New Rick owner...need some help from you experienced guys!!

dannybest · Post by **dannybest** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 10:47 pm

I have to admit that I have always been in love with these guitars and finally, I got my first Rick yesterday. It's a 360 Fireglo and it's absolutely gorgeous, but I am a little perplexed by a few things that I was hoping some of you more experienced guys could help me out with. I bought it used from a guy on Craigslist and he didn't know a ton about it. I didn't know how to date it until after I got home, but I determined that it is a 2000. The first weird thing for me was the pickups. I was expecting two high out put singles, but the neck wasn't the normal single or a toaster. I did some research there and found out its the Rick version of a humbucker, I guess. First question is, is that stock on some of these guitars? It sounds cool, especially in the middle position, but it is definitely different than I was expecting. Is this some kind of anomaly? He was selling it for a friend and the friend said he bought it that way. It is the first I saw with that configuration. (I have another question about the pickups, but it can wait for a bit)

Second, some of the switches were scratchy and stuff so I took it apart to clean stuff up and accidentally found that neck volume pot seems to be some kind of push/pull thing. Is that normal? It never occurred to me to look for that so I didn't notice it at first. I can't really hear that the push/pull is changing anything. I guess I just need some advice. Any thoughts? I really appreciate it. This is a whole new world for me...

jdawe · Post by **jdawe** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:01 pm

Congratulations on your purchase! Please post some pictures - we can never get enough.

A humbucker would not be stock on a 360. My best guess is that a previous owner installed an HB and a push-pull pot wired to act as a coil tap (i.e., so that you could switch the humbucker to a single coil). However, if so I'm surprised there isn't a noticeable sound difference between the in and out positions. Can you describe where the wires from the HB are going, or better yet, post a picture of the wiring?

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:03 pm

Welcome, Danny!

What you are describing is not a stock option, so to speak.

It sounds like a previous owner put a Rick HB-1 humbucking pickup in the neck position and replaced the bass volume control to one with a switch to coil tap the HB-1. When playing with just the neck pickup does the volume and/or tonality of the sound change when you pull up on the switch compared to when it is down?

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:04 pm

jdawe wrote:Congratulations on your purchase! Please post some pictures - we can never get enough.

A humbucker would not be stock on a 360. My best guess is that a previous owner installed an HB and a push-pull pot wired to act as a coil tap (i.e., so that you could switch the humbucker to a single coil). However, if so I'm surprised there isn't a noticeable sound difference between the in and out positions. Can you describe where the wires from the HB are going, or better yet, post a picture of the wiring?

Hey, what's the big idea bustin' in here!

dannybest · Post by **dannybest** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:30 pm

Ok, let me put some pics together. Gimmie a sec. In the meantime, let me ask this: In all of my other experience with humbuckers and single coils together, the hb's are usually in the bridge with the single in the neck position. With Ricks, is it common to configure them with the hb in the neck? Are there advantages that I should know about?

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:51 pm

Most likely, the reason is to have the widest variation in tone, Rick-wise; you can have your jangle and eat it, too, or something to that affect.

dannybest · Post by **dannybest** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:55 pm

Got it. Ok, well I guess there is a difference in tone with the push/pull. And it depends on where I have the mysterious "5th knob" set (forgive me, again this is my first Rick

)....with the 5th knob wide open there seems to be more brightness in the push position. I'll take some pics in a minute...

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 12:03 am

The fifth ~~element~~, er, knob, is essentially a second volume control for the neck pickup, except for the third lug on the pot not being grounded so the volume of the neck pickup does not totally cut out when it is full turned down, which BTW, it is wired in reverse to a normal volume control, so fully counterclockwise is turned up all the way.

dannybest · Post by **dannybest** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 12:16 am

Haha! Wow. So you're saying I'm a long way from home from my tele? Ok, so if I get this straight, if all of my 4 traditional volumes are turned all the way up (fully clockwise) and the 5th knob is half way, in the middle position then the blend is all bridge and half neck? Is that right? And the more clockwise I go with the 5th knob, the less neck I get and vice versa? I guess I need to spend some time with this....

dannybest · Post by **dannybest** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 12:39 am

Here are a few pics (I'm having trouble posting in the forum for some reason so here are some links):

http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h38 ... G_0065.jpg
http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h38 ... G_0066.jpg
http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h38 ... G_0067.jpg
http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h38 ... G_0068.jpg

Halbert · Post by **Halbert** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 1:21 am

Nice. You'd best start making room for more Rics.

I put HBs on my 330 I I just might set it up the way your 360 is. I really like the sound of the HB in the neck position.

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 3:17 am

Welcome aboard the RRF Danny - and congrats on your beautiful Ric. Very nice shade of FireGlo. Whereabouts are you located ?

I installed the HB on my 370 WB in the Bridge position. That's how the Susanna Hoffs Limited Edition models (with three pickups) came from the factory.

Incidentally, you are an exceptional guitar photographer too... very nice close ups. Post more pics !

You may also want to check out the thread here for Rickenbacker Photography.

dannybest · Post by **dannybest** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:17 am

8mileshigher wrote:Incidentally, you are an exceptional guitar photographer too... very nice close ups. Post more pics ! You may also want to check out the thread here for Rickenbacker Photography.

I can see you are impressed by my iphone skills

Does anyone have any experience switching this pickup configuration to hb in the bridge and the single in the neck? I play mostly church rock in one band and kinda dirty riff rock in the other. I usually try to get a decently thick sound. I am really happy with the way this thing sounds as it is and I could definitely be persuaded to leave it alone, but I am curious if I would benefit from the switch.

And can anyone tell anything about the push/pull situation from the wiring picture? I'm not a wiring guy, so its a bit lost on me. I usually don't care for the push/pull varieties. Should I just leave it alone in the push position? Or should I go to the trouble of swapping the pot out?

So many questions.....

paulramon1962 · Post by **paulramon1962** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:29 am

I love your guitar, man! It's really pretty.

jdawe · Post by **jdawe** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:44 am

I'm no expert (unlike many here) and had a tough time deciphering your wiring picture, but as far as I can tell the wiring is consistent with a coil tap. The basic idea behind a coil tap is to use a switch to create a bridge across one of the HB's coils, taking it out of the circuit. Push-pull pots are set up so that the middle contacts switch between the two pairs of outer contacts. A coil tap only needs to use one set of these contacts, since the idea is for the switch to act as a bridge in one position and do nothing in the other. Consistent with this, your photo shows wires connected to only one side of the push-pull pots.

Assuming this is correct, I can't think of any reason why you'd want to replace the pot with a non push pull pot - it would sound exactly the same as the current pot does in one position, and you'd lose the versatility of putting it in the other position. Even if you don't like to use the push pull, simply leaving it alone gives you the same result as replacing the pot, but with much less effort.

I'd guess that when the pot is pushed in you're getting both coils, but it could have been wired the other way so that it is single coil in and HB out. You can probably tell from the tone, or you could use a multimeter to figure it out.

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