand name for the very ordinary business of feeding each pickup to its own separate output - i.e. stereo. A Rickenbacker guitar connected in mono will certainly have the halving of impedence (when both pickups are in use). The loss of volume thing is mostly dependent on the distances between the pickups and how the signals interact (comb filtering). On my 4003, for example, with a mono jack plugged in, if I flip the pickup selector switch, both the neck-only and bridge-only positions have a more pokey, in-yer-face "loudness" than if the selector switch is on "both". The sound with both pups on is kinda softer, more civilised, with less upper midrange "bark". This is partly down to the impedence drop and partly the comb filtering. The effect is not particularly profound, though.
This is why, historically, on Rickenbacker basses there used to be a .0047uF capacitor in the +ve output from the bridge pickup, effectively filtering out a bunch of lower frequencies from that pup. This prevented the low-to-mid frequencies from the bridge pup from interfering with the low-to-mids from the neck pup (via comb filtering). Result: you get the fat bottom end from the neck pup and the treble bite from the bridge pup. Nowadays, that capacitor is back, but you can switch it in/out as you wish. RIC call it the "Vintage tone switch".
This is on a bass, though. I don't know whether a similar idea has ever been implemented on a 6-string guitar - probably not, because the signals are in a higher frequency range than on a bass.
I'm intrigued to know just how bad this volume drop is. Is there any way you could make a short demo recording of the guitar, using the mono jack and switching between single channels and both together? Then upload it to - say - Soundcloud and post a link?
