Replacement pickups?

andrew · Post by **andrew** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:35 am

Has anyone tried either the duncan or bartolini replacement pickups in their bass, and if so can you give me a comparison/contrast to the stock 4003 pickups?

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:57 am

I'm a big fan of the Bart replacements. They maintain most of the stock Ric tone but give a nice boost to the lows. The overall sound is "bigger" for lack of a better term. The Duncan p/u's sound like trash to me.....very tinny and weak sounding with no character at all.

Take into consideration that I like the sound with my rig, style and taste so your opinion may be vastly different. Most Forumites prefer the stock single coils and hate the aftermarket p/u's for Rics so this is probably the only positive comment you'll get here.

BTW.....I sold off my 4003's so I have two perfect sets of Bart Ric replacement p/u's if you are interested.

sublimate · Post by **sublimate** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:34 am

Here's a side-by-side comparison:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2215582#post2215582
(spread over 3 posts).

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:22 am

Interesting writeup...thanks!

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:29 am

Seymour Duncan makes many good pickups, but their Ric replacement pickups suck ... Barts are better that the Setmour Duncan replacement pickups but I prefer the 4003 pickups in a 4003 ... the replacement pickups were designed for 4001 players who wanted a fuller sound ... the 4001 had 8k ohm single coils and the bridge pickup had a bass cut capacitor installed ... so when the sd's or barts were installed and the capacitor removed the 4001 bass would be louder nad have more low end ... but the 4003 has 11k ohm pickups and no capacitor so it already is louder and has more low end ... so I would say if you want barts or sds then get a non-ric bass with them installed from the factory ...

thinneckrick · Post by **thinneckrick** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:46 am

Am i the only one here that digs the old low output 4001 pickups ? I just think that the newer 4003 pickups have too much output and get distorted sounding.some more than others, but as i said before, there all different. I also feel that replacement pickups on a rick are kind of defeating the rick tone and character.If you must replace find some old 4001 pickups . There the whip !

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:17 am

I like the old 4001 pickups a lot ... I just like the new ones better ...

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:28 am

I tried the SD's thinking they would be, like their guitar pups, quite nice sounding. The originals in my 4001 were: 1 gone & 1 dead, so I had no point of reference, & my only other bass was a 4000.
They sound, to me, rather bland. Not thin, but just lacking character. Not at all what you would expect a Rick to sound like. They do have high output, & I even tried the bridge pup in my 4000.
Not too bad, but not great either.
Also not what I would expect after what I paid for them!
If you really want to try them, there is a matched set for sale on ebay from a store for around $215 US, I think.
Or I'll trade you mine for your stock pups, but no refunds!

Joking!
If you need replacement pups, buy 'em from RIC. There really is no substitute.

david_schwab · Post by **david_schwab** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:51 am

I had a Bart on my 4001... but it was an old Bart back when they were called Hi-A pickups. It was in the bridge position. I liked it a lot. It was fuller, but still had a nice bright top end. Doesn't sound like a stock Ric of course, but if you want a replacement pickup, you probably want someone different anyway. Can't go wrong with Barts.

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:03 am

"They sound, to me, rather bland."

Yes, the perfect words to describe Seymour Duncan replacement pickups for Rick basses, "rather bland". The Barts sound great, but I still prefer the RIC pickups.

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:21 am

No Jeffrey, you're not the only one. I feel the same way. Maybe my amp isn't as compatible with the new pickups or something, but they just seem too hot, too distorted or too growly if there is such a thing.

I'm usually not a retro-grouch. I thought hotter would be better. But now that I have a 4003 with the modern pickups I've noticed that I like the tone out of my 80's 4003s, 70's 4001s, and v63/c64 better.

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:37 am

Interestingly I prefer the sound of my old basses (4001 & 4000) too, but I'm not sure whether it's the pickups or the construction... or just that old wood!

geddeeee · Post by **geddeeee** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:19 pm

Put the cap back in! It's the only way. That is the secret of the ricky clank. My '04 ricky had no cap. It took me a while to discover where the 'boom' was coming from. Cap back in. Voila!!!
Instant paint peel. The output is exactly the same as without the cap, even though I hear reams of info to say otherwise. The bass frequencies below 500k are missing, that's all. The clue is on the pots. Treble, bass.....

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:42 pm

Well, a most enjoyable post, Mark, and I mean that most sincerely. We oughta stick together as true advocates of the original Rickenbacker tone, haha. Mark Mark's words (no pun intended), gentlemen: 'That is the secret to the Rick clank.' Indeed. I rest my case.

rhampshire · Post by **rhampshire** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:47 pm

Cap, schmap...

I'll take an *uncapped* reissue horseshoe (solo'ed) with the tone knob all the way up, through a CRANKED early 70's SVT & 810 with the mids bumped up just a bit.

Talk about paint-peeling! Grrrrrrr......